See harmonica bug in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for harmonica bug meaning in English (3.1kB)
{
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{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "harmonica"
},
"expansion": "harmonica",
"name": "m"
},
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"2": "bug"
},
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],
"etymology_text": "From harmonica for the tone that activates or deactivates the device, and bug (an electronic eavesdropping device).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "harmonica bugs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "harmonica bug (plural harmonica bugs)",
"name": "en-noun"
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
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{
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{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Telephony",
"orig": "en:Telephony",
"parents": [
"Electronics",
"Telecommunications",
"Technology",
"Communication",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
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"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1975, Alan LeMond, Ron Fry, No Place to Hide, page xii",
"text": "The most interesting device for tapping a telephone, though, is still the old reliable “harmonica bug,” which was invented in the early sixties by an electronics wizard from Lower Manhattan, Emanuel Mittleman.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1975, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Surveillance Technology, page 18",
"text": "Whoever invented the harmonica bug realized that it's nearly impossible to find a bug that isn't operating, so he devised one that can be turned on and off by remote control.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1982, Sonny Kleinfield, The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT & T, page 240",
"text": "It is, of course, tough to find a bug that isn't operating, which is at the heart of the harmonica bug principle.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1985, Vernon Tom Hyman, Giant Killer, page 78",
"text": "The misplaced telephone receiver suggests they may have left a harmonica bug.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An electronic eavesdropping device (bug) that attaches to a landline telephone and is activated or deactivated by a specific tone. When activated, it prevents the telephone from ringing but activates its microphone to transmit to another telephone at a remote location."
],
"id": "en-harmonica_bug-en-noun-3dDe1UFt",
"links": [
[
"electronic",
"electronic"
],
[
"eavesdropping",
"eavesdropping"
],
[
"device",
"device"
],
[
"bug",
"bug"
],
[
"landline",
"landline"
],
[
"telephone",
"telephone"
],
[
"activate",
"activate"
],
[
"deactivate",
"deactivate"
],
[
"tone",
"tone"
],
[
"prevent",
"prevent"
],
[
"ring",
"ring"
],
[
"microphone",
"microphone"
],
[
"remote",
"remote"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "infinity transmitter"
}
]
}
],
"word": "harmonica bug"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
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},
"expansion": "bug",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From harmonica for the tone that activates or deactivates the device, and bug (an electronic eavesdropping device).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "harmonica bugs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "harmonica bug (plural harmonica bugs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
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"en:Telephony"
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1975, Alan LeMond, Ron Fry, No Place to Hide, page xii",
"text": "The most interesting device for tapping a telephone, though, is still the old reliable “harmonica bug,” which was invented in the early sixties by an electronics wizard from Lower Manhattan, Emanuel Mittleman.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1975, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Surveillance Technology, page 18",
"text": "Whoever invented the harmonica bug realized that it's nearly impossible to find a bug that isn't operating, so he devised one that can be turned on and off by remote control.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1982, Sonny Kleinfield, The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT & T, page 240",
"text": "It is, of course, tough to find a bug that isn't operating, which is at the heart of the harmonica bug principle.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1985, Vernon Tom Hyman, Giant Killer, page 78",
"text": "The misplaced telephone receiver suggests they may have left a harmonica bug.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An electronic eavesdropping device (bug) that attaches to a landline telephone and is activated or deactivated by a specific tone. When activated, it prevents the telephone from ringing but activates its microphone to transmit to another telephone at a remote location."
],
"links": [
[
"electronic",
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],
[
"eavesdropping",
"eavesdropping"
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[
"device",
"device"
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[
"bug",
"bug"
],
[
"landline",
"landline"
],
[
"telephone",
"telephone"
],
[
"activate",
"activate"
],
[
"deactivate",
"deactivate"
],
[
"tone",
"tone"
],
[
"prevent",
"prevent"
],
[
"ring",
"ring"
],
[
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],
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]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "infinity transmitter"
}
]
}
],
"word": "harmonica bug"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.