Piggyback

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A piggyback describes when a person carries another person upright on their shoulders or straddled along their back. People may give piggybacks to move people, to provide others with elevation or for entertainment.

One common pigback involves the carried person sits on the carrier's shoulders with each leg positioned on each side of the carrier's neck and dangling downwards. Alternatively the carried person is positioned lower laterally along the carrier's back, with their legs extending forward to provide balance and to possibly be supported by the carrier's arms. The latter position requires less physical strength and is safer for both persons, however by being positioned on one's shoulders the carried person's weight is evenly balanced and thus over time is less exhausting.

The term may also refer to:

• the activity of riding on someone's shoulders or back, the way a child might try to ride a pig on a farm for fun.
• in rail transport, the practice of carrying trailers, semi-trailers or containers in a train atop a flatcar (intermodal freight transport).
• in telecommunications, a casual or slang term for multiplexing, particularly when a minor signal is carried on a major one (by subcarriers, for example). It can also refer to two or more people sharing the same login or network connection for pay-per-account internet services. Clandestine use of a neighbor's Wi-Fi network is an increasingly prevalent example of this.^[1][2]
• in electrical engineering, a piggyback circuit breaker - a double-switch that fits in a single slot in a breaker panel. This is only if they are side-by-side in the same unit — it does not count single half-height units which share a slot. Both are used when a panel has run out of slots, but can still accept the current. The piggyback breaker has two separate outputs, one for each circuit.
• in optometry / ophthalmology, the practice of using a smaller, rigid contact lens on top of a larger, soft contact lens for clinical reasons.
• in clinical medicine, a container of a liquid medicine which mixes in an IV line with another dilutive liquid (such as normal saline) from a larger container.
• in marketing, the practice of using the know-how, brand, capital, or other asset another company to enter a market. The piggyback strategy is used to reduce risk, and more established companies can leverage the brand and market reach of a partner to help them very quickly pick up the credibility and awareness needed in new market segments.^[3]
• In the United States, the practice of two cars overtaking a third car by both entering the opposite lane simultaneously. Such behaviour is considered extremely dangerous and is prohibited in several states. Namely, the fact that the second overtaking car blocks the first overtaking car from behind makes aborting the maneuver or taking other evasive action exceedingly difficult.
• A security breach that occurs when an authorized person allows co-workers or colleagues to pass through a secure door, negating the purpose of an access control system such as keypad, pass card or biometric identification scanner.
• In networking piggybacking means to carry an ACK (control packet) inside a data packet.
• A town in northern Mexico.

[edit] References

1. ^ Wi-Fi users piggyback on free signals
2. ^ Hey Neighbor, Stop Piggybacking on My Wireless
3. ^ Piggyback Marketing

[edit] Synonym

• pickaback