The Zong

One day, some years back, a good friend Ed Zaganjori was typing too fast attempting to respond to a somewhat biting comment from one friend to another over an internet chat client. The intended word was “Zing!” but Ed typed just fast enough to make history, and out came “Zong!” in its stead. Since then, the word has evolved from these humble beginnings, and has found its permanent home on the pages of the website it inspired.

From a technical standpoint, the word “zong” stands for a couple of things. On the one hand, it’s something fun to say when you’ve been witness to the fallibility of something, or a general commentary that exacerbates someone’s humiliating failures. On the other hand, I’ve been told that it simply refers to a z-shaped bong.

Alphabetical contraband to the contrary, the zong stands as an idea yet to be refined; a transcendent, poignant blurb about casual lunacy. TheZong.net exists as a study of two great forums for this lunacy in America: sports and politics. While the two of them don’t always get along, they certainly go well together, spawning endless fodder for commentary both direct and abstract.