Notes on  ACK 

1. [common; from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110] Acknowledge. Used to
register one's presence (compare mainstream Yo!). An appropriate
response to PING or ENQ.

2. [from the comic strip Bloom County] An exclamation of surprised
disgust, esp. in "Ack pffft!" Semi-humorous. Generally this sense is
not spelled in caps (ACK) and is distinguished by a following
exclamation point.

3. Used to politely interrupt someone to tell them you understand
their point (see NAK). Thus, for example, you might cut off an
overly long explanation with "Ack. Ack. Ack. I get it now".

4. An affirmative. "Think we ought to ditch that damn NT server for a
Linux box?" "ACK!"

There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you there?",
often used in email when earlier mail has produced no reply, or
during a lull in TALK MODE to see if the person has gone away (the
standard humorous response is of course NAK, i.e., "I'm not here").

J3N Research Labs

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