blues definition

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<humour> (BSOD) The infamous white-on-blue text screen which appears when Microsoft Windows crashes. BSOD is mostly seen on the 16-bit systems such as Windows 3.1, but also on Windows 95 and apparently even under Windows NT 4. It is most likely to be caused by a GPF, although Windows 95 can do it if you've removed a required CD-ROM from the drive. It is often impossible to recover cleanly from a BSOD.

The acronym BSOD is sometimes used as a verb, e.g. "Windoze just keeps BSODing on me today".

Acronym: BSOD

(01 Apr 1998)

<operating system> (BSOL, by analogy with "Blue Screen of Death") The opening screen of Microsoft Windows NT.

This screen shows the file system loading, and any problems such as conversions from FAT to NTFS or a scan of a hard drive.

The Blue Screen of Life occurs in one way, as opposed to the Blue Screen of Death, which can occur in many different ways and times.

[Is this term ever used in connection with Windows 3.x or Windows 9x?]

Acronym: BSOL

(01 Apr 1999)

A prepaid health insurance plan for costs of physicians' services.

(12 Dec 1998)

Preferred term: eHelp Corporation

Preferred term: macula cerulea

1. A literary lady; a female pedant.

As explained in Boswell's "Life of Dr. Johnson", this term is derived from the name given to certain meetings held by ladies, in Johnson's time, for conversation with distinguished literary men. An eminent attendant of these assemblies was a Mr. Stillingfleet, who always wore blue stockings. He was so much distinguished for his conversational powers that his absence at any time was felt to be a great loss, so that the remark became common, "We can do nothing without the blue stockings." Hence these meetings were sportively called bluestocking clubs, and the ladies who attended them, bluestockings.

2. <zoology> The American avocet (Recurvirostra Americana).

(01 Mar 1998)

The character or manner of a bluestocking; female pedantry.

(01 Mar 1998)