Chad
<jargon, printer> /chad/ (Or "selvage" /sel'v*j/ (sewing and weaving), "
perf", "perfory", "snaf").
1. The perforated edge strips on paper for
sprocket feed printers, after they have been separated from the printed portion.
The term
perf may also refer to the perforations themselves, rather than the chad they produce when torn.
[Why "snaf"?]
2. (Or "chaff", "computer confetti", "keypunch droppings") The confetti-like bits punched out of punched cards or
paper tape which collected in the
chad box.
One of the
Jargon File's correspondents believed that "chad" derived from the
chadless keypunch.
[
Jargon File]
