a bug in the system

Question

I did 7 years working in IT in Spanish and now I can't remember what to call "a bug in the system". Help!!!

Thanks all. Research on my part only showed that nobody wants to admit that it's simply called "un bug" but it certainly pops up here and there so I reckon that's what I shall use in future.

Exercise for further research - how should it be pronounced in Spanish. Quite a lot of Spanish speakers use the Southern English version of "u" for English words which comes out as "bag".

Try this link to find out lots more about Admiral Hopper and the bug.

http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/first_computer_bug.htm

Answer 1

An interesting aside regarding the origin of the term:

Bug, 3- Modismo para referirse a una falla, defecto o error que impide el pleno y correcto funcionamiento de algo, y que usualmente es imperceptible y difícil de encontrar para corregirlo. El término fue usado por primera vez en el año 1945 por Grace Murray Hooper, una de las pioneras de la programación moderna, al descubrir como una polilla ( insecto = bug) aplastada entre los contactos de un relay electromecánico en el Mark I había dañado un circuito del computador; error ( Informática y Computación ) Error persistente en el software o hardware. Si existe en el software, puede corregirse modificando el programa. Si existe en el hardware, deben diseñarse nuevos circuitos.

Commodore Hopper had a sense of humor. She taped the bug to a page in her lab notebook. - KevinB, MAY 5, 2010

I knew about Admiral Hopper's bug but hoped that there might be a zingy equivalent. Where does Bug 3 come from and does it have "Glitch"? - geofc, MAY 5, 2010

I'm sorry Geof...the number "3" is the designation that this is the third (sequential) entry provided for the definition of the term "bug." I did not bother to list the other two entries as they were not pertinent to the discussion. Sorry for the... - Izanoni1, MAY 5, 2010

...confusion - Izanoni1, MAY 5, 2010

Answer 2

I have seen "un fallo en el sistema" (often in conjunction with a discussion involving the windows operating system - hmmm....I wonder why that is )

lol :-) - Petirrojo, MAY 5, 2010

that is it, we dont say falla - 00494d19, MAY 5, 2010

Answer 3

Error or defecto de software according to wikipedia.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_de_software

Sound good for what it is but I want what it's called colloquially - equivalent of "bug" - geofc, MAY 5, 2010

Answer 4

Street version:

El sistema ha petado (pronounced: petao, no d)

And: Se ha caído...se me ha muerto...If the failure is big.

Answer 5

Izi said

An interesting aside regarding the origin of the term

I may be wrong but it was also Grace who programmed the last two digits for the year end, basically to save memory. Just before her death in 1992 she was amazed they were still using the same system and posed the question about the millenium bug which could occur when we exceeded the year 1999. I also believe it was a moth which got fried between the terminals.

Interesting :) - Izanoni1, MAY 5, 2010

Answer 6

Un virus? un malfuncionamiento?

What I'd like is the "what we call it on the street" version. One thing it ain't is a virus. Thanks (Geof, pronounced Jeff) - geofc, MAY 5, 2010

ohhh, jeff, I never knew what to call you, jeje - 00494d19, MAY 5, 2010

Thought it was about time to reveal myself (name-wise) - geofc, MAY 5, 2010

Answer 7

Geof asked:

...does it have "Glitch"?

Yes, there is an entry for the term "glitch:"

1. Glitch, glitch (Electrónica - Electronics ), Distorsión de un pulso en forma de perturbación de corta duración. Un ejemplo típico se muestra en la figura siguiente .

2. Glitch, interferencia, falla aleatoria ( Informática y Computación ) Cualquier mal funcionamiento temporal o aleatorio en el hardware.

Here is a link to the source of this information - Technical English to Spanish reference site. I have found this site somewhat helpful in the past. Perhaps you might be able to get some use out of it as well.