Runt

Okay kiddo, so imagine you have a bunch of puppies. Some of them are big and strong, but there's one little puppy who's much smaller than the rest. That little puppy is called a runt.

Just like how that puppy might struggle to keep up with the bigger puppies in a litter, in the world of computer networking, a "runt" is a very tiny network packet that got cut off or didn't get fully transmitted. Think of it like a message that didn't quite make it all the way to where it was supposed to go.

Runt packets can cause problems because the devices on the network might not be able to understand them properly, which can lead to network errors and slow down the communication between devices. But just like how that little runt puppy can grow up to be strong and healthy with the right care, network issues can usually be fixed with some troubleshooting and maintenance.