neepery

English

Etymology

From neep-neep, slang for a computer enthusiast, which reportedly arose at the California Institute of Technology in the 1970s.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

neepery (uncountable)

1. (slang) Technological jargon.
   • 1997, Barbara Hambly, Star Wars: Planet of Twilight, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 154:

     But all this, he realized, was something he'd learned over the course of years with the Rebellion, years of dealing with the sophisticated technologies and scientific neepery available on Coruscant and its inner worlds.

   • 1999, Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, The Chrome Borne‎^[1], Baen Books, →ISBN:

     "…so we've got a LAN hooking up the office, the stable, and the kitchen, since your mom has access to the database if we get a call from a customer and I'm out in the fields," Dad said, as Tannim's head spun under the burden of all the computer neepery.

   • 2012 July 13, David Dyer-Bennet, “Re: purchase”, in alt.usage.english‎^[2] (Usenet):

     Technical neepery -- it is not necessary or desirable for rope to grip pulleys.

2. (slang) Trivia or highly-detailed information, especially that which an author includes in a work of fiction as a result of research.
   • 2006, Nancy Holder, Daughter of the Flames, Silhouette Books (2006), →ISBN, unnumbered page (acknowledgements):

     Thank you, SF-FWs, bryant street, IAMTW, and novelscribes for various neepery and encouragement; […]

   • 2007, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Supernatural: Nevermore, HarperEntertainment (2007), →ISBN, page ix (acknowledgments):

     […] to Susan McCrackin for financial aid neepery, […]

   • 2011, Steven Harper, Writing the Paranormal Novel: Techniques and Exercises for Weaving Supernatural Elements into Your Story, Writer's Digest Books, →ISBN, page 66:

     C. C. Finlay's marvelous book Patriot Witch, the first in his Traitor to the Crown Series, is a beautiful example of a novel that inserts necessary neepery without bogging down the story.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:neepery.