The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
hash collision
n.
[from the techspeak] (var.: hash clash) When used of people, signifies a
confusion in associative memory or imagination, especially a persistent one
(see thinko). True story: One of us [ESR] was once on the phone with a
friend about to move out to Berkeley. When asked what he expected Berkeley
to be like, the friend replied: ?Well, I have this mental picture of naked
women throwing Molotov cocktails, but I think that's just a collision in my
hash tables.? Compare hash bucket.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
hash collision
(Or "hash clash") When two different keys hash
to the same value, i.e. to the same location in a hash
table.
ESR once asked a friend what he expected Berkeley to be
like. The friend replied, "Well, I have this mental picture
of naked women throwing Molotov cocktails, but I think that's
just a collision in my hash tables."
[Jargon File]
(1995-01-23)