English

Proper noun

Pong

1. (video games) An early video game from Atari, resembling ping-pong, in which two players control paddles and attempt to intercept a ball.
   • 2002, André LaMothe, Tricks of the Windows game programming gurus, page 10:

     A good lunar lander or Pong-type game was all you needed to strike it rich!

   • 2003 March 1, “Gulf War 2.0: The Son Strikes Back”, in Toronto Star:

     If the US invades Iraq, we'll see action all right, much more than we witnessed with the primitive Pong-ish effects delivered during Gulf War 1.0,

   • 2006, Chris Kohler, Retro gaming hacks, page 10:

     The paddle controllers are necessary for playing Pong-style contests, and since two paddles share one controller input you can easily play doubles Pong with an extra set of paddles.

English

Noun

pong ‎(plural pongs)

1. (networking) A packet that is replying to a ping, and thereby indicating the presence of a host.

Etymology 2

Probably from Romani pan ‎(“to stink”).

Noun

pong ‎(plural pongs)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, slang) A stench, a bad smell.
   • 1992, Bryce Courtenay, Tandia, Volume 1, 2011, Read How You Want, page 109,

     She sniffed, squiffing up her nose. ‘What a pong! Do they all smell like this?’

   • 1998, Catherine Fox, Heaven′s Scent, Third Way, page 13,

     I can remember calling round once and when she answered the door I was greeted by an unmistakable, noxious pong. “I can smell gas!”

     I said. “Oh, have I left the ring on?” she asked vaguely.

   • 2000, Susan Sallis, 2011, unnumbered page,

     ‘I see what you mean about the pong. I couldn′t smell it on myself but I can smell it on you!’

   • 2009, Martin Fine, The Devil′s Fragrance, page 109,

     If you want to empty a crowded room strong body pong will usually do the trick.

Related terms

• pongy

Translations

Verb

pong ‎(third-person singular simple present pongs, present participle ponging, simple past and past participle ponged)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To stink, to smell bad.
   • 1997, Taufiq Ismail, David M. E. Roskies (translator and editor), Stop Thief!, Black Clouds Over the Isle of Gods and Other Modern Indonesian Short Stories, page 97,

     On she walked at a crawling pace, ponging of sweat, drops of mucus and blood falling between her feet.

   • 2009, Susan Brocker, Saving Sam, HarperCollins, New Zealand, unnumbered page,

     The place ponged, like the smell of stale cat pee.

   • 2010, Robin Easton, Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest, page 63,

     “ […] That toothless bloke ponged. Couldn′t you smell him? He smelled like a bloody pub floor at closing time.”

   • 2011, Victor Pemberton, We′ll Sing at Dawn, 2012, eBook, Headline Publishing, unnumbered page,

     […] and this evening, Eileen Perkins′s daughter Rita ponged with the smell of cheap carbolic soap, after a late-afternoon visit to the public baths down Hornsey Road.

Synonyms

• (stink): reek, smell, stink

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

pong ‎(plural pongs)

1. (games, mahjong) A set of three identical tiles.