File 13 (board game)
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"File 13" is a
euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...
for the
trash can A waste container, also known as a dustbin, garbage can, and trash can is a type of container that is usually made out of metal or plastic. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" a ...
. The phrase is especially used in the U.S. military, and is less common outside of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, for instance, the expression "round file" or "circular file" is more common (in reference to trash cans typically being round). Many Unix-like operating systems have a similar reference known as
/dev/null In some operating systems, the null device is a device file that discards all data written to it but reports that the write operation succeeded. This device is called /dev/null on Unix and Unix-like systems, NUL: (see TOPS-20) or NUL on CP/M an ...
. Expressions such as "I'll place that memo in file 13" are often heard in offices as a joking way of saying, "I'm going to throw away that memo."


History

The first known citation of "File 13" was in 1942. The phrase's origins may perhaps be traced to 13 being a supposedly unlucky number, although the exact source is unknown. Another explanation refers to the fact that there are 12 months in the year, and a file is typically kept for each, with the 13th file being non-existent (the garbage can A.K.A the trash can where you throw out garbage). An explanation given in the NZ military is based on the use of stencil lettering, where a capital B (as used for 'bin') looks like a 13. Or the possibility that trash cans were huge.


Usage in popular culture

'' File 13'' is one of the simple games distributed in ''
Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' magazine. In this board game, players assume the roles of game publishers and each attempts to develop and market "hot item" games before the others. There is a song by the band
AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
called "File 13," on the album ''
Very Proud of Ya ''Very Proud of Ya'' is the second studio album by American rock band AFI. It was released on June 18, 1996, through Nitro Records. Background The liner notes of the album state that all the tracks are copyrighted to Anthems for Insubordinates, ...
'', which contains the lyric, "Someone should throw me away/Feel like a garbage can." File 13 was used as a band moniker by Doug "Double Dee" DiFranco of Double Dee and Steinski and record producer David Witz when they released a 12" single on
Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. ...
in 1984 called "Taste So Good." The track was built with
sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...
s from
phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied ...
tapes and too racy for radio airplay although it was a minor hit in dance clubs. Witz revived the File 13 name again in 1988 for a 12" single called "Party Line" also on Profile Records. This track similarly used samples recorded from party lines which were fairly common in older telephone systems. This track failed to chart or sell well and Witz retired the File 13 name for his dance tracks. In the band
A-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...
's music video for "
Take On Me "Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that same year, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was p ...
", the band is depicted as characters in a comic book which is being read in a cafe by the female protagonist. In the video, the comic book comes to life and she is pulled into its world. The waitress at the cafe, thinking she has left without paying, angrily crumples the comic book up and throws it in the trash. Subsequent to this, the band and the girl are pursued in the comic book world by sinister characters in hard hats that have the number "13" printed on them.


See also

*
Bit bucket In computing jargon, the bit bucket (or byte bucket) is where lost computerized data has gone, by any means; any data which does not end up where it is supposed to, being lost in transmission, a computer crash, or the like, is said to have g ...
*
Memory hole A memory hole is any mechanism for the deliberate alteration or disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts or other records, such as from a website or other archive, particularly as part of an attempt to giv ...
* Waste container metaphors


References

{{Reflist Military slang and jargon Military humor