ENQ

1. <character> /enkw/ or /enk/ ENQuire.

The mnemonic for ASCII character 5.

2. <chat> An on-line convention for querying someone's availability.

After opening a chat connection to someone apparently in heavy hack mode, one might type "SYN SYN ENQ?" (the SYNs representing notional synchronisation bytes), and expect a return of ACK or NAK depending on whether or not the person felt interruptible.

Compare ping, finger.

[Jargon File]

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