'Fatal Error' — How (and why) the language of the Internet reflects its origins in the crazed, sleep–deprived, hypercaffeinated brains of early programmers

Let's say you've been working on a project for months, every waking moment thinking in code.

Your relationships (if you ever had any) are shot, your mail is unopened, you've gained weight from all the garbage junk food and physical inactivity, you don't even know the month much less the day or date, you don't look so hot and you don't smell very good — but none of that matters.

Now, let's say someone interrupts you to ask what kind of message would be good if email can't be delivered.

Do you think you'd reflect and say, hmmm, how about, "We were unable to deliver your email after several attempts?"

How about "Fatal Error" — how's that sound — does that work for you?

Thought so.

Maybe add "Permanent" to punch it up a bit:

   

And that's how I think the term came into being (in a manner of speaking — I wasn't there but you can bet it wasn't the result of months of focus groups).

And that's all I have to say about that.