Glitch Entered English From Space Missions
A glitch is a minor malfunction. The word reached general use through American astronauts describing electrical surges.
A glitch is a small sudden malfunction. It entered general English through the space programme: engineers used it for a brief unexplained change in voltage, and John Glenn's 1962 account of the Mercury flights explained the term to the public. It probably comes from Yiddish *glitsh*, a slip.
- A minor malfunction. *A software glitch.*
- A brief irregularity. *A power glitch.*
- To malfunction briefly. *The screen glitched.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | glitch | A minor glitch. |
| Plural | glitches | Occasional glitches. |
| Verb | glitch | The system glitched. |
| Adjective | glitchy | A glitchy build. |
| Related | bug | A software bug. |
How it is used in a sentence
- A glitch delayed the launch.Aerospace.
- Glitch art uses digital errors deliberately.An artistic movement.
- Bug and glitch differ slightly.A bug is a defect; a glitch is a transient fault.
Words for things going wrong
- Glitch — a brief transient fault
- Bug — a defect in code, from an actual moth in a relay
- Crash — a total failure
- Hang — becoming unresponsive
- Gremlin — an imagined cause of faults, from RAF slang
Probably from Yiddish *glitsh*, a slippery place, from German *glitschen*, to slip. It became widely known through the American space programme in the early 1960s.
Bug or glitch?
A bug is a reproducible defect in code. A glitch is usually a brief and possibly unrepeatable fault.
Where does *bug* come from?
The word predates computing, but the famous 1947 moth found in a Harvard relay fixed the association permanently.