Cow-orker
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Cow-orker is a term widely used in Usenet for a co-worker, derived from a fortuitous typo, with perhaps a hint that orking cows is illegal. The exhortation to "keep the dash to the left of the w" is linked to the word.
This term was popularized by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, but appeared earlier in the January 1996 version of the scary devil monastery FAQ. There are plausible reports that it was in use on Usenet as early as 1989. [1] (http://groups.google.com/groups?q=+%22cow+orker%22&selm=1042%40midgard.Midgard.MN.ORG)
Compare hing, grilf, filk, newsfroup.
This article (or an earlier version of it) is from the Jargon File. Used with permission. Template:Comics-stub