WEBVTT - How Did the Word 'Hack' Get Hacked?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here.

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<v Speaker 1>There was a time when the word hack was really

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<v Speaker 1>only a verb meaning too roughly and indiscriminately chop at something,

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<v Speaker 1>as with an axe. That meaning goes back to the

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<v Speaker 1>eleven hundreds and seems to have spawned the concept of

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<v Speaker 1>taking a hack at something, as in making a rough

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<v Speaker 1>attempt by the thirteen hundreds. This may have led to

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<v Speaker 1>the later expression can't hack it, as in someone not

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<v Speaker 1>being able to cope with or accomplish something, by the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifties. Hack has also been used as a noun

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<v Speaker 1>since around the sixteen hundreds to describe someone who doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>particularly excel at their job, such as a writer who

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<v Speaker 1>churns out mediocre material or a comedian who copies other

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<v Speaker 1>performers jokes. But that noun comes from a different route.

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<v Speaker 1>It results from the old word hackney, which was a

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<v Speaker 1>type of horse drawn cab for hire. However, at some

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<v Speaker 1>point in the twenty first century, the meaning of hack

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<v Speaker 1>began to blossom, or perhaps converge into something yet again different,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning a workaround, an innovative shortcut that increases productivity. These days,

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<v Speaker 1>online articles might offer to help you hack your sleep

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<v Speaker 1>cycle or give you ten hacks for starting a garden.

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<v Speaker 1>But how does a word jump the tracks and change

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<v Speaker 1>meanings like that? It happens all the time, but in

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<v Speaker 1>the case of hack the most recent shift goes back

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<v Speaker 1>to the dawn of computer programming as we know it.

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<v Speaker 1>We're not talking about Ada Lovelace for once. Okay. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty five, the minutes of a meeting of the

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<v Speaker 1>MIT Tech Model Railroad Club contain a record of one

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<v Speaker 1>member requesting quote that anyone working or hacking on the

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<v Speaker 1>electrical system turned the power off to avoid fuse blowing. So,

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<v Speaker 1>in this case, hack on seems to have meant something

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<v Speaker 1>civil to work on, but with presumably a different bent

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<v Speaker 1>from the norm, a more creative perhaps. By the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>the word had expanded out from MIT and out in

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<v Speaker 1>meaning as well. A computer enthusiast might hack, and they

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<v Speaker 1>might be a hacker. This could imply a lot of things,

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<v Speaker 1>but above all, a hacker was someone who relished and

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<v Speaker 1>excelled at hands on computer programming, and not just learning

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<v Speaker 1>how to work with a computer system, but learning how

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<v Speaker 1>the system itself works, and probably meddling with it a

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<v Speaker 1>note that meddling here could be for good or ill.

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<v Speaker 1>A hacker could come up with clever fixes for known

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<v Speaker 1>problems with a computer system, or mischievously or criminally disrupt

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<v Speaker 1>a computer system. In nineteen ninety five, the movie Hackers

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<v Speaker 1>came out, a thriller about a group of scrappy, attractive

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<v Speaker 1>teenagers with code names like Crash, Override, and acid Burn

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<v Speaker 1>who save the world with their hacking skills. So over

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<v Speaker 1>the space of about forty years, the possible definition of

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<v Speaker 1>a hacker had transformed from a model railroad club member

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<v Speaker 1>to a Vinyl cloud Angelina. Joe Lie and were not

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<v Speaker 1>done yet. In the early two thousands, cyber attacks became

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<v Speaker 1>more possible and therefore more common and commonly reported on.

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<v Speaker 1>These are hacks large or small, that attack the security

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<v Speaker 1>of a person, corporation, or even governments computer systems. The

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<v Speaker 1>word hack became synonymous with attack to the non hacking public.

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<v Speaker 1>We eventually got the descriptors white hat and black hat

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<v Speaker 1>to distinguish between the helpful and the malicious types of hacking,

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<v Speaker 1>but hacking was still being celebrated by some. In twenty twelve,

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<v Speaker 1>Mark Zuckerberg's letter to Facebook investors was titled the Hacker

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<v Speaker 1>Way and claimed that hacking makes a system stronger, not weaker. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>the word hack was picked up by journalists, influencers, bloggers,

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<v Speaker 1>and in social media channels to refer to any kind

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<v Speaker 1>of non or resourceful way of doing something. A life

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<v Speaker 1>hacks could include tips for packing light for a trip,

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<v Speaker 1>cleaning with the magic eraser, or seasoning storebop pretzels, or

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<v Speaker 1>want to gain muscle or improve your memory or feel happier,

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<v Speaker 1>that's called biohacking. Online marketing professionals who say they can

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<v Speaker 1>boost your business might call themselves growth hackers. The list

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<v Speaker 1>goes on and on. It's possible the word hack might

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<v Speaker 1>evolve again, but for now, all we can do is

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<v Speaker 1>watch it spin. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>how the word hack became So Hacked on how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, written by Jesslinshields. Brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio and partnership with how stuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.