GIGO

American

[gahy-goh] / ˈgaɪ goʊ /

noun

Computers.

a rule of thumb stating that when faulty data are fed into a computer, the information that emerges will also be faulty.

GIGO British

/ ˈɡaɪɡəʊ /

acronym

garbage in, garbage out

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of GIGO

1965–70; g(arbage) i(n) g(arbage) o(ut)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Artificial so-called intelligence is hardly immune to a dynamic that computer experts long ago dubbed "GIGO" — garbage in, garbage out.

From Salon

For any meta-analysis, however, the reliability of results is largely governed by the ‘GIGO’ principle: garbage in, garbage out.

From Nature

There’s a great computer industry term for this: GIGO—Garbage In, Garbage Out.

From Time

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023