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The computer has spawned a host of words that have become part of everyday language. Is there anyone who doesn't know that a mouse is not a furry, little, four-legged creature? You know that if you find a bug you need to call the nearest computer programmer, not an exterminator. Cookies are not a sweet snack for the kindergarten set, but often nasty programs introduced by an outside force to make your computer reveal information. Cookies are benign compared to viruses, worms, Trojan Horses... and spam!

It was just a matter of time before the language bent to the demands of the computer age. The August 22 Sunday New York Times carried an article on the newest hip slang. It seems that the wired generation is adding their own special flavor to the English language with words like:

• Blamestorming n. A meeting whose sole purpose is to discuss why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.
• Drailing v. E-mailing when drunk -- i.e., drunk e-mailing.
• Lush flush n. The rosy hue you get in your cheeks after a few too many glasses of wine.
• Mitin Pronounced ''mitten.'' Acronym/codespeak for ''more information than I needed.''
• Mouse potato n. The wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

These are concepts that almost anyone over the age of three can understand. It makes you wonder what other wired words may come along in the next few years that the older generation will related to. Here are a few candidates:

• Diaker n. A diaper-hacker, the prodigy who hasn't mastered toilet training, but can use a computer better than any of the grownups in the house.
• Cyber bribery v. A tool used to get household chores taken care of... If you take out the garbage, you can use the computer... "Mom, that's cyber bribery!"
• E-child n. A child or grandchild who doesn't phone, write, or visit and only communicates through email.
• E-referee n. The person in the household whose job it is to make sure everyone gets to use the computer without fighting.
• Keynut butter n. The sticky mess that the diaker deposits on the keyboard. Hopefully, it was once peanut butter? The verb, of course, is keynut buttering.
• Mouse spouse n. Husband or wife who disappears into the computer room for hours...or days.
• PCed adj. The reaction to not being able to use the computer because someone is ignoring the e-referee.
• Scrud n. Whatever that stuff is that is all over the computer screen.
• Search party n. When the entire family has to get together to try to figure out how to find information for someone's homework assignment. "I tried to Google it, but I needed a search party."
• Speed bump n. That strange thing that happens to slow down your high speed connection every time you're in a hurry to see what's on a Web site... so it takes ten minutes to appear.
• Zap v. The only way to settle an argument about who is supposed to be using the computer... zap it - whoops, looks like that one is already being used!