What is a "widget"? And, when does an average person first learn the meaning of "widget"?

Question

Here again, I am trying to resolve a friendly disagreement within the family. One side says that "widget" is a common term that everyone should know. The other side says that "widget" is only used by geeks. Of course, there was a comment about when average people learn the meaning of the term or first come into contact with the term. So, to resolve the question, we need to know both parts. Does an average person know what a widget is and when does an average person learn its meaning. Thanks.

Answer 1

'Widget' is a generic term for anything. I think it's primarily used in schools and such, such as 'Company A sells widgets', (what company A sells doesn't really matter, thus 'widget'.

I first heard the term in high school, heard it a lot in classes in college (I was an econ/computer science major)

Answer 2

Widget may refer to:

A placeholder name for any unspecified device or good, particularly as used by economists for an abstract commodity
Widget (beer), the nitrogen widget in cans and bottles of beer
Widget (computing), a component of a graphical user interface that the user interacts with
Widget (comics), a character in Marvel Comics
Widget (TV series), a 1990's animated television series
The Delta Widget, a name for the logo of Delta Air Lines
A mascot for Armadillo Aerospace
A male gremlin in Roald Dahl's The Gremlins
A nickname for the New York World Journal Tribune
Widgets (He-Man), the race of midget-like people in the cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

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A placeholder name is used to refer to an object whose name is either irrelevant or unknown in the context which it is being discussed. These placeholders typically function grammatically as nouns—and can be used for people (e.g. John Doe), objects (e.g. Widget), or places (e.g. Timbuktu). They share a property with pronouns because their referents must be supplied by context.

I first learnt about "Widgets" at High School.

Answer 3

Actually a widget is a non-specific thing-a-ma-jig meant to be a general term.

Answer 4

I couldn't tell you what a widget is and after reading the answers to your question, these people can't either.

Answer 5

Widget is a trademark of the Guinness company.

It refers to the plastic device they put in their canned and bottle beer to carbonate it and give it a draft like head.

Answer 6

A "widget" is a common term..
It is a little "thing-a-ma-jig".....