/ah'bend/, /*-bend'/
[ABnormal END]
n. Abnormal termination (of software); crash; lossage. Derives from an error message on the IBM 360; used jokingly by hackers but seriously by a code grinder. Usually capitalized, but may appear as abend. Hackers will try to persuade you that ABEND is called abend because it is what system operators do to the machine late on Friday when they want to call it a day, and hence is from the German word Abend meaning Evening.