programming fluid = P = propeller key

propeller head n.

Used by hackers, this is syn. with geek. Non-hackers sometimes use it to describe all techies. Prob. derives from SF fandom's tradition (originally invented by old-time fan Ray Faraday Nelson) of propeller beanies as fannish insignia (though nobody actually wears them except as a joke).

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.

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