Technical tap
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A technical tap is a term used to describe hitting a device in a way to make it work correctly again—or break it completely. Such an act is also sometimes referred to as performing "percussive maintenance."
[edit] Origins
This term's origins are unknown, but became popular in the Second Industrial Revolution where sometimes vacuum tubes or soldered connections would become loose - a technical tap was used to bring the TV reception back or the jukebox back to life.
[edit] Famous taps
- Fonzie from Happy Days was famous for using a technical tap on the jukebox at Arnold's diner.
- Michael J. Fox's character in Back to the Future used a technical tap on the time machine during the climactic power failure just before going back to the future.
- Harrison Ford's Han Solo from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back helped the Millennium Falcon restart with a technical tap.
