word usage - Is the use of the term "bugged" to refer to software bugs in English a worldwide or regional use?
In the 1950's, the primary uses of the word "bugged" was to describe a room that contained a hidden microphone, or to refer to a telephone line that was being tapped.
Over the last few years, I've seen more and more people use the word "bugged" to refer to a software bug.
For example, someone recently wrote, "That function returns the wrong value, it is bugged."
In contrast, I am used to people writing, "That function returns the wrong value, it has a bug."
Is the use of the word "bugged" to refer to software bugs now universally understood in the English language, or is it predominately used in specific regions?
As a bonus, does anyone know where this particular use of the word "bugged" (as opposed to "bug" or "buggy") originated, and when. Also, was the origin fostered by a specific cultural group?
UPDATE:
The number of programmers with decades of experience stating they have never encountered anyone using "bugged" in this context is notable. I postulate that this effect is a consequence of people largely being exposed to highly monolithic environments. For the non-programmers who state they have never heard people using "bugged" in this way, that is possibly just a reflection of their limited exposure to technical content, as every time I have seen it used has been in a technical context.
For any doubters, programmers or otherwise, here are just a few concrete examples from the real world:
- From mozilla.org: 1,2,3,4,5,6
- From github.com: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17
- From codeplex.com: 1,2,3,4,5
- From stackoverflow.com (on StackExchange): 1,2,3
For those interested, general web searches provide thousands of additional examples. Searches directly on technical websites provides many more examples.
(Note that the above are random examples pulled from a web searches. I apologize in advance if there is any inappropriate content. Many thanks to NVZ for making the list of examples easier to read.)
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