:BOF: /B-O-F/ or /bof/ n. Abbreviation for the phrase "Birds
Of a Feather" (flocking together), an informal discussion group
and/or bull session scheduled on a conference program. It is not
clear where or when this term originated, but it is now associated
with the USENIX conferences for UNIX techies and was already
established there by 1984. It was used earlier than that at DECUS
conferences, and is reported to have been common at SHARE meetings
as far back as the early 1960s.

:bogo-sort: /boh`goh-sort'/ n. (var. `stupid-sort') The
archetypical perversely awful algorithm (as opposed to {bubble
sort}, which is merely the generic *bad* algorithm).
Bogo-sort is equivalent to repeatedly throwing a deck of cards in
the air, picking them up at random, and then testing whether they
are in order. It serves as a sort of canonical example of
awfulness. Looking at a program and seeing a dumb algorithm, one
might say "Oh, I see, this program uses bogo-sort." Compare
{bogus}, {brute force}.

:bogometer: /boh-gom'-*t-er/ n. See {bogosity}. Compare the
`wankometer' described in the {wank} entry; see also
{bogus}.

:bogon: /boh'gon/ [by analogy with proton/electron/neutron, but
doubtless reinforced after 1980 by the similarity to Douglas
Adams's `Vogons'; see the Bibliography in {appendix C}] n.
1. The elementary particle of bogosity (see {quantum
bogodynamics}). For instance, "the Ethernet is emitting bogons
again" means that it is broken or acting in an erratic or bogus
fashion. 2. A query packet sent from a TCP/IP domain resolver to a