Get a life!

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The Jargon File

Parts of this article are based on the Jargon File, v. 4.4.7,
a public domain document of hacker jargon.

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Get a life!
Usage: imp.

See Also: geek


Get a life!: imp.

Hacker-standard way of suggesting that the person to whom it is directed has succumbed to terminal geekdom (see geek). Often heard on Usenet, esp. as a way of suggesting that the target is taking some obscure issue of theology too seriously. This exhortation was popularized by William Shatner on a 1987 Saturday Night Live episode in a speech that ended "Get a life!", but it can be traced back at least to `Valley Girl' slang in 1983. It was certainly in wide use among hackers for years before achieving mainstream currency via the sitcom Get A Life in 1990.

Sources

Source: Get a life!, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7.


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