bang
1. n. Common spoken name for ! (ASCII 0100001),
especially when used in pronouncing a bang path in spoken hackish. In elder days this was considered a
CMUish usage, with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring excl or shriek;
but the spread of Unix has carried `bang' with it (esp. via the
term bang path) and it is now
certainly the most common spoken name for !. Note
that it is used exclusively for non-emphatic written
!; one would not say "Congratulations bang" (except
possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted to specify the
exact characters `foo!' one would speak "Eff oh oh bang". See
shriek, ASCII. 2. interj. An exclamation signifying
roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or "The dynamite has
cleared out my brain!" Often used to acknowledge that one has
perpetrated a thinko immediately
after one has been called on it.