EOU
<character, humour> The mnemonic of a mythical
ASCII control character (End Of User) that would make an ASR-33 {Teletype} explode on receipt.
This construction parodies the numerous obscure delimiter and control characters left in ASCII from the days when it was associated more with wire-service teletypes than computers (e.g. FS, GS, RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX, and especially EOT).
It is worth remembering that ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a lot of clattering parts; the notion that one might explode was nowhere near as ridiculous as it might seem to someone sitting in front of a
tube or flatscreen today.
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Jargon File]
