Banana said:
Thanks for sharing; I've had heard of people
referring to thumbdrives as dongles, and now
I see that kind of references would be in fact incorrect.
As with many terms in the wonderful world of computers, I believe this one
has multiple definitions. One of those is a device containing coded
information that software can access for security purposes. Another, I
believe, is "small piece of hardware, in the neighborhood of thumb-wide, but
not usually thumb-deep, that plugs into some port on a computer, whatever
its purpose, kind of like a dangle, only different."
Sometimes it is even difficult to determine from context how a particular
term is intended, and sometimes the user of a multiply-defined term doesn't
even realize it has other, different meanings from what he/she intended.
That can lead to very interesting [discussions | arguments | flamewars
(choose one or more)].
Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP