Friday, October 15, 2010

xkcd does TECH SUPPORT

see attached
 
 
re: the password Shibboleet

I'm pretty sure it's a clever combination of "Shibboleth" and "Leet"
 
A shibboleth is a password, but it's not based on knowing the password; it's based on being able to pronounce the password.  It's actually from the Hebrew Scriptures. 
 
In the story, two Semitic tribes, the Ephraimites and the Gileadites, have a great battle. The Gileadites defeat the Ephraimites, and set up a blockade across the Jordan River to catch the fleeing Ephraimites who were trying to get back to their territory. The sentries asked each person who wanted to cross the river to say the word shibboleth. The Ephraimites, who had no sh sound in their language, pronounced the word with an s and were thereby unmasked as the enemy and slaughtered.
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html
The full account is in Book of Judges, Chapter 12, verses 1-15

 
So if you are Elite, you change Shibboleth to Shibboleet.
 
 

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