view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

factpacks/jargon-split.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

accumulator is  n. 1. Archaic term for a register.  On-line use of it   as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable indication that   the user has been around for quite a while and/or that the   architecture under discussion is quite old.  The t...
accumulator2 is  microprocessor registers, for example, though   symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in `A' derive   from historical use of the term `accumulator' (and not, actually,   from `arithmetic').  Confusingly, though, an `A' re...
accumulator3 is  `address', as for example on the   Motorola 680x0 family.  2. A register being used for arithmetic or   logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index), especially one   being used to accumulate a sum or count of many items.  This u...
accumulator4 is  stretch of code.  "The   FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an accumulator."  3. One's in-basket   (esp. among old-timers who might use sense 1).  "You want this   reviewed?  Sure, just put it in the accumulator."  (See {stack}.) 
ACK is  /ak/ interj. 1. [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110]   Acknowledge.  Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream   *Yo!*).  An appropriate response to {ping} or {ENQ}.   2. [from the comic strip "Bloom County"] An exclamation of   su...
ACK2 is  Semi-humorous.   Generally this sense is not spelled in caps (ACK) and is   distinguished by a following exclamation point.  3. Used to   politely interrupt someone to tell them you understand their point   (see {NAK}).  Thus, for example, y...
ACK3 is  with "Ack.  Ack.  Ack.  I get it now".   There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you   there?", often used in email when earlier mail has produced no   reply, or during a lull in {talk mode} to see if the person has   gone a...
ACK4 is  course {NAK}   (sense 2), i.e., "I'm not here"). 
ad-hockery is  /ad-hok'*r-ee/ [Purdue] n. 1. Gratuitous assumptions   made inside certain programs, esp. expert systems, which lead to   the appearance of semi-intelligent behavior but are in fact   entirely arbitrary.  For example, fuzzy-matching in...
ad-hockery2 is  against a symbol table can make it look as   though a program knows how to spell.  2. Special-case code to cope   with some awkward input that would otherwise cause a program to   {choke}, presuming normal inputs are dealt with in som...
ad-hockery3 is  `ad-hackery', `ad-hocity'   (/ad-hos'*-tee/).  See also {ELIZA effect}. 
Ada is  n. A {{Pascal}}-descended language that has been made   mandatory for Department of Defense software projects by the   Pentagon.  Hackers are nearly unanimous in observing that,   technically, it is precisely what one might expect given that ...
Ada2 is  committee, crockish, difficult   to use, and overall a disastrous, multi-billion-dollar boondoggle   (one common description is "The PL/I of the 1980s").  Hackers   find Ada's exception-handling and inter-process communication   features par...
Ada3 is  daughter of   Lord Byron who became the world's first programmer while   cooperating with Charles Babbage on the design of his mechanical   computing engines in the mid-1800s) would almost certainly blanch   at the use to which her name has ...
Ada4 is  been said about it is that there is probably a good   small language screaming to get out from inside its vast,   {elephantine} bulk. 
adger is  /aj'r/ [UCLA] vt. To make a bonehead move with consequences   that could have been foreseen with a slight amount of mental   effort.  E.g., "He started removing files and promptly adgered the   whole project".  Compare {dumbass attack}.
admin is  /ad-min'/ n. Short for `administrator'; very commonly   used in speech or on-line to refer to the systems person in charge   on a computer.  Common constructions on this include `sysadmin'   and `site admin' (emphasizing the administrator's...
admin2 is  or `newsadmin' (focusing specifically   on news).  Compare {postmaster}, {sysop}, {system   mangler}. 
ADVENT is  /ad'vent/ n. The prototypical computer adventure game, first   implemented on the {PDP-10} by Will Crowther as an attempt at   computer-refereed fantasy gaming, and expanded into a   puzzle-oriented game by Don Woods.  Now better known as ...
ADVENT2 is  system permitted only 6-letter   filenames.  See also {vadding}.   This game defined the terse, dryly humorous style now expected in   text adventure games, and popularized several tag lines that have   become fixtures of hacker-speak  "A...
ADVENT3 is  see no X here" (for some noun X).  "You are in a   maze of twisty little passages, all alike."  "You are in a little   maze of twisty passages, all different."  The `magic words'   {xyzzy} and {plugh} also derive from this game.   Crowthe...
ADVENT4 is  of the   Mammoth & Flint Ridge cave system; it actually *has* a   `Colossal Cave' and a `Bedquilt' as in the game, and the `Y2' that   also turns up is cavers' jargon for a map reference to a secondary   entrance. 
AI-complete is  /A-I k*m-pleet'/ [MIT, Stanford by analogy with   `NP-complete' (see {NP-})] adj. Used to describe problems or   subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution presupposes a   solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the synthe...
AI-complete2 is  problem that is AI-complete is, in   other words, just too hard.   Examples of AI-complete problems are `The Vision Problem'   (building a system that can see as well as a human) and `The   Natural Language Problem' (building a syste...
AI-complete3 is  language as well as a human).  These may appear   to be modular, but all attempts so far (1991) to solve them have   foundered on the amount of context information and `intelligence'   they seem to require. See also {gedanken}. 
AI koans is  /A-I koh'anz/ pl.n. A series of pastiches of Zen   teaching riddles created by Danny Hillis at the MIT AI Lab around   various major figures of the Lab's culture (several are included in   appendix A).  See also {ha ha only serious}, {mu...
AIDS is  /aydz/ n. Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*' is a   {glob} pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple),   this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe   {SEX}.  See {virus}, {worm}, {Trojan horse},   {virgin}.
airplane rule is  n. "Complexity increases the possibility of   failure; a twin-engine airplane has twice as many engine problems   as a single-engine airplane."  By analogy, in both software and   electronics, the rule that simplicity increases robu...
airplane rule2 is  correspondingly argued that the   right way to build reliable systems is to put all your eggs in one   basket, after making sure that you've built a really *good*   basket. 
aliasing bug is  n. A class of subtle programming errors that can   arise in code that does dynamic allocation, esp. via   `malloc(3)' or equivalent.  If more than one pointer addresses   (`aliases for') a given hunk of storage, it may happen that th...
aliasing bug2 is  then referenced through   another, which may lead to subtle (and possibly intermittent) lossage   depending on the state and the allocation history of the malloc   {arena}.  Avoidable by use of allocation strategies that never   ali...
aliasing bug3 is  higher-level   languages, such as {LISP}, which employ a garbage collector   (see {GC}).  Also called a {stale pointer bug}.  See also   {precedence lossage}, {smash the stack}, {fandango on core},   {memory leak}, {overrun screw}, ...
aliasing bug4 is  nowadays associated with   C programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in the   Algol-60 and FORTRAN communities in the 1960s. 
all-elbows is  adj. Of a TSR (terminate-and-stay-resident) IBM PC   program, such as the N pop-up calendar and calculator utilities   that circulate on {BBS} systems unsociable.  Used to describe a   program that rudely steals the resources that it n...
all-elbows2 is  also be resident.  One particularly   common form of rudeness is lock-up due to programs fighting over   the keyboard interrupt.  See also {mess-dos}. 
alpha particles is  n. See {bit rot}.
ALT is  /awlt/ 1. n. The ALT shift key on an IBM PC or {clone}.   2. [possibly lowercased] n. The `clover' or `Command' key on a   Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals that the speaker hacked   PCs before coming to the Mac (see also {command k...
ALT2 is  reserve `ALT' for the Option key.  3. n.obs.   [PDP-10] Alternate name for the ASCII ESC character (ASCII   0011011), after the keycap labeling on some older terminals.  Also   `ALTMODE' (/awlt'mohd/).  This character was almost never   pron...
ALT3 is  under   TOPS-10 --- always ALT, as in "Type ALT ALT to end a TECO   command" or "ALT U onto the system" (for "log onto the [ITS]   system").  This was probably because ALT is more convenient to say   than `escape', especially when followed b...
ALT4 is  *and* a character, for that matter). 
alt bit is  /awlt bit/ [from alternate] adj. See {meta bit}.
Aluminum Book is  [MIT] n. `Common LISP The Language', by   Guy L.  Steele Jr. (Digital Press, first edition 1984, second   edition 1990).  Note that due to a technical screwup some printings   of the second edition are actually of a color the author...
Aluminum Book2 is  also {{book titles}}. 
amoeba is  n. Humorous term for the Commodore Amiga personal computer.
amp off is  [Purdue] vt. To run in {background}.  From the UNIX shell `&'   operator.
amper is  n. Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand (`&',   ASCII 0100110) character.  See {ASCII} for other synonyms.
angle brackets is  n. Either of the characters `<' (ASCII   0111100) and `>' (ASCII 0111110) (ASCII less-than or   greater-than signs).  The {Real World} angle brackets used by   typographers are actually taller than a less-than or greater-than   sig...
angry fruit salad is  n. A bad visual-interface design that uses too   many colors.  This derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo   colors found in canned fruit salad.  Too often one sees similar   affects from interface designers using color wi...
angry fruit salad2 is  tendency to create displays that are flashy and   attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use. 
AOS is  1. /aws/ (East Coast), /ay-os/ (West Coast) [based on a   PDP-10 increment instruction] vt.,obs. To increase the amount of   something.  "AOS the campfire."  Usage considered silly, and now   obsolete.  Now largely supplanted by {bump}.  See ...
AOS2 is  supported at one time by Data General.  This   was pronounced /A-O-S/ or /A-os/.  A spoof of the standard   AOS system administrator's manual (`How to load and generate   your AOS system') was created, issued a part number, and circulated   ...
AOS3 is  goad and   levitate your chaos system'.  3. Algebraic Operating System, in   reference to those calculators which use infix instead of postfix   (reverse Polish) notation.   Historical note AOS in sense 1 was the name of a {PDP-10}   instruc...
AOS4 is  computer and added   1 to it; AOS meant `Add One and do not Skip'.  Why, you may ask,   does the `S' stand for `do not Skip' rather than for `Skip'?  Ah,   here was a beloved piece of PDP-10 folklore.  There were eight such   instructions AO...
AOS5 is  instruction   if the result was Equal to zero; AOSG added 1 and then skipped if   the result was Greater than 0; AOSN added 1 and then skipped   if the result was Not 0; AOSA added 1 and then skipped Always;   and so on.  Just plain AOS didn...
AOS6 is  For similar reasons, AOJ meant `Add One and do not Jump'.  Even   more bizarre, SKIP meant `do not SKIP'!  If you wanted to skip the   next instruction, you had to say `SKIPA'.  Likewise, JUMP meant   `do not JUMP'; the unconditional form wa...
AOS7 is  By some quirk of the 10's design, the {JRST}   (Jump and ReSTore flag with no flag specified) was actually faster   and so was invariably used.  Such were the perverse mysteries of   assembler programming. 
app is  /ap/ n. Short for `application program', as opposed to a   systems program.  What systems vendors are forever chasing   developers to create for their environments so they can sell more   boxes.  Hackers tend not to think of the things they t...
app2 is  parlance the term excludes compilers,   program editors, games, and messaging systems, though a user would   consider all those to be apps.  Oppose {tool}, {operating   system}. 
arc is  [primarily MSDOS] vt. To create a compressed {archive} from a   group of files using SEA ARC, PKWare PKARC, or a compatible   program.  Rapidly becoming obsolete as the ARC compression method   is falling into disuse, having been replaced by ...
arc2 is  feather}, {zip}. 
arc wars is  [primarily MSDOS] n. {holy wars} over which archiving   program one should use.  The first arc war was sparked when System   Enhancement Associates (SEA) sued PKWare for copyright and   trademark infringement on its ARC program.  PKWare'...
arc wars2 is  and speed while largely   retaining compatibility (it introduced a new compression type that   could be disabled for backward-compatibility).  PKWare settled out   of court to avoid enormous legal costs (both SEA and PKWare are   small ...
arc wars3 is  of PKARC was   changed to PKPAK.  The public backlash against SEA for bringing   suit helped to hasten the demise of ARC as a standard when PKWare   and others introduced new, incompatible archivers with better   compression algorithms....
archive is  n. 1. A collection of several files bundled into one file   by a program such as `ar(1)', `tar(1)', `cpio(1)',   or {arc} for shipment or archiving (sense 2).  See also {tar   and feather}.  2. A collection of files or archives (sense 1) ...
archive2 is  {FTP} or an email server. 
arena is  [UNIX] n. The area of memory attached to a process by   `brk(2)' and `sbrk(2)' and used by `malloc(3)' as   dynamic storage.  So named from a semi-mythical `malloc   corrupt arena' message supposedly emitted when some early versions   becam...
arena2 is  {aliasing   bug}, {memory leak}, {smash the stack}. 
arg is  /arg/ n. Abbreviation for `argument' (to a function),   used so often as to have become a new word (like `piano' from   `pianoforte').  "The sine function takes 1 arg, but the   arc-tangent function can take either 1 or 2 args."  Compare   {p...
armor-plated is  n. Syn. for {bulletproof}.
asbestos is  adj. Used as a modifier to anything intended to protect   one from {flame}s.  Important cases of this include {asbestos   longjohns} and {asbestos cork award}, but it is used more   generally.
asbestos cork award is  n. Once, long ago at MIT, there was a {flamer}   so consistently obnoxious that another hacker designed, had made,   and distributed posters announcing that said flamer had been   nominated for the `asbestos cork award'.  Pers...
asbestos cork award2 is  application of the cork should consult the   etymology under {flame}.  Since then, it is agreed that only a   select few have risen to the heights of bombast required to earn   this dubious dignity --- but there is no agreeme...
asbestos longjohns is  n. Notional garments often donned by {USENET}   posters just before emitting a remark they expect will elicit   {flamage}.  This is the most common of the {asbestos} coinages.   Also `asbestos underwear', `asbestos overcoat', e...
attoparsec is  n. `atto-' is the standard SI prefix for   multiplication by 10^{-18}.  A parsec (parallax-second) is   3.26 light-years; an attoparsec is thus 3.26 * 10^{-18} light   years, or about 3.1 cm (thus, 1 attoparsec/{microfortnight}   equal...
attoparsec2 is  be in use   (though probably not very seriously) among hackers in the U.K.  See   {micro-}. 
autobogotiphobia is  /aw'to-boh-got`*-foh'bee-*/ n. See {bogotify}.
automagically is  /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ or /aw-toh-maj'i-k*l-ee/ adv.   Automatically, but in a way that, for some reason (typically   because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too   trivial), the speaker doesn't feel like explaining ...
automagically2 is  compiler generates C, then automagically   invokes `cc(1)' to produce an executable." 
avatar is  [CMU, Tektronix] n. Syn. {root}, {superuser}.  There   are quite a few UNIX machines on which the name of the superuser   account is `avatar' rather than `root'.  This quirk was   originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term `superuser...
avatar2 is  hacker at Tektronix. 
awk is  1. n. [UNIX techspeak] An interpreted language for massaging   text data developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian   Kernighan (the name is from their initials).  It is characterized   by C-like syntax, a declaration-free approach ...
awk2 is  associative arrays, and field-oriented text   processing.  See also {Perl}.  2. n.  Editing term for an   expression awkward to manipulate through normal {regexp}   facilities (for example, one containing a {newline}).  3. vt. To   process d...
awk3 is  security of a system deliberately left   in place by designers or maintainers.  The motivation for this is   not always sinister; some operating systems, for example, come out   of the box with privileged accounts intended for use by field  ...
awk4 is  maintenance programmers.   Historically, back doors have often lurked in systems longer than   anyone expected or planned, and a few have become widely known.   The infamous {RTM} worm of late 1988, for example, used a back door   in the {BS...
awk5 is  1983 Turing Award lecture to the ACM revealed the   existence of a back door in early UNIX versions that may have   qualified as the most fiendishly clever security hack of all time.   The C compiler contained code that would recognize when ...
awk6 is  insert some code   recognizing a password chosen by Thompson, giving him entry to the   system whether or not an account had been created for him.   Normally such a back door could be removed by removing it from the   source code for the com...
awk7 is  recompile the compiler, you have to *use* the compiler --- so   Thompson also arranged that the compiler would *recognize when   it was compiling a version of itself*, and insert into the   recompiled compiler the code to insert into the rec...
awk8 is  entry --- and, of course, the code to   recognize itself and do the whole thing again the next time around!   And having done this once, he was then able to recompile the   compiler from the original sources, leaving his back door in place  ...
awk9 is  The talk that revealed this truly moby hack was published as   "Reflections on Trusting Trust", `Communications of the   ACM 27', 8 (August 1984), pp. 761--763.   Syn. {trap door}; may also be called a `wormhole'.  See also   {iron box}, {cr...
backbone cabal is  n. A group of large-site administrators who pushed   through the {Great Renaming} and reined in the chaos of {USENET}   during most of the 1980s.  The cabal {mailing list} disbanded in   late 1988 after a bitter internal catfight, ...
backbone site is  n. A key USENET and email site; one that processes   a large amount of third-party traffic, especially if it is the home   site of any of the regional coordinators for the USENET maps.   Notable backbone sites as of early 1991 inclu...
backbone site2 is  University, UC Berkeley, DEC's Western   Research Laboratories, Ohio State University, and the University of   Texas.  Compare {rib site}, {leaf site}. 
backgammon is See {bignum}, {moby}, and {pseudoprime}.
background is  n.,adj.,vt.  To do a task `in background' is to do   it whenever {foreground} matters are not claiming your undivided   attention, and `to background' something means to relegate it to   a lower priority.  "For now, we'll just print a ...

factpacks/jargon-split.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

by hand is  adv. Said of an operation (especially a repetitive,   trivial, and/or tedious one) that ought to be performed   automatically by the computer, but which a hacker instead has to   step tediously through.  "My mailer doesn't have a command ...
by hand2 is  replying to, so I have to do it   by hand."  This does not necessarily mean the speaker has to   retype a copy of the message; it might refer to, say, dropping into   a {subshell} from the mailer, making a copy of one's mailbox file,   r...
by hand3 is  and bottom of the   message in question, deleting the rest of the file, inserting `>'   characters on each line, writing the file, leaving the editor,   returning to the mailer, reading the file in, and later remembering   to delete the ...
byte is  /bit/ [techspeak] n. A unit of memory or data equal to   the amount used to represent one character; on modern architectures   this is usually 8 bits, but may be 9 on 36-bit machines.  Some   older architectures used `byte' for quantities of...
byte2 is  `bytes' that were actually bitfields of   1 to 36 bits!  These usages are now obsolete, and even 9-bit bytes   have become rare in the general trend toward power-of-2 word sizes.   Historical note The term originated in 1956 during the earl...
byte3 is  originally it was   described as 1 to 6 bits (typical I/O equipment of the period   used 6-bit chunks of information).  The move to an 8-bit byte   happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted and   promulgated as a standard by th...
byte4 is  mutating the word `bite' so it would not be accidentally   misspelled as {bit}.  See also {nybble}. 
bytesexual is  /bit`sek'shu-*l/ adj. Said of hardware, denotes   willingness to compute or pass data in either {big-endian} or   {little-endian} format (depending, presumably, on a {mode bit}   somewhere).  See also {NUXI problem}.*C n. 1. The third ...
bytesexual2 is  1000011.  3. The name of a programming language designed by   Dennis Ritchie during the early 1970s and immediately used to   reimplement {{UNIX}}.  So called because many features derived   from an earlier compiler named `B' in comme...
bytesexual3 is  Stroustrup settled the   question by designing C++, there was a humorous debate over whether   C's successor should be named `D' or `P'.  C became immensely   popular outside Bell Labs after about 1980 and is now the dominant   langua...
bytesexual4 is  programming.   See also {languages of choice}, {indent style}.   C is often described, with a mixture of fondness and disdain   varying according to the speaker, as "a language that combines   all the elegance and power of assembly la...
bytesexual5 is  maintainability of assembly language". 
calculator is  [Cambridge] n. Syn. for {bitty box}.
can is  vt. To abort a job on a time-sharing system.  Used esp. when the   person doing the deed is an operator, as in "canned from the   {{console}}".  Frequently used in an imperative sense, as in "Can   that print job, the LPT just popped a sprock...
can2 is  that the ASCII character with mnemonic CAN   (0011000) was used as a kill-job character on some early OSes. 
canonical is  [historically, `according to religious law'] adj. The   usual or standard state or manner of something.  This word has a   somewhat more technical meaning in mathematics.  Two formulas such   as 9 + x and x + 9 are said to be equivalent...
canonical2 is  second one is in `canonical   form' because it is written in the usual way, with the highest   power of x first.  Usually there are fixed rules you can use   to decide whether something is in canonical form.  The jargon   meaning, a re...
canonical3 is    present loading in computer-science culture largely through its   prominence in Alonzo Church's work in computation theory and   mathematical logic (see {Knights of the Lambda Calculus}).   Compare {vanilla}.   This word has an inter...
canonical4 is  not use the adjective `canonical' in any of the senses defined   above with any regularity; they do however use the nouns `canon' and   `canonicity' (not *canonicalness or *canonicality). The `canon' of   a given author is the complete...
canonical5 is  usage is familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as   to literary scholars).  `*The* canon' is the body of works in   a given field (e.g., works of literature, or of art, or of music)   deemed worthwhile for students to study and for ...
canonical6 is  non-techspeak academic usages derive ultimately from the   historical meaning, specifically the classification of the books of   the Bible into two groups by Christian theologians.  The   `canonical' books were the ones widely accepted...
canonical7 is  authority.  The   `deuterocanonical' books (literally `secondarily canonical';   also known as the `Apochrypha') were held to be of lesser   authority --- indeed they have been held in such low esteem that to   this day they are omitte...
canonical8 is  this term with a playfulness that makes an ironic   contrast with its historical meaning.  A true story One Bob   Sjoberg, new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed some annoyance at the use   of jargon.  Over his loud objections, GLS and RMS m...
canonical9 is  in his presence, and eventually it   began to sink in.  Finally, in one conversation, he used the word   `canonical' in jargon-like fashion without thinking.  Steele   "Aha!  We've finally got you talking jargon too!"  Stallman   "What...
canonical10 is  `canonical' in the   canonical way."   Of course, canonicality depends on context, but it is implicitly   defined as the way *hackers* normally expect things to be.   Thus, a hacker may claim with a straight face that `according to   ...
card is  n. 1. An electronic printed-circuit board (see also {tall   card}, {short card}.  2. obs. Syn. {{punched card}}.
card walloper is  n. An EDP programmer who grinds out batch programs   that do stupid things like print people's paychecks.  Compare   {code grinder}.  See also {{punched card}}, {eighty-column   mind}.
careware is  /keir'weir/ n. {Shareware} for which either the   author suggests that some payment be made to a nominated charity   or a levy directed to charity is included on top of the   distribution charge.  Syn. {charityware}; compare   {cripplewa...
cargo cult programming is  n. A style of (incompetent) programming   dominated by ritual inclusion of code or program structures that   serve no real purpose.  A cargo cult programmer will usually   explain the extra code as a way of working around s...
cargo cult programming2 is  neither the bug nor the reason   the code apparently avoided the bug was ever fully understood   (compare {shotgun debugging}, {voodoo programming}).   The term `cargo cult' is a reference to aboriginal religions that   gr...
cargo cult programming3 is  The practices of   these cults center on building elaborate mockups of airplanes and   military style landing strips in the hope of bringing the return of   the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during t...
cargo cult programming4 is  Richard Feynman's   characterization of certain practices as "cargo cult science" in   his book `Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman' (W. W. Norton   & Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7). 
case and paste is  [from `cut and paste'] n. 1. The addition of a new   {feature} to an existing system by selecting the code from an   existing feature and pasting it in with minor changes.  Common in   telephony circles because most operations in a...
case and paste2 is  statements.  Leads to {software bloat}.   In some circles of EMACS users this is called `programming by   Meta-W', because Meta-W is the EMACS command for copying a block of   text to a kill buffer in preparation to pasting it in ...
case and paste3 is  implying that the programmer is acting   mindlessly rather than thinking carefully about what is required to   integrate the code for two similar cases. 
casters-up mode is  [IBM] n. Yet another synonym for `broken' or   `down'.
casting the runes is  n. What a {guru} does when you ask him or her   to run a particular program and type at it because it never works   for anyone else; esp. used when nobody can ever see what the guru   is doing different from what J. Random Luser...
casting the runes2 is  {examining the entrails}; also see   the AI koan about Tom Knight in appendix A. 
cat is  [from `catenate' via {{UNIX}} `cat(1)'] vt.   1. [techspeak] To spew an entire file to the screen or some other   output sink without pause.  2. By extension, to dump large amounts   of data at an unprepared target or with no intention of bro...
cat2 is   Rare outside UNIX sites.  See   also {dd}, {BLT}.   Among UNIX fans, `cat(1)' is considered an excellent example   of user-interface design, because it outputs the file contents   without such verbosity as spacing or headers between the fil...
cat3 is  to consist of lines of text,   but works with any sort of data.   Among UNIX-haters, `cat(1)' is considered the {canonical}   example of *bad* user-interface design.  This because it is more   often used to {blast} a file to standard output ...
cat4 is  `cat' for the former   operation is just as unintuitive as, say, LISP's {cdr}.   Of such oppositions are {holy wars} made.... 
catatonic is  adj. Describes a condition of suspended animation in   which something is so {wedged} or {hung} that it makes no   response.  If you are typing on a terminal and suddenly the   computer doesn't even echo the letters back to the screen a...
catatonic2 is  it to do, then the computer   is suffering from catatonia (possibly because it has crashed).   "There I was in the middle of a winning game of {nethack} and it   went catatonic on me!  Aaargh!" Compare {buzz}. 
cdr is  /ku'dr/ or /kuh'dr/ [from LISP] vt. To skip past the   first item from a list of things (generalized from the LISP   operation on binary tree structures, which returns a list   consisting of all but the first element of its argument).  In the...
cdr2 is  elements  "Shall we   cdr down the agenda?"  Usage silly.  See also {loop through}.   Historical note The instruction format of the IBM 7090 that hosted   the original LISP implementation featured two 15-bit fields called   the `address' and...
cdr3 is  originally   `Contents of Decrement part of Register'.  Similarly, `car' stood   for `Contents of Address part of Register'.   The cdr and car operations have since become bases for   formation of compound metaphors in non-LISP contexts.  GL...
cdr4 is  in which strings were   represented as linked lists; the get-character and skip-character   operations were of course called CHAR and CHDR. 
chad is  /chad/ n. 1. The perforated edge strips on printer paper, after   they have been separated from the printed portion.  Also called   {selvage} and {perf}.  2. obs. The confetti-like paper bits punched   out of cards or paper tape; this was al...
chad2 is  `keypunch droppings'.   Historical note One correspondent believes `chad' (sense 2)   derives from the Chadless keypunch (named for its inventor), which   cut little u-shaped tabs in the card to make a hole when the tab   folded back, rathe...
chad3 is   clear that if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the   stuff that other keypunches made had to be `chad'. 
chad box is  n. {Iron Age} card punches contained boxes inside them,   about the size of a lunchbox (or in some models a large   wastebasket), that held the {chad} (sense 2).  You had to open   the covers of the card punch periodically and empty the ...
chad box2 is  the equivalent device in the CPU   enclosure, which was typically across the room in another great   gray-and-blue box. 
chain is  [orig. from BASIC's `CHAIN' statement] vi. To hand off   execution to a child or successor without going through the   {OS} command interpreter that invoked it.  The state of the   parent program is lost and there is no returning to it.  Th...
chain2 is  memory-limited micros and is   still widely supported for backward compatibility, the jargon usage   is semi-obsolescent; in particular, most UNIX programmers will   think of this as an {exec}.  Oppose the more modern {subshell}. 
char is  /keir/ or /char/; rarely, /kar/ n. Shorthand for   `character'.  Esp. used by C programmers, as `char' is   C's typename for character data.
charityware is  /char'it-ee-weir`/ n. Syn. {careware}.
chase pointers is  1. vi. To go through multiple levels of   indirection, as in traversing a linked list or graph structure.   Used esp. by programmers in C, where explicit pointers are a very   common data type.  This is techspeak, but it remains ja...
chase pointers2 is  chasing pointers.  Bob said you   could tell me who to talk to about...." See {dangling   pointer} and {snap}.  2. [Cambridge] `pointer chase' or   `pointer hunt' The process of going through a dump   (interactively or on a large ...
chase pointers3 is  following dynamic data-structures.  Used only in a   debugging context. 
chemist is  [Cambridge] n. Someone who wastes computer time on   {number-crunching} when you'd far rather the machine were doing   something more productive, such as working out anagrams of your   name or printing Snoopy calendars or running {life} p...
chemist2 is  actually studies chemistry. 
Chernobyl chicken is  n. See {laser chicken}.
Chernobyl packet is  /cher-noh'b*l pak'*t/ n. A network packet that   induces {network meltdown} (the result of a {broadcast storm}),   in memory of the 1987 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.   The typical case of this is an IP Ethernet d...
Chernobyl packet2 is  both source and destination Ether and IP   address set as the respective broadcast addresses for the   subnetworks being gated between.  Compare {Christmas tree   packet}. 
chicken head is  [Commodore] n. The Commodore Business Machines logo,   which strongly resembles a poultry part.  Rendered in ASCII as   `C='.  With the arguable exception of the Amiga (see {amoeba}),   Commodore's machines are notoriously crocky lit...
chicken head2 is  Thus, this usage may owe something to   Philip K.  Dick's novel `Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'   (the basis for the movie `Blade Runner'), in which a   `chickenhead' is a mutant with below-average intelligence. 
chiclet keyboard is  n. A keyboard with small rectangular or   lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like pieces of   chewing gum.  (Chiclets is the brand name of a variety of chewing   gum that does in fact resemble the keys of chiclet key...
chiclet keyboard2 is  IBM PCjr keyboard.  Vendors   unanimously liked these because they were cheap, and a lot of early   portable and laptop products got launched using them.  Customers   rejected the idea with almost equal unanimity, and chiclets a...
chine nual is  /sheen'yu-*l/ [MIT] n.,obs. The Lisp Machine Manual, so   called because the title was wrapped around the cover so only those   letters showed on the front.
Chinese Army technique is  n. Syn. {Mongolian Hordes technique}.
choke is  v. To reject input, often ungracefully.  "Nuls make System   V's `lpr(1)' choke."  "I tried building an {EMACS} binary to   use {X}, but `cpp(1)' choked on all those `#define's."   See {barf}, {gag}, {vi}.
chomp is  vi. To {lose}; specifically, to chew on something of   which more was bitten off than one can.  Probably related to   gnashing of teeth.  See {bagbiter}.  A hand gesture commonly   accompanies this.  To perform it, hold the four fingers   t...
chomp2 is  tips.  Now open and   close your hand rapidly to suggest a biting action (much like what   Pac-Man does in the classic video game, though this pantomime seems   to predate that).  The gesture alone means `chomp chomp' (see   Verb Doubling ...
chomp3 is  Prependices).  The hand may be pointed at the object of complaint,   and for real emphasis you can use both hands at once.  Doing this   to a person is equivalent to saying "You chomper!"  If you point   the gesture at yourself, it is a hu...
chomp4 is  You might do this if someone told you that a program   you had written had failed in some surprising way and you felt dumb   for not having anticipated it. 
chomper is  n. Someone or something that is chomping; a loser.  See   {loser}, {bagbiter}, {chomp}.
Christmas tree is  n. A kind of RS-232 line tester or breakout box   featuring rows of blinking red and green LEDs suggestive of   Christmas lights.
Christmas tree packet is  n. A packet with every single option set for   whatever protocol is in use.  See {kamikaze packet}, {Chernobyl   packet}.  (The term doubtless derives from a fanciful image of each   little option bit being represented by a ...
chrome is  [from automotive slang via wargaming] n. Showy features   added to attract users but contributing little or nothing to   the power of a system.  "The 3D icons in Motif are just chrome,   but they certainly are *pretty* chrome!"  Distinguis...
chrome2 is  that the latter are usually   added to gratify developers' own desires for featurefulness.    Often used as a term of contempt. 
chug is  vi. To run slowly; to {grind} or {grovel}.  "The disk is   chugging like crazy."
Church of the SubGenius is  n. A mutant offshoot of   {Discordianism} launched in 1981 as a spoof of fundamentalist   Christianity by the `Reverend' Ivan Stang, a brilliant satirist   with a gift for promotion.  Popular among hackers as a rich source...
Church of the SubGenius2 is  "Bob" the divine   drilling-equipment salesman, the Benevolent Space Xists, and the   Stark Fist of Removal.  Much SubGenius theory is concerned with the   acquisition of the mystical substance or quality of   `slack'. 
Cinderella Book is  [CMU] n. `Introduction to Automata Theory,   Languages, and Computation', by John Hopcroft and Jeffrey Ullman,   (Addison-Wesley, 1979).  So called because the cover depicts a girl   (putatively Cinderella) sitting in front of a R...
Cinderella Book2 is  coming out of it.  The back cover depicts the   girl with the device in shambles after she has pulled on the rope.   See also {{book titles}}. 
CI$ is  // n. Hackerism for `CIS', CompuServe Information Service.   The dollar sign refers to CompuServe's rather steep line charges.  Often   used in {sig block}s just before a CompuServe address.  Syn.   {Compu$erve}.
Classic C is  /klas'ik C/ [a play on `Coke Classic'] n. The   C programming language as defined in the first edition of {K&R},   with some small additions.  It is also known as `K&R C'.  The name   came into use while C was being standardized by the ...
Classic C2 is  This is sometimes applied   elsewhere thus, `X Classic', where X = Star Trek (referring to the   original TV series) or X = PC (referring to IBM's ISA-bus machines   as opposed to the PS/2 series).  This construction is especially   us...
Classic C3 is  versions are considered   serious losers relative to the older ones. 
clean is  1. adj. Used of hardware or software designs, implies   `elegance in the small', that is, a design or implementation that   may not hold any surprises but does things in a way that is   reasonably intuitive and relatively easy to comprehend...
clean2 is  or {crufty}.  2. v. To remove   unneeded or undesired files in a effort to reduce clutter  "I'm   cleaning up my account." "I cleaned up the garbage and now have   100 Meg free on that partition." 
CLM is  /C-L-M/ [Sun `Career Limiting Move'] 1. n. An action   endangering one's future prospects of getting plum projects and   raises, and possibly one's job  "His Halloween costume was a   parody of his manager.  He won the prize for `best CLM'." ...
CLM2 is  discovered by a   customer and obviously missed earlier because of poor testing   "That's a CLM bug!" 
clobber is  vt. To overwrite, usually unintentionally "I walked off   the end of the array and clobbered the stack."  Compare {mung},   {scribble}, {trash}, and {smash the stack}.
clocks is  n. Processor logic cycles, so called because each   generally corresponds to one clock pulse in the processor's timing.   The relative execution times of instructions on a machine are   usually discussed in clocks rather than absolute frac...
clocks2 is  is that clock speeds for various   models of the machine may increase as technology improves, and it   is usually the relative times one is interested in when discussing   the instruction set.  Compare {cycle}. 
clone is  n. 1. An exact duplicate "Our product is a clone of   their product."  Implies a legal reimplementation from   documentation or by reverse-engineering.  Also connotes lower   price.  2. A shoddy, spurious copy "Their product is a   clone of...
clone2 is  likely violating   copyright, patent, or trade secret protections "Your   product is a clone of my product."  This use implies legal   action is pending.  4. A `PC clone'; a PC-BUS/ISA or   EISA-compatible 80x86-based microcomputer (this u...
clone3 is   These invariably have much   more bang for the buck than the IBM archetypes they resemble.   5. In the construction `UNIX clone' An OS designed to deliver   a UNIX-lookalike environment without UNIX license fees, or with   additional `mis...
clone4 is  real-time programming.  6. v. To make an exact copy of something.   "Let me clone that" might mean "I want to borrow that paper so I   can make a photocopy" or "Let me get a copy of that file before   you {mung} it". 
clover key is  [Mac users] n. See {command key}.
clustergeeking is  /kluh'st*r-gee`king/ [CMU] n.  Spending more time   at a computer cluster doing CS homework than most people spend   breathing.
COBOL is  /koh'bol/ [COmmon Business-Oriented Language] n.   (Synonymous with {evil}.)  A weak, verbose, and flabby language   used by {card walloper}s to do boring mindless things on   {dinosaur} mainframes.  Hackers believe all COBOL programmers   ...
COBOL2 is  self-respecting hacker   will ever admit to having learned the language.  Its very name is   seldom uttered without ritual expressions of disgust or horror.   See also {fear and loathing}, {software rot}. 
COBOL fingers is  /koh'bol fing'grz/ n. Reported from Sweden, a   (hypothetical) disease one might get from coding in COBOL.  The   language requires code verbose beyond all reason; thus it is   alleged that programming too much in COBOL causes one's...
COBOL fingers2 is  endless typing.  "I refuse to type in   all that source code again; it would give me COBOL fingers!" 
code grinder is  n. 1. A {suit}-wearing minion of the sort hired in   legion strength by banks and insurance companies to implement   payroll packages in RPG and other such unspeakable horrors.  In his   native habitat, the code grinder often removes...
code grinder2 is  consisting of button-down shirt (starch   optional) and a tie.  In times of dire stress, the sleeves (if   long) may be rolled up and the tie loosened about half an inch.  It   seldom helps.  The {code grinder}'s milieu is about as ...
code grinder3 is  touch a computer; the term   connotes pity.  See {Real World}, {suit}.  2. Used of or to a   hacker, a really serious slur on the person's creative ability;   connotes a design style characterized by primitive technique,   rule-boun...
code grinder4 is  imagination.   Compare {card walloper}; contrast {hacker}, {real   programmer}. 
code police is  [by analogy with George Orwell's `thought police'] n.   A mythical team of Gestapo-like storm troopers that might burst   into one's office and arrest one for violating programming style   rules.  May be used either seriously, to unde...
code police2 is  violation is dangerous, or ironically, to suggest   that the practice under discussion is condemned mainly by   anal-retentive {weenie}s.  "Dike out that goto or the code   police will get you!"  The ironic usage is perhaps more comm...
codewalker is  n. A program component that traverses other programs for   a living.  Compilers have codewalkers in their front ends; so do   cross-reference generators and some database front ends.  Other   utility programs that try to do too much wi...
codewalker2 is  As in "This new `vgrind' feature would require a   codewalker to implement." 
coefficient of X is  n. Hackish speech makes rather heavy use of   pseudo-mathematical metaphors.  Four particularly important ones   involve the terms `coefficient', `factor', `index', and   `quotient'.  They are often loosely applied to things you ...
coefficient of X2 is  there are subtle   distinctions among them that convey information about the way the   speaker mentally models whatever he or she is describing.   `Foo factor' and `foo quotient' tend to describe something for   which the issue ...
coefficient of X3 is  example is {fudge factor}.  It's not important how much you're   fudging; the term simply acknowledges that some fudging is needed.   You might talk of liking a movie for its silliness factor.   Quotient tends to imply that the ...
coefficient of X4 is  "I would have won except for my luck quotient."  This   could also be "I would have won except for the luck factor", but   using *quotient* emphasizes that it was bad luck overpowering   good luck (or someone else's good luck ov...
coefficient of X5 is  `coefficient of foo' both tend to imply   that foo is, if not strictly measurable, at least something that   can be larger or smaller.  Thus, you might refer to a paper or   person as having a `high bogosity index', whereas you ...
coefficient of X6 is  bogosity factor'.  `Foo index' suggests   that foo is a condensation of many quantities, as in the mundane   cost-of-living index; `coefficient of foo' suggests that foo is a   fundamental quantity, as in a coefficient of fricti...