I had our daughter solder up some circuit boards for me (as part of a clever scheme to get her trained up on circuitry) and we were discussing the projects. I used the term capsaspitator and she gave me a blank look … as well she might, because even Google doesn’t know what they are.
A long time ago, back on the IBM Video Disc project, Mad Phil and HH were chasing the gremlins out of a particularly tricky bit of RF-oid analog / digital circuitry. This task required a prodigious quantity of bypass caps and, at some point, Mad Phil announced that he’d had it up to there with those [obscene gerund] capsaspitators!
The term immediately caught on and I use it to this day in reference to any particularly obscure capacitor, particularly bypass caps that seem useless and are actually vital.
It’s pronounced caps-ASS-pi-tator, of course, and now everybody can find it on The Web…
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Rectumfrier is the one I used a lot years ago. And I still call a needle-nose pliers a nerdle-knees once in a while.
You use both straight and crosspoint screwhammers, right?
You use both straight and crosspoint screwhammers, right?
Comment by Ed — 26-July-2010 @ 13:22
Nope, but I use Plus and Minus screwdriv, er screwhammers…
Y’know, in retrospect, that is so obvious…