reb@squid.rtech.com ("REB - Tennessee Lamb") (01/18/90)
Does the word "xyzzy" have an origin earlier than the Colossal Cave adventure
game? Where exactly did it come from?
reb
reb@rtech.com reb%rtech.com@lll-winken.llnl.GOV
h:861 Washington Westwood NJ 07675 201-666-9207
I've been warped by the rain,
driven by the snow drunk and dirty don't you know and I'm still willin'...cosell@bbn.com (Bernie Cosell) (01/18/90)
reb@squid.rtech.com ("REB - Tennessee Lamb") writes: }Does the word "xyzzy" have an origin earlier than the Colossal Cave adventure }game? Where exactly did it come from? I believe that Will just made it up [much as he made up near everything else in Adventure]. I can ask him, but I'm really quite sure that it was just random-letters. /Bernie\
jude@sdbio2.ucsd.edu (Jude Poole) (01/19/90)
In article <51073@bbn.COM> cosell@bbn.com (Bernie Cosell) writes: >reb@squid.rtech.com ("REB - Tennessee Lamb") writes: > >}Does the word "xyzzy" have an origin earlier than the Colossal Cave adventure >}game? Where exactly did it come from? > >I believe that Will just made it up [much as he made up near everything else >in Adventure]. I can ask him, but I'm really quite sure that it was just >random-letters. On I-15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas there is a road with the name Xyyzzy or something very similar (I fly nowadays and so haven't seen it in a while) This may be where he got the word but I have no way of verifying it. jpoole@ucsd.edu jpoole@ucsd.bitnet
spl@mcnc.org (Steve Lamont) (01/19/90)
In article <6194@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> jude@sdbio2.ucsd.edu (Jude Poole) writes: >On I-15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas there is a road with the >name Xyyzzy or something very similar (I fly nowadays and so haven't >seen it in a while) This may be where he got the word but I have no >way of verifying it. Actually it is Zzyzx Road. Whatever the hell that is. spl (the p stands for put a lot of miles on the RX-7 between San Diego and Vegas...) -- Steve Lamont, sciViGuy (919) 248-1120 EMail: spl@ncsc.org NCSC, Box 12732, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 "That's People's Commissioner Tirebiter -- and NOBODY'S sweetheart!" - F. Scott Firesign
samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Sam Bassett RCD) (01/19/90)
Nope, sorry -- that's "Zyzzyx Springs Road". The road leads to what used to be a resort with hot springs -- the developer figured that it would be the very last entry in every atlas of the U.S., and he'd get a lot of publicity that way -- it didn't work well enough to make the resort a success, however. (I used to live out that way . . .) (This is rapidly devolving into "alt.folklore.computers.and.other.trivia" :-) Sam'l Bassett, Sterling Software @ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA 94035 Work: (415) 694-4792; Home: (415) 969-2644 samlb@well.sf.ca.us samlb@ames.arc.nasa.gov <Disclaimer> := 'Sterling doesn't _have_ opinions -- much less NASA!'
morris@jade.jpl.nasa.gov (Mike Morris) (01/20/90)
In article <6100@alvin.mcnc.org> spl@mcnc.org.UUCP (Steve Lamont) writes: >In article <6194@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> jude@sdbio2.ucsd.edu (Jude Poole) writes: >>On I-15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas there is a road with the >>name Xyyzzy or something very similar (I fly nowadays and so haven't >>seen it in a while) This may be where he got the word but I have no >>way of verifying it. > >Actually it is Zzyzx Road. Whatever the hell that is. One day as I was driving home from an Amateur Radio Convention in L.V. (anybody here remember SAROC?), a friend of mine and I decided we had a few extra hours to kill, so we did some exploring. Zzyzx road north of the freeway goes nowhere - a dead end maybe 1/4 mile from the ramp. Southbound the pavement ends the same 1/4 mile, but a well maintained (in '80 or so) dirt road goes for about 30 minutes and with just around a blind turn ends at a barbed-wire-and-2x4s gate. My '69 Rambler, at that time, had a cracked exhaust manifold and the noise brought a gentleman out of a run-down house trailer with a shotgun in his hands (this was about 3pm or so). Don and I were smart enough to make no sudden moves and after we explained we were just curious what Zzyzx was, the gentleman put the gun down and invited us in for coffee & cokes. It turns out that Zzyzx was a '30s hot springs resort that went broke, and the gentleman lived there in a trailer as a gurad for the buildings, which were in surprisingly good shape (at least the exteriors - Don and I didn't ask if we could get a tour, and none was offered). Supposedly a fleet of busses ran from LA's Union Rail Station to ZZyzx and back, and the 30s movie stars were the most frequent guests. There is no ACpower, no telephone, and communications is limited to commercial two-way radio (nowadays cellular phones would work there too), and CB. All this is 9-10 year old memory, and unverified. Mike Morris Internet: Morris@Jade.JPL.NASA.gov Misslenet: 34.12 N, 118.02 W #Include quote.cute.standard Bellnet: 818-447-7052 #Include disclaimer.standard Radionet: WA6ILQ