Quake (noun)
quake'/kwak/ rhymes with "lake"
Definition: A high-tech and extremely gory computer game in which the main
objective is to brutally kill your opponents.
Attested: I first saw this game played about a week after my roommate got
his computer, and now I have to put up with it nightly.
Example: "Let's get a network game of Quake going for an hour before I
start my homework."
Etymology: Ironically, students, people whose "job" it is to do homework,
love nothing more than finding ways to put off doing homework. Most
students are also young adults, and young adults seem to love nothing more
than blood and guts. Therefore, Quake has quickly become a favorite in
dorms across the country. It is a game played from the first-person point
of view where one runs around an arena trying to annihilate his or her
(but, from experience, usually his) enemy. When the enemy is shot with
weapons such as lasers, shotguns, or machine guns vivid, bloody graphics
combined with blood-curdling screams emanate from the computer. The
ability for it to be played on a network allows for games to be played with
many members of the same dorm on the same team or pitted against each
other. Usually, in my suite, played in the wee hours of the morning, I can
personally attest that there is nothing more relaxing than trying to fall
asleep while, across the room someone is having his torso split open and
his guts spilled all over the ground.
- Josh Finberg