Chad (paper)
Chad denotes the small pieces produced when holes are made in paper, cards, or comparable materials such as computer punched tape or punched cards. This word functions both as a mass noun (e.g., "a heap of chad") and as a countable noun ("several chads").
Etymology
The precise origin of the term "chad" remains unclear. Documents from the 1930s and 1940s mention "chad" in connection with punched tape used in telegraphy, often alongside terms like "chaff" and "chips". For instance, a 1930 patent describes a "receptacle or chad box ... designed to collect the chips trimmed from the tape's edge." Another patent from 1938 refers to a "chaff or chad chute" intended for gathering waste fragments. Both inventions were assigned to the Teletype Corporation.
The plural form chads emerged around 1939, together with the adjective chadless, which denotes tape lacking loose chad pieces. In Walter Bacon’s 1940 patent for Bell Telephone Laboratories, chads are defined as tiny circular bits removed from tape during perforation, considered undesirable debris. Chadless tape is created by partially cutting through the material, leaving a hinged flap intact.
According to the New Hacker's Dictionary, "chad" may humorously originate from a back-formation of "Chadless" or serve as an acronym for "Card Hole Aggregate Debris". Alternative etymologies connect it to Scottish terminology for river gravel or British slang referring to lice.
Partially detached chad
When chad pieces remain connected to the material instead of fully detaching, terminology describing their degree of attachment becomes significant, especially in election vote tabulation. For chads with four corners:
- Hanging chads are connected at only one corner.
- Swinging chads remain attached by two corners.
- Tri-chads are fixed at three corners.
- Dimpled chads stay affixed at all four corners but exhibit an indentation that may indicate voter intent. (The term "pregnant" is sometimes used for a more pronounced indentation.)
2000 United States presidential election controversy
During the 2000 United States presidential election in Florida, numerous counties employed Votomatic-style punched card ballots where incomplete punches resulted in partially attached chads—such as "hanging chads" or "pregnant chads" displaying depressions without full separation. These ballots were not recognized by counting machines. The ensuing controversy, culminating in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, accelerated the discontinuation of punch card voting systems throughout the United States.
See also
- Bit bucket
- Chinese paper cutting
- Confetti, utilizing recycled chad for celebrations
- Keypunch—Card punch device
- Papel picado
- Paper tape
- Punched card
- Recount (film)
- Teleprinter—Teletype machine