# The latest corporate catchphrase? "Ping" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643 "2007-06-19T22:11:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/1 "2007-06-19T22:11:42Z")
Perhaps it’s only come across my radar screen[sup]1[/sup] because I am in a non-profit environment, but what’s with this “ping” business? “I’ve pinged him but I haven’t heard back.” “Could you ping him and just let him know about this decision?” I know what they mean so I can’t pull off the “Do what with the who now?” but I feel myself being pulled under. I’ve even almost adopt some of these phrases just because the shorthand is easy. :eek: Where did it come from? [sup]1[/sup]The phrase that “ping” supplanted as the latest ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/2 "2007-06-19T22:14:06Z")
Tell 'em you would but you think it’s against the company’s sexual harrassment policy. ---
**Author:** ![Yaxche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8dc957/32.png) [@Yaxche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaxche)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/3 "2007-06-19T22:16:07Z")
Heh, they are just looking for stuff to do since they picked all the _low-hanging fruit_ … ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/4 "2007-06-19T22:16:14Z")
Gasp! And right on the heels of [this!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=425037) I think I have the vapors. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/5 "2007-06-19T22:17:10Z")
If you all don’t knock it off with the corporate-speak I’m going high and to the right. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/6 "2007-06-19T22:18:25Z")
[QUOTE=Yaxche] Heh, they are just looking for stuff to do since they picked all the _low-hanging fruit_ … [/QUOTE] :eek: That one hasn’t made it here yet–I had to Google it to see. The blog where I found it also mentions “Going forward,…” which I am guilty of. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/7 "2007-06-19T22:20:12Z")
It’s a computing term. Basically every operating system comes with a “ping” program. All it does is send a short “Are you there?” message to another computer and waits for it to reply. So you can use ping to see if a computer is alive and on a network. Apparently the name came from sonar operators, who called a sonar pulse a “ping”. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/8 "2007-06-19T22:21:46Z")
You’re giving me the shivers remembering my time at an internet startup circa 1999. Ping Fast track Deliverables Leverage Win/win Augh! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/9 "2007-06-19T22:23:38Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Where did it come from? [/QUOTE] I work in IT with Unix and Linux systems. If I hear someone use “ping” this way, I assume it comes from [the Unix/Linux command of the same name](http://www.computerhope.com/unix/uping.htm), which is mostly used to see if a particular machine is up and can be accessed from the machine you’re using. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/10 "2007-06-19T22:31:41Z")
I heard it used in corporatespeak way back in 1999. Perhaps it’s gained a bit of momentum since then. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/11 "2007-06-19T22:38:17Z")
I probably type commands like “ping lemurserver” or “ping -a 178.34.123.99” about 30 times every day. Stupid computers. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/12 "2007-06-19T22:42:23Z")
I thought the phrase originally derived from the submarine service, where sailors would send out a sonar signal to ‘ping’ their target. Sort of like playing ‘gotcha’ with your fellow subs or other marine vessels while out on wargame maneuvers, or to annoy russian subs during the cold war. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/13 "2007-06-19T22:42:57Z")
Ah! I see you have the machine that goes ‘ping’. This is my favourite. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/14 "2007-06-19T22:53:20Z")
Oh, jeez. I know what ping really means, and guessed what they meant by it. I’d have trouble not rolling my eyes at their blatant geekiness if they used the term ping that way with a straight face. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/15 "2007-06-19T22:56:16Z")
But what if they only used “ping” ironically? Then it would be OK, right? ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/16 "2007-06-19T23:16:19Z")
My wife’s employer has a company-wide IM system, and she and her co-workers use “ping” to mean, “send an IM to see if the person is at work/available to talk/IM/whatever.” I don’t think I’ve heard anyone use it outside of that context. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/17 "2007-06-19T23:34:29Z")
For anyone who played counterstrike back in the day, ping is a noun, not a verb. (I only played at my friends house, cause he was rich and had the computers and internet, so forgive me if I don’t remember entirely correct.) See, you could perform a ping command to the server that was hosting the game, and it wouldn’t just tell you if you were connected, but also how long it took to reply back. That number (I think it was measured in hundredths of a second) was your ping. “How come you didn’t shoot that guy?” “I couldn’t even see him! My ping’s freaking 150 over here!” It almost used to be civilized… now it’s just “LAG!!LOLOLOL11!!!” ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/18 "2007-06-20T00:17:13Z")
Jeeeeeez, it sounds like 1993 in here-- brilliant. When you could alter your profile to give a clever lyric from Psychic TV or something if someone dared ‘finger’ your account ,and you pinged your pal at Harvey Mudd to see whether you could ‘talk’ them. So much cheaper than the phone. S Hey, Mac terminal still knows ping. . . and finger! And talk! Yay! So “ping” went corporate? How. . . geeky. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/19 "2007-06-20T00:18:48Z")
Ha! I’ve got you all beat. It comes from the table-tennis sport “Ping-Pong”. And from there it migrated to computers (Pong anyone?). ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643/20 "2007-06-20T00:21:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Ah! I see you have the machine that goes ‘ping’. This is my favourite. [/QUOTE] It is for the Administrator, after all. You have got that machine, right? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-latest-corporate-catchphrase-ping/408643.md?page=2)