spod n.
[UK] 1. A lower form of life found on talker systems and MUDs. The spod has few friends in RL and uses talkers instead, finding communication
easier and preferable over the net. He has all the negative
traits of the computer geek
without having any interest in computers per se. Lacking any
knowledge of or interest in how networks work, and considering
his access a God-given right, he is a major irritant to
sysadmins, clogging up lines in order to reach new MUDs,
following passed-on instructions on how to sneak his way onto
Internet ("Wow! It's in America!") and complaining when he is not
allowed to use busy routes. A true spod will start any
conversation with "Are you male or female?" (and follow it up
with "Got any good numbers/IDs/passwords?") and will not talk to
someone physically present in the same terminal room until they
log onto the same machine that he is using and enter talk mode.
Compare newbie, tourist, weenie,
twink, terminal junkie, warez d00dz. 2. A backronym for "Sole Purpose, Obtain a
Degree"; according to some self-described spods, this term is
used by indifferent students to condemn their harder-working
fellows. Compare the defiant adoption of the term `geek' in the
mid-1990s by people who would previously have been stigmatized by
it (see computer geek). 3.
[obs.] An ordinary person; a random.
This is the meaning with which the term was coined, but the
inventor informs us he has himself accepted sense 1.
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spoiler n.
[Usenet] 1. A remark which reveals important plot elements
from books or movies, thus denying the reader (of the article)
the proper suspense when reading the book or watching the movie.
2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution of a problem or
puzzle, thus denying the reader the pleasure of working out the
correct answer (see also interesting). Either sense readily forms
compounds like `total spoiler', `quasi-spoiler' and even
`pseudo-spoiler'.
By convention, articles which are spoilers in either sense
should contain the word `spoiler' in the Subject: line, or
guarantee via various tricks that the answer appears only after
several screens-full of warning, or conceal the sensitive
information via rot13, spoiler space or some combination of
these techniques.