Okay, no more journal entries in the middle of the night, I promise

[cosmolinguist]

Why does everybody call this thing a mouse?

I mean, really. It doesn't look like a mouse. Mice are furry and possibly grey. They have four legs and big ears and a tail. They squeak and eat cheese. This thing next to my keyboard is and does none of that. It only scrolls clicks and drags. So why's it called a mouse?

"Keyboard," now there's a nice, unassuming name. And it's even true. There are rows of keys arranged on this board.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that, like so much else about computers, there's some arcane, quaint, or illogically logical reason why this ergonomic plastic with two buttons and a little spinny thing has come to be known as a mouse.

Floppies aren't floppy anymore, but we still call them that.

Comments

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

So why's it called a mouse?

Even the inventor doesn't know (http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1b042601.html)...it just stuck...

[cosmolinguist]

That is a cool link.

[5-rings.livejournal.com]

I always thought it was called a mouse because of the generic shape and the wire "tail."

Then again, I'm a trackball guy -- and it's pretty obvious where trackballs get their name ;-)

[angel-thane.livejournal.com]

Because the inventor was running on a track when he thought of the idea, got distracted by it, and balled himself?