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The word ‘hack’ goes back to Middle English

People have been using the word ‘hack’ for centuries. Ben Zimmer, a language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, traces the word back to its origins.

(Image: A lock screen from a cyberattack warns that data files have been encrypted on a laptop computer in this arranged photo in London, U.K., on Monday, May 15, 2017. Credit: Simon Dawson/Getty Images)

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1 minute