Vulcan nerve pinch

(jargon)

(Or "three-finger salute", Vulcan death grip; from the old "Star Trek" TV series via Commodore Amiga hackers) The keyboard combination that forces a soft boot or jump to ROM monitor (on machines that support such a feature).

On an Amiga this is done with Ctrl/Right Amiga/Left Amiga; on IBM PCs and many microcomputers it is Ctrl/Alt/Del; on Suns, L1-A; on some Macintoshes, it is <Cmd>-<Power switch>! Silicon Graphics users are obviously the most dextrous however, as these machines use the five-finger combination: Left Shift/Left Ctrl/Left Alt/Keypad Divide/F12.

Compare quadruple bucky.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

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References in periodicals archive

The pitch invasion by a jubilant fan, and the Vulcan Nerve Pinch he executed on Dida, has led to totesport offering 100-1 that Celtic are kicked out of the Champions League, but it's just 1-4 that their punishment is a fine.

RESULT!: Dida display fine by Celtic; IN ASSOCIATION WITH betfair.com

Vulcan nerve pinch. The hand position required to reach all of the appropriate keys for certain commands.

Here am I thinking you wore a Macintosh

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