glitch

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

Probably from Yiddish גליטש (glitsch), from dialectical German glitschig (“slippy”), from glitsch (“slide, glide, slip”) + -ig (“-y”). Related to gleiten (“glide”).

Popularized 1960s, by US space program. Attested 1962 by American astronaut John Glenn, in reference to spikes in electrical current.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡlɪtʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɪtʃ

Noun

Wikipedia glitch (plural glitches)

1. A problem affecting function; a bug; an imperfection; a quirk

   They are still trying to work out all the glitches.

2. (video games) A bug or an exploit.

   Performing this glitch gives you extra lives.

3. (music) A genre of experimental electronic music of the 1990s, characterized by a deliberate use of sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted noise.

Quotations

• 1962, John Glenn

  Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical current.

• 1965, Time magazine

  Glitches—a spaceman’s word for irritating disturbances.

Translations

glitch

Czech: moucha (cs) f. Finnish: ongelma (fi), hankaluus (fi) French: accroc (fr)

Ido: Impedo Japanese: 欠陥 (ja) Russian: глюк (ru) m.

Verb

glitch (third-person singular simple present glitches, present participle glitching, simple past and past participle glitched)

1. To experience an intermittent, unexpected, malfunction

   My computer keeps glitching; every couple of hours it just reboots without warning.

2. (video games) To perform an exploit or recreate a bug while playing a video game.

   His character will glitch into the wall and out of the level.