lamer
= L =
language lawyer
LAN party /lan par'tee/
An event to which several users
bring their boxes and hook them up to a common LAN (Local Area
Network), often for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer
games, especially action games such as Quake or Unreal Tournament.
This is also a good venue for people to show-off their fancy new
hardware. Such events can get pretty large, several hundred people
attend the annual QuakeCon in Texas. The theoretical rationale
behind LAN parties is that playing over the Internet often
introduces too much lag in the playing experience - but just as
important is the special quality of trash-talking each other across
the room while playing, and the instinctive social ritual of
consuming vast amounts of food and drink together.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.