# What is a Computer Phrase™?

In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a phrase conforms to a special rule, I call it a Computer Phrase™. Use the examples below to find the rule.

Computer Phrases™ Not Computer Phrases™
VERY FUN DAY TRULY BORING DAY
SOME ZIPPED UP DISK DRIVES A CIRCUIT BOARD
KILL A FLY CATCH A BUTTERFLY
IN YOUR FACE! IN HIS FACE!
GO LAY HOLD GO LIE DOWN
A HIGH SCHOOL BOY A HARD SCHOOL DAY
IT CAN BE GOOD FOR HER THAT MAY BE GOOD FOR HIM
THE EMAIL LIST THE PHONE BOOK
HEY HEY! HELLO HELLO!
DID MY JACKET GET BLOODY? A BAT EARED FOX
IN THE DARK HOUR IN THE DARKEST HOUR

CSV version:

Computer Phrases™,          Not Computer Phrases™
VERY FUN DAY,               TRULY BORING DAY
SOME ZIPPED UP DISK DRIVES, A CIRCUIT BOARD
KILL A FLY,                 CATCH A BUTTERFLY
IN YOUR FACE!,              IN HIS FACE!
GO LAY HOLD,                GO LIE DOWN
A HIGH SCHOOL BOY,          A HARD SCHOOL DAY
IT CAN BE GOOD FOR HER,     THAT MAY BE GOOD FOR HIM
THE EMAIL LIST,             THE PHONE BOOK
HEY HEY!,                   HELLO HELLO!
DID MY JACKET GET BLOODY?,  A BAT EARED FOX
IN THE DARK HOUR,           IN THE DARKEST HOUR


The puzzle satisfies the series' inbuilt assumption that each phrase can be tested for whether it is a Computer Phrase™ without relying on the other phrases. These are not the only examples of Computer Phrases™; many more exist.

What is the special rule these phrases conform to?

Hint:

One word from each phrase is extra and can be removed.

Hint 2:

Some numbers are special to Computer Scientists and are relevant in this puzzle.

Hint 3:

The first word from each phrase can be ignored.

• I can't shake the suspicion that this has something to do with rot13(Xensgjrex). May 7, 2020 at 12:45
• Does it relates to the keyboard? May 8, 2020 at 6:34
• @CulverKwan Added hints. Keyboard is not related. May 8, 2020 at 8:26
• @DenverCoder1, you've been editing a lot of your old posts all at once - is it possible to stop for a day or so? The Active page is flooded at this point. Feb 22, 2021 at 15:47
• @bobble Sorry about that. Just had the idea to convert my posts to markdown after a few had been converted by other users. I think I'm done for now, but I'll keep that in mind in the future. Feb 22, 2021 at 15:49

My guess:

A Computer Phrase™ is a phrase that the A1Z26 of the first letters of the words concatenated(excluding the first word) equals 2 to the power of the sum of the length of the words(excluding the first word).

Explanation:

For the Computer Phrases™:

VERY FUN DAY -> F, D -> 6-4 -> 2**6, "FUN DAY" has 6 letters
SOME ZIPPED UP DISK DRIVES -> Z, U, D, D -> 26-21-4-4 -> 2**18, "ZIPPED UP DISK DRIVES" has 18 letters
KILL A FLY -> A, F -> 1-6 -> 2**4, "A FLY" has 4 letters
IN YOUR FACE! -> Y, F -> 25-6 -> 2**8, "YOUR FACE" has 8 letters
GO LAY HOLD -> L, H -> 12-8 -> 2**7, "LAY HOLD" has 7 letters
A HIGH SCHOOL BOY -> H, S, B -> 8-19-2 -> 2**13, "HIGH SCHOOL BOY" has 13 letters
IT CAN BE GOOD FOR HER -> C, B, G, F, H -> 3-2-7-6-8 -> 2**15, "CAN BE GOOD FOR HER" has 15 letters
THE EMAIL LIST -> E, L -> 5-12 -> 2**9, "EMAIL LIST" has 9 letters
HEY HEY! -> H -> 8 -> 2**3, "HEY" has 3 letters
DID MY JACKET GET BLOODY? -> M, J, G, B -> 13-10-7-2 -> 2**17, "MY JACKET GET BLOODY" has 17 letters
IN THE DARK HOUR -> T, D, H -> 20-4-8 -> 2**11, "THE DARK HOUR" has 11 letters

For the Non-Computer Phrases™:

TRULY BORING DAY -> B, D -> 2-4
A CIRCUIT BOARD -> C, B -> 3-2 -> 2**5, but "CIRCUIT BOARD" has 12 letters
CATCH A BUTTERFLY -> A, B -> 1-2
IN HIS FACE! -> H, F -> 8-6
GO LIE DOWN -> L, D -> 12-4
A HARD SCHOOL DAY -> H, S, D -> 8-19-4
THAT MAY BE GOOD FOR HIM -> M, B, G, F, H -> 13-2-7-6-8
THE PHONE BOOK -> P, B -> 16-2
HELLO HELLO! -> H -> 8 -> 2**3, but "HELLO" has 5 letters
A BAT EARED FOX -> B, E, F -> 2-5-6 -> 2**8, but "BAT EARED FOX" has 11 letters
IN THE DARKEST HOUR -> T, D, H -> 20-4-8 -> 2**11, but "THE DARKEST HOUR" has 14 letters

It is called Computer Phrases™ because:

Binary is important for computers.