Why do people call their PC's rigs?

[Rob2687]

It rubs me the wrong way too, but pretty much everything does these days.

The internets popularity has brought about alot of morons!

And yes... I'm old and grumpy.

Hey Riggs, I'm too old for this ****.

[dead.cell]

Don't worry, I have no plans to get a headset...I just play and mostly ignore the silly players. I've never felt the need to use such stupid words while playing games anyway, the most I'd say is LOL or haha. Because most of the time the dumb things some of these players do is just too funny to ignore.

@ the other posts, thanks for the insight into the origins of the word "rig". I shall still keep calling my pc a pc though. I guess I'm just not geeky enough.

Oh, I love this. You're geeky enough to sit on an internet forum dedicated to technology enthusiasts and argue about the term "rig", but too macho or whatever to use the word.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=internet+tough+guy

[Nagisan]

Rig...

Most relevant definition:

3 : to furnish with special gear : equip

Therefore, "rigs" refer to something (in this case, a computer) that has been furnished with "special gear" (meaning high-end equipment).

[vincent]

I've never understood why some people call their computers rigs. Do they drill for oil? Is this just another internet word that people now use because it sounds cool?

Also where did the annoying words players use in online gaming come from? i.e. owned, n00b, pwned, haxor, boon, lmao etc... When I play online gaming like battlefield 2 / 2142 it always seems like the other players are a bunch of stupid kids. Can't people talk proper english anymore on online games? I should really get a headset so I can call players idiots when they start bunny hopping around like a fool.

Maybe I will start calling my pc Murtaugh & my laptop Riggs. Because one is older than the other.

I call it a rig, because i can, i suggest you take a step in the outside world once in awhile

[Yelreve]

At IBM Warwick they call them tins :cool:

[toadeater]

rig

Function: noun

Date: 1822

1 : the distinctive shape, number, and arrangement of sails and masts of a ship

2 : equipage; especially : a carriage with its horse

3 : clothing, dress

4 : tackle, equipment, or machinery fitted for a specified purpose <an oil-drilling rig>

5 : a tractor-trailer combination

They're called gaming rigs because PCs weren't originally made for gaming. A "gaming rig" is a PC optimized for gaming. When PC gaming was on the rise if you wanted a good gaming machine/rig you had to put it together and overclock it yourself. Today it's lost its meaning because now you can buy an off-the-shelf PC that can play games and there's nothing special about it anymore.

[RiverCampher]

Far too geeky. I only remember 1 person referring to their PC as a rig, and that made me wince... Then again, I like PC's to be as quiet and as 'out of the way' as possible.

[Raa]

Well a truck is called a rig sometimes.

I guess because old computers were built like trucks???

Kidding aside... Maybe because you can "rig something up", a computer being built up, sounds familiar?

Who knows :)

[Growled Member]

I think it's from rigging things. We do that at work sometimes, where we take impossible things and rig it with other things to make everything work. I guess some wise acre came up with the same idea about people who built custom computers.