ACK

2 definitions found

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  ACK /ak/ interj. 1. [common; from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110]
     Acknowledge. Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream _Yo!_).
     An appropriate response to {ping} or {ENQ}. 2. [from the comic strip
     "Bloom County"] An exclamation of surprised disgust, esp. in "Ack
     pffft!" Semi-humorous. Generally this sense is not spelled in caps (ACK)
     and is distinguished by a following exclamation point. 3. Used to


     politely interrupt someone to tell them you understand their point (see
     {NAK}). Thus, for example, you might cut off an overly long explanation
     with "Ack. Ack. Ack. I get it now". 4. An affirmative. "Think we ought
     to ditch that damn NT server for a Linux box?" "ACK!"
  
     There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you there?",
     often used in email when earlier mail has produced no reply, or during a
     lull in {talk mode} to see if the person has gone away (the standard
     humorous response is of course {NAK} (sense 1), i.e., "I'm not here").
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  ACK
       
          1.  /ak/ The {mnemonic} for the ACKnowledge
          character, {ASCII} code 6.
       
          2.  A message transmitted to indicate that
          some data has been received correctly.  Typically, if the
          sender does not receive the ACK message after some
          predetermined time, or receives a {NAK}, the original data
          will be sent again.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1997-01-07)