meaning of "demagged"?

POSTED BY: eliang
UPDATED: Thursday, April 13, 2006 15:04
VIEWED: 5185
PAGE 1 of 1

ELIANG

Thursday, April 13, 2006 1:41 PM

Hi, I'm new here.
I speak Chinese, and not so good in English, so instead I have an English question.
In Firefly "Arial" episode, Zoe and Mal try to use their fake identity cards to open the door but it fails.
Zoe then says, "Must've been demagged."
The word "demagged", what is it supposed to mean?
Is it same as "damaged"?
Or it means something like "refreshed"?
Thanks a lot!

CANTONHEROINE

Thursday, April 13, 2006 1:57 PM

I think its an abbreviation for "demagnetized". The scanner won't read the information on the card anymore because it's been wiped.

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Check out my artwork:
http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e365/CantonHeroine/Sketches

DUG

Thursday, April 13, 2006 1:59 PM

The identity card had a magnetic strip that contained the codes to open the door. That is modern day technology; identity cards, hotel door locks, credit cards and the like use that now. Works well enough that I see no reason that it won't be used in 500 years.

It is basically the same stuff as a recording tape and can be erased with a magentic field; I believe that is what Zoe was referring to.

ELIANG

Thursday, April 13, 2006 3:04 PM

Thanks, both of you.
You guys really help me.
I ask this because I'm trying to translate the subtitle into Chinese.
By the way, CantonHeroine, your sketches are really awesome!