Frobnicate

What Does Frobnicate Mean?

The word “frobnicate” in IT is a kind of techie slang that
describes tweaking or fiddling with physical parts of a technology. Frobnicate
has been regularly abbreviated as “frob” or related to a piece of hardware
architecture called a “frobnitz.”

Techopedia Explains Frobnicate

The term “frobnicate” is often attributed to David R. Sawyer, an IT
pro at MIT. The term grew in popularity over the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
It is often used very informally to talk about aimless or non-productive
physical activity with technology. For instance, someone might say – “stop
frobicating that switch,” or “stop frobnicating that lever” if they
feel like the person is not using common sense in manipulating the technology,
or that they are putting too much pressure on it or using it in inappropriate
ways.