synchro results from the CPAN

Amethyst

DWIM2 is  Occasionally, an interjection hurled at a   balky computer, esp. when one senses one might be tripping over   legalisms (see {legalese}).   Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and   spelling errors, so it was somewhat id...
DWIM3 is  make hash of anyone else's typos if they were   stylistically different.  This led a number of victims of DWIM to   claim the acronym stood for `Damn Warren's Infernal Machine!'.   In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to t...
DWIM4 is  One day another hacker   there typed `delete *$' to free up some disk space.  (The editor   there named backup files by appending `$' to the original file   name, so he was trying to delete any backup files left over from   old editing sess...
DWIM5 is  editor   backup files, so DWIM helpfully reported `*$ not found, assuming   you meant 'delete *'.'  It then started to delete all the files on   the disk!  The hacker managed to stop it with a {Vulcan nerve   pinch} after only a half dozen ...
DWIM6 is  said he had been sorely tempted to go to Warren's   office, tie Warren down in his chair in front of his workstation,   and then type `delete *$' twice.   DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex   program; it is a...
DWIM7 is  instruction the ideal computer would have.  Back when proofs of   program correctness were in vogue, there were also jokes about   `DWIMC' (Do What I Mean, Correctly).  A related term, more often   seen as a verb, is DTRT (Do The Right Thin...
dynner is  /din'r/ 32 bits, by analogy with {nybble} and {{byte}}.  Usage rare and extremely silly.  See also {playte}, {tayste}, {crumb}.*earthquake [IBM] n. The ultimate real-world shock test for   computer hardware.  Hackish sources at IBM deny th...
dynner2 is  initiated by the company to test   quality-assurance procedures at its California plants. 
Easter egg is  n. 1. A message hidden in the object code of a program   as a joke, intended to be found by persons disassembling or   browsing the code.  2. A message, graphic, or sound effect emitted   by a program (or, on a PC, the BIOS ROM) in res...
Easter egg2 is  or keystrokes, intended as a joke or   to display program credits.  One well-known early Easter egg found   in a couple of OSes caused them to respond to the command   `make love' with `not war?'.  Many personal computers   have much ...
Easter egg3 is  lists of the   developers' names, political exhortations, snatches of music, and   (in one case) graphics images of the entire development team. 
Easter egging is  [IBM] n. The act of replacing unrelated parts more or   less at random in hopes that a malfunction will go away.  Hackers   consider this the normal operating mode of {field circus} techs and   do not love them for it.  Compare {sho...
eat flaming death is  imp. A construction popularized among hackers by   the infamous {CPU Wars} comic; supposed to derive from a famously   turgid line in a WWII-era anti-Nazi propaganda comic that ran   "Eat flaming death, non-Aryan mongrels!" or s...
eat flaming death2 is  reported that the Firesign Theater's   1975 album "In The Next World, You're On Your Own" included the   phrase "Eat flaming death, fascist media pigs"; this may have been   an influence).  Used in humorously overblown expressi...
EBCDIC is  /eb's*-dik/, /eb'see`dik/, or /eb'k*-dik/ [acronym,   Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code] n. An alleged   character set used on IBM {dinosaur}s.  It exists in at least six   mutually incompatible versions, all featuring such de...
EBCDIC2 is  and the absence of several ASCII   punctuation characters fairly important for modern computer   languages (exactly which characters are absent varies according to   which version of EBCDIC you're looking at).  IBM adapted EBCDIC   from {...
EBCDIC3 is  promulgated it   as a customer-control tactic (see {connector conspiracy}),   spurning the already established ASCII standard.  Today, IBM claims   to be an open-systems company, but IBM's own description of the   EBCDIC variants and how ...
EBCDIC4 is  classified top-secret, burn-before-reading.  Hackers blanch at the   very *name* of EBCDIC and consider it a manifestation of   purest {evil}.  See also {fear and loathing}. 
echo is  [FidoNet] n. A {topic group} on {FidoNet}'s echomail   system.  Compare {newsgroup}.
eighty-column mind is  [IBM] n. The sort said to be possessed by   persons for whom the transition from {punched card} to tape was   traumatic (nobody has dared tell them about disks yet).  It is said   that these people, including (according to an o...
eighty-column mind2 is  `face down, 9-edge first' (the 9-edge being   the bottom of the card).  This directive is inscribed on IBM's   1422 and 1602 card readers and is referenced in a famous bit of   doggerel called "The Last Bug", the climactic lin...
eighty-column mind3 is  the console        Of hunger and thirst.        Next day he was buried,        Face down, 9-edge first.   The eighty-column mind is thought by most hackers to dominate IBM's   customer base and its thinking.  See {IBM}, {fear ...
El Camino Bignum is  /el' k*-mee'noh big'nuhm/ n. The road   mundanely called El Camino Real, a road through the San Francisco   peninsula that originally extended all the way down to Mexico City   and many portions of which are still intact.  Naviga...
El Camino Bignum2 is  usually done relative to El Camino Real,   which defines {logical} north and south even though it isn't   really north-south many places.  El Camino Real runs right past   Stanford University and so is familiar to hackers.   The...
El Camino Bignum3 is  /ray-ahl'/)   means `royal'; El Camino Real is `the royal road'.  In the FORTRAN   language, a `real' quantity is a number typically precise to 7   significant digits, and a `double precision' quantity is a larger   floating-poi...
El Camino Bignum4 is  significant   digits (other languages have similar `real' types).   When a hacker from MIT visited Stanford in 1976, he remarked what a   long road El Camino Real was.  Making a pun on `real', he started   calling it `El Camino ...
El Camino Bignum5 is  told that the road was hundreds of miles long, he renamed it   `El Camino Bignum', and that name has stuck.  (See {bignum}.) 
elder days is  n. The heroic age of hackerdom (roughly, pre-1980); the   era of the {PDP-10}, {TECO}, {{ITS}}, and the ARPANET.  This   term has been rather consciously adopted from J. R. R. Tolkien's   fantasy epic `The Lord of the Rings'.  Compare ...
elegant is  [from mathematical usage] adj. Combining simplicity, power,   and a certain ineffable grace of design.  Higher praise than   `clever', `winning', or even {cuspy}.
elephantine is  adj. Used of programs or systems that are both   conspicuous {hog}s (owing perhaps to poor design founded on   {brute force and ignorance}) and exceedingly {hairy} in source   form.  An elephantine program may be functional and even f...
elephantine2 is  in bed with an elephant) it's   tough to have around all the same (and, like a pachyderm, difficult   to maintain).  In extreme cases, hackers have been known to make   trumpeting sounds or perform expressive proboscatory mime at the...
elephantine3 is  semi-humorous.  Compare   `has the elephant nature' and the somewhat more pejorative   {monstrosity}.  See also {second-system effect} and   {baroque}. 
elevator controller is  n. Another archetypal dumb embedded-systems   application, like {toaster} (which superseded it).  During one   period (1983--84) in the deliberations of ANSI X3J11 (the   C standardization committee) this was the canonical exa...
elevator controller2 is  computation environment.  "You can't   require `printf(3)' to be part of the default runtime library   --- what if you're targeting an elevator controller?"  Elevator   controllers became important rhetorical weapons on both ...
ELIZA effect is  /*-li'z* *-fekt'/ [AI community] n. The tendency of    humans to attach associations to terms from prior experience.   For example, there is nothing magic about the symbol `+' that    makes it well-suited to indicate addition; it's j...
ELIZA effect2 is  Using `+' or `plus' to mean addition   in a computer language is taking advantage of the ELIZA effect.   This term comes from the famous ELIZA program, which simulated a   Rogerian psychoanalyst by rephrasing many of the patient's  ...
ELIZA effect3 is  patient.  It worked   by simple pattern recognition and substitution of key words into   canned phrases.  It was so convincing, however, that there are many   anecdotes about people becoming very emotionally caught up in   dealing w...
ELIZA effect4 is  tendency to   attach to words meanings which the computer never put there.  The   ELIZA effect is a {Good Thing} when writing a programming   language, but it can blind you to serious shortcomings when   analyzing an Artificial Inte...
elvish is  n. 1. The Tengwar of Feanor, a table of letterforms   resembling the beautiful Celtic half-uncial hand of the `Book   of Kells'.  Invented and described by J. R. R. Tolkien   in `The Lord of The Rings' as an orthography for his fictional  ...
elvish2 is  both visually and   phonetically elegant) has long fascinated hackers (who tend to be   interested by artificial languages in general).  It is traditional   for graphics printers, plotters, window systems, and the like to   support a Fean...
elvish3 is  also   {elder days}.  2. By extension, any odd or unreadable typeface   produced by a graphics device.  3. The typeface mundanely called   `B"ocklin', an art-decoish display font. 
EMACS is  /ee'maks/ [from Editing MACroS] n. The ne plus ultra of   hacker editors, a program editor with an entire LISP system inside   it.  It was originally written by Richard Stallman in {TECO}   under {{ITS}} at the MIT AI lab, but the most wide...
EMACS2 is  includes facilities to run compilation   subprocesses and send and receive mail; many hackers spend up to   80% of their {tube time} inside it.   Some versions running under window managers iconify as an   overflowing kitchen sink, perhaps...
EMACS3 is  not (yet) include.  Indeed, some hackers find EMACS too   heavyweight and {baroque} for their taste, and expand the name as   `Escape Meta Alt Control Shift' to spoof its heavy reliance on   keystrokes decorated with {bucky bits}.  Other s...
EMACS4 is  Constantly Swapping', `Eventually   `malloc()'s All Computer Storage', and `EMACS Makes A Computer   Slow' (see {{recursive acronym}}).  See also {vi}. 
email is  /ee'mayl/ 1. n. Electronic mail automatically passed   through computer networks and/or via modems over common-carrier   lines.  Contrast {snail-mail}, {paper-net}, {voice-net}.  See   {network address}.  2. vt. To send electronic mail.   O...
email2 is  listed in the OED; it   means "embossed (with a raised pattern) or arranged in a net work".   A use from 1480 is given. The word is derived from French   `emmailleure', network. 
emoticon is  /ee-moh'ti-kon/ n. An ASCII glyph used to indicate an   emotional state in email or news.  Hundreds have been proposed, but   only a few are in common use.  These include   (These may become more comprehensible if you tilt your head   si...
emoticon2 is  by far the most frequently encountered.   Hyphenless forms of them are common on CompuServe, GEnie, and BIX;   see also {bixie}.  On {USENET}, `smiley' is often used as a   generic term synonymous with {emoticon}, as well as specificall...
emoticon3 is  that the emoticon was invented by one Scott Fahlman on   the CMU {bboard} systems around 1980.  He later wrote "I wish I   had saved the original post, or at least recorded the date for   posterity, but I had no idea that I was starting...
emoticon4 is  world's communication channels."  [GLS   confirms that he remembers this original posting].   Note for the {newbie} Overuse of the smiley is a mark of   loserhood!  More than one per paragraph is a fairly sure sign that   you've gone ov...
empire is  n. Any of a family of military simulations derived from a   game written by Peter Langston many years ago.  There are five or six   multi-player variants of varying degrees of sophistication, and one   single-player version implemented for...
empire2 is  available as MS-DOS freeware.  All are notoriously addictive. 
engine is  n. 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function   but can't be used without some kind of {front end}.  Today we   have, especially, `print engine' the guts of a laser printer.   2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one ...
engine2 is  a `database engine'.   The hackish senses of `engine' are actually close to its original,   pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or   instrument (the word is cognate to `ingenuity').  This sense had   not been comple...
engine3 is  power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which   explains why he named the stored-program computer that   he designed in 1844 the `Analytical Engine'. 
English is  1. n.,obs. The source code for a program, which may be in   any language, as opposed to the linkable or executable binary   produced from it by a compiler.  The idea behind the term is that   to a real hacker, a program written in his fav...
English2 is  readable as English.  Usage used mostly by   old-time hackers, though recognizable in context.  2. The official   name of the database language used by the Pick Operating System,   actually a sort of crufty interpreted BASIC with delusio...
English3 is  {marketroid}s to say "Yes, and you   can program our computers in English!" to ignorant {suit}s   without quite running afoul of the truth-in-advertising laws. 
enhancement is  n. {Marketroid}-speak for a bug {fix}.  This abuse   of language is a popular and time-tested way to turn incompetence   into increased revenue.  A hacker being ironic would instead call   the fix a {feature} --- or perhaps save some ...
ENQ is  /enkw/ or /enk/ [from the ASCII mnemonic ENQuire for   0000101] An on-line convention for querying someone's availability.   After opening a {talk mode} connection to someone apparently in   heavy hack mode, one might type `SYN SYN ENQ?' (the...
ENQ2 is  bytes), and expect a return   of {ACK} or {NAK} depending on whether or not the person felt   interruptible.  Compare {ping}, {finger}, and the usage of   `FOO?' listed under {talk mode}. 
EOF is  /E-O-F/ [acronym, `End Of File'] n. 1. [techspeak] Refers   esp. to whatever {out-of-band} value is returned by   C's sequential character-input functions (and their equivalents in   other environments) when end of file has been reached.  Thi...
EOF2 is  V6 UNIX, but was   originally 0.  2. Used by extension in non-computer contexts when a   human is doing something that can be modeled as a sequential read   and can't go further.  "Yeah, I looked for a list of 360 mnemonics   to post as a jo...
EOF3 is  had   was a {JCL} manual."  See also {EOL}. 
EOL is  /E-O-L/ [End Of Line] n. Syn. for {newline}, derived   perhaps from the original CDC6600 Pascal.  Now rare, but widely   recognized and occasionally used for brevity.  Used in the   example entry under {BNF}.  See also {EOF}.
EOU is  /E-O-U/ n. The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control   character (End Of User) that could make an ASR-33 Teletype explode   on receipt.  This parodied the numerous obscure delimiter and   control characters left in ASCII from the days when it ...
EOU2 is  teletypes than computers (e.g.,   FS, GS, RS, US, EM, SUB, ETX, and esp. EOT).  It is worth   remembering that ASR-33s were big, noisy mechanical beasts with a   lot of clattering parts; the notion that one might explode was   nowhere near a...
EOU3 is  sitting in   front of a {tube} or flatscreen today. 
epoch is  [UNIX prob. from astronomical timekeeping] n. The time and   date corresponding to 0 in an operating system's clock and   timestamp values.  Under most UNIX versions the epoch is 000000   GMT, January 1, 1970.  System time is measured in se...
epoch2 is  problems may ensue when the clock   wraps around (see {wrap around}), which is not necessarily a   rare event; on systems counting 10 ticks per second, a signed   32-bit count of ticks is good only for 6.8 years.  The   1-tick-per-second c...
epoch3 is  2038, assuming word lengths don't increase by then.  See also   {wall time}. 
epsilon is  [see {delta}] 1. n. A small quantity of anything.  "The   cost is epsilon."  2. adj. Very small, negligible; less than   {marginal}.  "We can get this feature for epsilon cost."   3. `within epsilon of' close enough to be indistinguishabl...
epsilon2 is  closer than being `within   delta of'.  "That's not what I asked for, but it's within   epsilon of what I wanted."  Alternatively, it may mean not close   enough, but very little is required to get it there "My program   is within epsilo...
epsilon squared is  n. A quantity even smaller than {epsilon}, as   small in comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to something normal;   completely negligible.  If you buy a supercomputer for a million   dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar termin...
epsilon squared2 is  of the ten-dollar cable to connect them   is epsilon squared.  Compare {lost in the underflow}, {lost   in the noise}. 
the era is  Syn. {epoch}.  Webster's Unabridged makes these words   almost synonymous, but `era' usually connotes a span of time rather   than a point in time.  The {epoch} usage is recommended.
Eric Conspiracy is  n. A shadowy group of mustachioed hackers named   Eric first pinpointed as a sinister conspiracy by an infamous   talk.bizarre posting ca. 1986; this was doubtless influenced by the   numerous `Eric' jokes in the Monty Python oeuv...
Eric Conspiracy2 is  more mustachioed Erics in hackerdom than   the frequency of these three traits can account for unless they are   correlated in some arcane way.  Well-known examples include Eric   Allman (he of the `Allman style' described under ...
Eric Conspiracy3 is  NNTP); your editor has heard from about   fourteen others by email, and the organization line `Eric   Conspiracy Secret Laboratories' now emanates regularly from more   than one site. 
Eris is  /e'ris/ n. The Greek goddess of Chaos, Discord, Confusion,   and Things You Know Not Of; her name was latinized to Discordia and   she was worshiped by that name in Rome.  Not a very friendly deity   in the Classical original, she was reinve...
Eris2 is  creative anarchy starting in 1959 by the   adherents of {Discordianism} and has since been a semi-serious   subject of veneration in several `fringe' cultures, including   hackerdom.  See {Discordianism}, {Church of the SubGenius}. 
erotics is  /ee-ro'tiks/ n. [Helsinki University of Technology,   Finland] n. English-language university slang for electronics.   Often used by hackers in Helsinki, maybe because good electronics   excites them and makes them warm.
essentials is  n. Things necessary to maintain a productive and secure   hacking environment.  "A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, a   20-megahertz 80386 box with 8 meg of core and a 300-megabyte disk   supporting full UNIX with source and X windows and...
essentials2 is  Internet site, and thou." 
evil is  adj. As used by hackers, implies that some system, program,   person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not   worth the bother of dealing with.  Unlike the adjectives in the   {cretinous}/{losing}/{brain-damaged} series, `e...
evil2 is  design, but rather a set of goals or   design criteria fatally incompatible with the speaker's.  This is   more an esthetic and engineering judgment than a moral one in the   mainstream sense.  "We thought about adding a {Blue Glue}   inter...
evil3 is   "{TECO}   is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're prone to typos."   Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/. 
exa- is  /ek's*/ [SI] pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
examining the entrails is  n. The process of {grovel}ling through a   core dump or hex image in the attempt to discover the bug that   brought a program or system down.  Compare {runes},   {incantation}, {black art}, {desk check}.
EXCH is  /eks'ch*/ or /eksch/ vt. To exchange two things, each for the   other; to swap places.  If you point to two people sitting down and   say "Exch!", you are asking them to trade places.  EXCH,   meaning EXCHange, was originally the name of a P...
EXCH2 is  contents of a register and a memory location.   Many newer hackers tend to be thinking instead of the PostScript   exchange operator (which is usually written in lowercase). 
excl is  /eks'kl/ n. Abbreviation for `exclamation point'.  See   {bang}, {shriek}, {{ASCII}}.
EXE is  /eks'ee/ or /eek'see/ or /E-X-E/ n. An executable   binary file.  Some operating systems (notably MS-DOS, VMS, and   TWENEX) use the extension .EXE to mark such files.  This usage is   also occasionally found among UNIX programmers even thoug...
exec is  /eg-zek'/ vt.,n.  1. [UNIX from `execute'] Synonym for   {chain}, derives from the `exec(2)' call.  2. [from   `executive'] obs. The command interpreter for an {OS} (see   {shell}); term esp. used around mainframes, and prob. derived from   ...
exec2 is  systems.  3. At IBM,   the equivalent of a shell command file (among VM/CMS users).   The mainstream `exec' as an abbreviation for (human) executive is   *not* used.  To a hacker, an `exec' is a always a program,   never a person. 
left as an exercise is  [from technical books] Used to complete a   proof when one doesn't mind a {handwave}, or to avoid one   entirely.  The complete phrase is "The proof (or the rest) is left as   an exercise for the reader."  This comment *has* o...
left as an exercise2 is  research problems by authors possessed of   either an evil sense of humor or a vast faith in the capabilities   of their audiences. 
eyeball search is  n. To look for something in a mass of code or data   with one's own native optical sensors, as opposed to using some   sort of pattern matching software like {grep} or any other   automated search tool.  Also called a {vgrep}; comp...
eyeball search2 is  `fabricate'] v. 1. To produce chips from a   design that may have been created by someone at another company.   Fabbing chips based on the designs of others is the activity of a   {silicon foundry}.  To a hacker, `fab' is practica...
eyeball search3 is  line' the production system   (lithography, diffusion, etching, etc.) for chips at a chip   manufacturer.  Different `fab lines' are run with different   process parameters, die sizes, or technologies, or simply to   provide more ...
face time is  n. Time spent interacting with somebody face-to-face (as   opposed to via electronic links).  "Oh, yeah, I spent some face   time with him at the last Usenix."
factor is  n. See {coefficient}.
fall over is  [IBM] vi. Yet another synonym for {crash} or {lose}.   `Fall over hard' equates to {crash and burn}.
fall through is  v. (n. `fallthrough', var. `fall-through') 1. To   exit a loop by exhaustion, i.e., by having fulfilled its exit   condition rather than via a break or exception condition that exits   from the middle of it.  This usage appears to be...
fall through2 is  1950s.  2. To fail a test that would have   passed control to a subroutine or some other distant portion of code.   3. In C, `fall-through' occurs when the flow of execution in a   switch statement reaches a `case' label other than ...
fall through3 is  passing a point where one would   normally expect to find a `break'.  A trivial example   The variant spelling `/* FALL THRU */' is also common.   The effect of this code is to `do_green()' when color is   `GREEN', `do_red()' when c...
fall through4 is  other than `PINK', and   (and this is the important part) `do_pink()' *and then*   `do_red()' when color is `PINK'.  Fall-through is   {considered harmful} by some, though there are contexts (such as   the coding of state machines) ...
fall through5 is  considered good practice to include a comment   highlighting the fall-through where one would normally expect a   break. 
fandango on core is  [UNIX/C hackers, from the Mexican dance] n.   In C, a wild pointer that runs out of bounds, causing a {core   dump}, or corrupts the `malloc(3)' {arena} in such a way as   to cause mysterious failures later on, is sometimes said ...
fandango on core2 is  low-end personal machines without an   MMU, this can corrupt the OS itself, causing massive lossage.   Other frenetic dances such as the rhumba, cha-cha, or watusi, may   be substituted.  See {aliasing bug}, {precedence lossage}...
FAQ list is  /F-A-Q list/ [USENET] n. A compendium of accumulated   lore, posted periodically to high-volume newsgroups in an attempt   to forestall Frequently Asked Questions.  This lexicon itself   serves as a good example of a collection of one ki...
FAQ list2 is  regular posting.  Examples "What   is the proper type of NULL?"  and "What's that funny name for   the `#' character?" are both Frequently Asked Questions.   Several extant FAQ lists do (or should) make reference to the   Jargon File (t...
FAQL is  /fa'kl/ n. Syn. {FAQ list}.
farming is  [Adelaide University, Australia] n. What the heads of a   disk drive are said to do when they plow little furrows in the   magnetic media.  Associated with a {crash}.  Typically used as   follows "Oh no, the machine has just crashed; I ho...
fascist is  adj. 1. Said of a computer system with excessive or   annoying security barriers, usage limits, or access policies.  The   implication is that said policies are preventing hackers from   getting interesting work done.  The variant `fascis...
fascist2 is  poss. by analogy with   `touristic' (see {tourist}).  2. In the design of languages   and other software tools, `the fascist alternative' is the most   restrictive and structured way of capturing a particular function;   the implication ...
fascist3 is  simplify   the implementation or provide tighter error checking.  Compare   {bondage-and-discipline language}, but that term is global rather   than local. 
faulty is  adj. Non-functional; buggy.  Same denotation as   {bletcherous}, {losing}, q.v., but the connotation is much   milder.
fd leak is  /ef dee leek/ n. A kind of programming bug analogous to a   {core leak}, in which a program fails to close file descriptors   (`fd's) after file operations are completed, and thus eventually   runs out of them.  See {leak}.
fear and loathing is  [from Hunter Thompson] n. A state inspired by the   prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems and standards   that are totally {brain-damaged} but ubiquitous --- Intel 8086s,   or {COBOL}, or {{EBCDIC}}, or any {IBM} m...

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

hack is  1. n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed,   but not well.  2. n. An incredibly good, and perhaps very   time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed.   3. vt. To bear emotionally or physically.  "I can...
hack2 is  something (typically a program).  In an   immediate sense "What are you doing?"  "I'm hacking TECO."   In a general (time-extended) sense "What do you do around here?"   "I hack TECO."  More generally, "I hack `foo'" is roughly   equivalent...
hack3 is  "I   hack solid-state physics."  5. vt. To pull a prank on.  See   sense 2 and {hacker} (sense 5).  6. vi. To interact with a   computer in a playful and exploratory rather than goal-directed   way.  "Whatcha up to?"  "Oh, just hacking."  7...
hack4 is  Constructions on this term abound.  They include `happy   hacking' (a farewell), `how's hacking?' (a friendly greeting   among hackers) and `hack, hack' (a fairly content-free but   friendly comment, often used as a temporary farewell).  Fo...
hack5 is   See also {neat hack},   {real hack}. 
hack attack is  [poss. by analogy with `Big Mac Attack' from ads   for the McDonald's fast-food chain; the variant `big hack attack'   is reported] n. Nearly synonymous with {hacking run}, though the   latter more strongly implies an all-nighter.
hack mode is  n. 1. What one is in when hacking, of course.  2. More   specifically, a Zen-like state of total focus on The Problem that   may be achieved when one is hacking (this is why every good hacker   is part mystic).  Ability to enter such co...
hack mode2 is  wizardliness; it is one of the most   important skills learned during {larval stage}.  Sometimes   amplified as `deep hack mode'.   Being yanked out of hack mode (see {priority interrupt}) may be   experienced as a physical shock, and ...
hack mode3 is  little habituating.  The intensity of this   experience is probably by itself sufficient explanation for the   existence of hackers, and explains why many resist being promoted   out of positions where they can code.  See also {cybersp...
hack mode4 is  etiquette will appear quite odd to an   observer unaware of the high value placed on hack mode.  For   example, if someone appears at your door, it is perfectly okay to   hold up a hand (without turning one's eyes away from the screen)...
hack mode5 is  type, and interact with the   computer for quite some time before further acknowledging the   other's presence (of course, he or she is reciprocally free to   leave without a word).  The understanding is that you might be in   {hack mo...
hack mode6 is  your   head, and you dare not {swap} that context out until you have   reached a good point to pause. See also {juggling eggs}. 
hack on is  vt. To {hack}; implies that the subject is some   pre-existing hunk of code that one is evolving, as opposed to   something one might {hack up}.
hack together is  vt. To throw something together so it will work.   Unlike `kluge together' or {cruft together}, this does not   necessarily have negative connotations.
hack up is  vt. To {hack}, but generally implies that the result is   a hack in sense 1 (a quick hack).  Contrast this with {hack on}.   To `hack up on' implies a {quick-and-dirty} modification to an   existing system.  Contrast {hacked up}; compare ...
hack value is  n. Often adduced as the reason or motivation for   expending effort toward a seemingly useless goal, the point being   that the accomplished goal is a hack.  For example, MacLISP had   features for reading and printing Roman numerals, ...
hack value2 is  See {display hack} for one   method of computing hack value, but this cannot really be   explained.  As a great artist once said of jazz "If you hafta ask,   you ain't never goin' to find out." 
hack-and-slay is  v. (also `hack-and-slash') 1. To play a {MUD}   or go mudding, especially with the intention of {berserking} for   pleasure.  2. To undertake an all-night programming/hacking   session, interspersed with stints of mudding as a chang...
hack-and-slay2 is  academic network amongst students   who worked nights and logged onto Essex University's MUDs during   public-access hours (2 A.M. to 7 A.M.).  Usually more   mudding than work was done in these sessions. 
hacked off is  [analogous to `pissed off'] adj. Said of system   administrators who have become annoyed, upset, or touchy owing to   suspicions that their sites have been or are going to be victimized   by crackers, or used for inappropriate, technic...
hacked off2 is  activities.  For example, having unreadable   files in your home directory called `worm', `lockpick', or `goroot'   would probably be an effective (as well as impressively obvious and   stupid) way to get your sysadmin hacked off at y...
hacked up is  adj. Sufficiently patched, kluged, and tweaked that the   surgical scars are beginning to crowd out normal tissue (compare   {critical mass}).  Not all programs that are hacked become   `hacked up'; if modifications are done with some e...
hacked up2 is  maintainability, the software may emerge better for   the experience.  Contrast {hack up}. 
hacker is  [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n.   1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable   systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most   users, who prefer to learn only the minimum neces...
hacker2 is  (even obsessively) or who enjoys   programming rather than just theorizing about programming.  3. A   person capable of appreciating {hack value}.  4. A person who is   good at programming quickly.  5. An expert at a particular program,  ...
hacker3 is  it; as in `a UNIX   hacker'.  (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit   them congregate.)  6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind.  One   might be an astronomy hacker, for example.  7. One who enjoys the   intellectual...
hacker4 is  circumventing   limitations.  8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to   discover sensitive information by poking around.  Hence `password   hacker', `network hacker'.  See {cracker}.   It is better to be described as a hacker by ...
hacker5 is  Hackers consider themselves something of an   elite (a meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new   members are gladly welcome.  There is thus a certain ego   satisfaction to be had in identifying yourself as a hacker (but if ...
hacker6 is  quickly be labeled   {bogus}). 
hacking run is  [analogy with `bombing run' or `speed run'] n. A   hack session extended long outside normal working times, especially   one longer than 12 hours.  May cause you to `change phase the hard   way' (see {phase}).
Hacking X for Y is  [ITS] n. The information ITS made publicly   available about each user (the INQUIR record) was a sort of form in   which the user could fill out fields.  On display, two of these   fields were combined into a project description o...
Hacking X for Y2 is  `"Hacking perceptrons for   Minsky"').  This form of description became traditional and has   since been carried over to other systems with more general   facilities for self-advertisement (such as UNIX {plan file}s). 
Hackintosh is  n. 1. An Apple Lisa that has been hacked into emulating a   Macintosh (also called a `Mac XL').  2. A Macintosh assembled   from parts theoretically belonging to different models in the line.
hackish is  /hak'ish/ adj. (also {hackishness} n.) 1. Said of   something that is or involves a hack.  2. Of or pertaining to   hackers or the hacker subculture.  See also {true-hacker}.
hackishness is  n. The quality of being or involving a hack.  This   term is considered mildly silly.  Syn.  {hackitude}.
hackitude is  n. Syn. {hackishness}; this word is considered sillier.
hair is  [back-formation from {hairy}] n. The complications that   make something hairy.  "Decoding {TECO} commands requires a   certain amount of hair."  Often seen in the phrase `infinite   hair', which connotes extreme complexity.  Also in `hairif...
hair2 is  "GNUMACS Elisp encourages lusers   to write complex editing modes."  "Yeah, it's pretty hairiferous   all right." (or just "Hair squared!") 
hairy is  adj. 1. Annoyingly complicated.  "{DWIM} is incredibly   hairy."  2. Incomprehensible.  "{DWIM} is incredibly hairy."   3. Of people, high-powered, authoritative, rare, expert, and/or   incomprehensible.  Hard to explain except in context "...
hairy2 is  nothing to worry about."  See   also {hirsute}. 
HAKMEM is  /hak'mem/ n. MIT AI Memo 239 (February 1972).  A   legendary collection of neat mathematical and programming hacks   contributed by many people at MIT and elsewhere.  (The title of the   memo really is "HAKMEM", which is a 6-letterism for ...
HAKMEM2 is  techniques, powerful   theorems, or interesting unsolved problems, but most fall into the   category of mathematical and computer trivia.  Here is a sampling   of the entries (with authors), slightly paraphrased   Item 41 (Gene Salamin) T...
HAKMEM3 is  than 2^18.   Item 46 (Rich Schroeppel) The most *probable* suit   distribution in bridge hands is 4-4-3-2, as compared to 4-3-3-3,   which is the most *evenly* distributed.  This is because the   world likes to have unequal numbers a ther...
HAKMEM4 is  the state of lowest energy, but in the state   of lowest disordered energy.   Item 81 (Rich Schroeppel) Count the magic squares of order 5   (that is, all the 5-by-5 arrangements of the numbers from 1 to 25   such that all rows, columns, ...
HAKMEM5 is  There are about 320 million, not counting those that   differ only by rotation and reflection.   Item 154 (Bill Gosper) The myth that any given programming language is   machine independent is easily exploded by computing the sum of   pow...
HAKMEM6 is  with   sign +, you are on a sign-magnitude machine.  If the result   loops with period = 1 at -1, you are on a   twos-complement machine.  If the result loops with period greater   than 1, including the beginning, you are on a ones-comple...
HAKMEM7 is  period greater than 1, not   including the beginning, your machine isn't binary --- the pattern   should tell you the base.  If you run out of memory, you are on a   string or bignum system.  If arithmetic overflow is a fatal error,   som...
HAKMEM8 is  to enforce machine   independence.  But the very ability to trap overflow is machine   dependent.  By this strategy, consider the universe, or, more   precisely, algebra Let X = the sum of many powers of 2 =   ...111111.  Now add X to its...
HAKMEM9 is  X = -1.  Therefore algebra is run on a machine (the   universe) that is two's-complement.   Item 174 (Bill Gosper and Stuart Nelson) 21963283741 is the only   number such that if you represent it on the {PDP-10} as both an   integer and a...
HAKMEM10 is  two   representations are identical.   Item 176 (Gosper) The "banana phenomenon" was encountered when   processing a character string by taking the last 3 letters typed   out, searching for a random occurrence of that sequence in the   t...
HAKMEM11 is  occurrence, typing it out,   and iterating.  This ensures that every 4-letter string output   occurs in the original.  The program typed BANANANANANANANA....  We   note an ambiguity in the phrase, "the Nth occurrence of."  In one   sense...
HAKMEM12 is  there are   nine.  The editing program TECO finds five.  Thus it finds only the   first ANA in BANANA, and is thus obligated to type N next.  By   Murphy's Law, there is but one NAN, thus forcing A, and thus a   loop.  An option to find ...
HAKMEM13 is  it would require backing up N - 1 characters before   seeking the next N-character string.   Note This last item refers to a {Dissociated Press}   implementation.  See also {banana problem}.   HAKMEM also contains some rather more compli...
HAKMEM14 is  these examples show some of its fun flavor. 
hakspek is  /hak'speek/ n. A shorthand method of spelling found on   many British academic bulletin boards and {talker system}s.   Syllables and whole words in a sentence are replaced by single   ASCII characters the names of which are phonetically s...
hakspek2 is  are usually dropped.  Hence,   `for' becomes `4'; `two', `too', and `to' become `2'; `ck'   becomes `k'.  "Before I see you tomorrow" becomes "b4 i c u   2moro".  First appeared in London about 1986, and was probably   caused by the slow...
hakspek3 is  operated on archaic machines with outdated operating systems and   no standard methods of communication.  Has become rarer since.   See also {talk mode}. 
hamster is  n. 1. [Fairchild] A particularly slick little piece of code   that does one thing well; a small, self-contained hack.  The image   is of a hamster happily spinning its exercise wheel.  2. [UK] Any item   of hardware made by Amstrad, a com...
hand-hacking is  n. 1. The practice of translating {hot spot}s from   an {HLL} into hand-tuned assembler, as opposed to trying to   coerce the compiler into generating better code.  Both the term and   the practice are becoming uncommon.  See {tune},...
hand-hacking2 is  2. More generally, manual   construction or patching of data sets that would normally be   generated by a translation utility and interpreted by another   program, and aren't really designed to be read or modified by   humans. 
handshaking is  n. Hardware or software activity designed to start or   keep two machines or programs in synchronization as they {do   protocol}.  Often applied to human activity; thus, a hacker might   watch two people in conversation nodding their ...
handshaking2 is  others' points and say "Oh, they're   handshaking!".  See also {protocol}. 
handwave is  [poss. from gestures characteristic of stage magicians]   1. v. To gloss over a complex point; to distract a listener; to   support a (possibly actually valid) point with blatantly faulty   logic.  2. n. The act of handwaving.  "Boy, wha...
handwave2 is  with "Clearly..." or   "Obviously..." or "It is self-evident that...", it is   a good bet he is about to handwave (alternatively, use of these   constructions in a sarcastic tone before a paraphrase of someone   else's argument suggests...
handwave3 is  this term is that if you wave your hands at the right moment, the   listener may be sufficiently distracted to not notice that what you   have said is {bogus}.  Failing that, if a listener does object,   you might try to dismiss the obj...
handwave4 is  this word is often accompanied by gestures both hands   up, palms forward, swinging the hands in a vertical plane pivoting   at the elbows and/or shoulders (depending on the magnitude of the   handwave); alternatively, holding the forea...
handwave5 is  at the wrist to make them flutter.  In   context, the gestures alone can suffice as a remark; if a speaker   makes an outrageously unsupported assumption, you might simply wave   your hands in this way, as an accusation, far more eloque...
hang is  v. 1. To wait for an event that will never occur.  "The   system is hanging because it can't read from the crashed drive".   See {wedged}, {hung}.  2. To wait for some event to occur; to   hang around until something happens.  "The program d...
hang2 is  a character."  Compare {block}.   3. To attach a peripheral device, esp. in the construction `hang   off'  "We're going to hang another tape drive off the file   server."  Implies a device attached with cables, rather than   something that ...
Hanlon's Razor is  prov. A corollary of {Finagle's Law}, similar to   Occam's Razor, that reads "Never attribute to malice that which can   be adequately explained by stupidity."  The derivation of the   common title Hanlon's Razor is unknown; a simi...
Hanlon's Razor2 is  James.  Quoted here because it seems to be a   particular favorite of hackers, often showing up in {fortune   cookie} files and the login banners of BBS systems and commercial   networks.  This probably reflects the hacker's daily...
Hanlon's Razor3 is  well-intentioned but short-sighted people. 
happily is  adv.  Of software, used to emphasize that a program is   unaware of some important fact about its environment, either   because it has been fooled into believing a lie, or because it   doesn't care.  The sense of `happy' here is not that ...
happily2 is  ignorance.  "The program continues to   run, happily unaware that its output is going to /dev/null." 
hard boot is  n. See {boot}.
hardcoded is  adj. 1. Said of data inserted directly into a program,   where it cannot be easily modified, as opposed to data in some   {profile}, resource (see {de-rezz} sense 2), or environment   variable that a {user} or hacker can easily modify. ...
hardcoded2 is  literal instead of a   `#define' macro (see {magic number}). 
hardwarily is  /hard-weir'*-lee/ adv. In a way pertaining to   hardware.  "The system is hardwarily unreliable."  The adjective   `hardwary' is *not* traditionally used, though it has recently   been reported from the U.K.  See {softwarily}.
hardwired is  adj. 1. In software, syn. for {hardcoded}.  2. By   extension, anything that is not modifiable, especially in the sense   of customizable to one's particular needs or tastes.
has the X nature is  [seems to derive from Zen Buddhist koans of the   form "Does an X have the Buddha-nature?"] adj. Common hacker   construction for `is an X', used for humorous emphasis.  "Anyone   who can't even use a program with on-screen help ...
has the X nature2 is  nature!"  See also {the X that can be Y   is not the true X}. 
hash bucket is  n. A notional receptacle into which more than one   thing accessed by the same key or short code might be dropped.   When you look up a name in the phone book (for example), you   typically hash it by extracting its first letter; the ...
hash bucket2 is  letter sections.  This is used as   techspeak with respect to code that uses actual hash functions; in   jargon, it is used for human associative memory as well.  Thus, two   things `in the same hash bucket' may be confused with each...
hash bucket3 is  length, you get too many common   grammar words in the first couple of hash buckets." Compare {hash   collision}. 
hash collision is  [from the technical usage] n. (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 ...
hash collision2 is   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 bucke...
hat is  n. Common (spoken) name for the circumflex (`^', ASCII   1011110) character.  See {ASCII} for other synonyms.
HCF is  /H-C-F/ n. Mnemonic for `Halt and Catch Fire', any of   several undocumented and semi-mythical machine instructions with   destructive side-effects, supposedly included for test purposes on   several well-known architectures going as far back...
HCF2 is  was the first for which the HCF opcode   became widely known.  This instruction caused the processor to   {toggle} a subset of the bus lines as rapidly as it could; in   some configurations this can actually cause lines to burn   up. 
heads down is  [Sun] adj. Concentrating, usually so heavily and for so   long that everything outside the focus area is missed.  See also   {hack mode} and {larval stage}, although it is not confined to   fledgling hackers.
heartbeat is  n. 1. The signal emitted by a Level 2 Ethernet   transceiver at the end of every packet to show that the   collision-detection circuit is still connected.  2. A periodic   synchronization signal used by software or hardware, such as a b...
heartbeat2 is  `natural' oscillation   frequency of a computer's clock crystal, before frequency division   down to the machine's clock rate.  4. A signal emitted at regular   intervals by software to demonstrate that it is still alive.   Sometimes h...
heartbeat3 is  stops   hearing a heartbeat.  See also {breath-of-life packet}. 
heavy metal is  [Cambridge] n. Syn. {big iron}.
heavy wizardry is  n. Code or designs that trade on a particularly   intimate knowledge or experience of a particular operating system   or language or complex application interface.  Distinguished from   {deep magic}, which trades more on arcane *th...
heavy wizardry2 is  drivers is heavy wizardry; so is   interfacing to {X} (sense 2) without a toolkit.  Esp. found in   comments similar to "Heavy wizardry begins here ...".  Compare   {voodoo programming}. 
heavyweight is  adj. High-overhead; {baroque}; code-intensive;   featureful, but costly.  Esp. used of communication protocols,   language designs, and any sort of implementation in which maximum   generality and/or ease of implementation has been pu...
heavyweight2 is  considerations such as speed, memory utilization,   and startup time.  {EMACS} is a heavyweight editor; {X} is an   *extremely* heavyweight window system.  This term isn't   pejorative, but one man's heavyweight is another's {elephan...
heisenbug is  /hi'zen-buhg/ [from Heisenberg's Uncertainty   Principle in quantum physics] n. A bug that disappears or alters   its behavior when one attempts to probe or isolate it.  Antonym of   {Bohr bug}; see also {mandelbug}.  In C, nine out of ...
heisenbug2 is  on core} phenomena (esp. lossage   related to corruption of the malloc {arena}) or errors that   {smash the stack}. 
Helen Keller mode is  n. State of a hardware or software system that   is deaf, dumb, and blind, i.e., accepting no input and generating no   output, usually due to an infinite loop or some other excursion   into {deep space}.  (Unfair to the real He...
Helen Keller mode2 is  was triumphant.)  See also   {go flatline}, {catatonic}. 
hello, sailor! is  interj. Occasional West Coast equivalent of   {hello, world}; seems to have originated at SAIL, later   associated with the game {Zork} (which also included "hello,   aviator" and "hello, implementor").  Originally from the   tradi...
hello, sailor!2 is  off the boat, of   course. 
hello, wall! is  excl. See {wall}.
hello, world is  interj. 1. The canonical minimal test message in the   C/UNIX universe.  2. Any of the minimal programs that emit this   message.  Traditionally, the first program a C coder is supposed to   write in a new environment is one that jus...
hello, world2 is  (and indeed it is the first example program   in {K&R}).  Environments that generate an unreasonably large   executable for this trivial test or which require a {hairy}   compiler-linker invocation to generate it are considered to  ...
hello, world3 is  hacker making an   entrance or requesting information from anyone present.  "Hello,   world!  Is the {VAX} back up yet?" 
hex is  n. 1. Short for {{hexadecimal}}, base 16.  2. A 6-pack   of anything (compare {quad}, sense 2).  Neither usage has   anything to do with {magic} or {black art}, though the pun is   appreciated and occasionally used by hackers.  True story As ...
hex2 is  surplus ICs for sale to be   worn as protective amulets against hostile magic.  The chips were,   of course, hex inverters. 
hexadecimal is  n. Base 16.  Coined in the early 1960s to replace   earlier `sexadecimal', which was too racy and amusing for stuffy   IBM, and later adopted by the rest of the industry.   Actually, neither term is etymologically pure.  If we take `b...
hexadecimal2 is  etymologically correct term for   base 10, for example, is `denary', which   comes from `deni' (ten at a time, ten each), a Latin `distributive'   number; the corresponding term for base-16 would be something like   `sendenary'.  `De...
hexadecimal3 is  corresponding prefix for 6 would imply something like   `sextidecimal'.  The `sexa-' prefix is Latin but incorrect in this   context, and `hexa-' is Greek.  The word `octal' is similarly   incorrect; a correct form would be `octaval'...
hexadecimal4 is  with binary).  If anyone ever implements a   base-3 computer, computer scientists will be faced with the   unprecedented dilemma of a choice between two *correct* forms;   both `ternary' and `trinary' have a claim to this throne. 
hexit is  /hek'sit/ n. A hexadecimal digit (0--9, and A--F or a--f).   Used by people who claim that there are only *ten* digits,   dammit; sixteen-fingered human beings are rather rare, despite what   some keyboard designs might seem to imply (see {...
hidden flag is  [scientific computation] n. An extra option added to a   routine without changing the calling sequence.  For example,   instead of adding an explicit input variable to instruct a routine   to give extra diagnostic output, the programm...
hidden flag2 is  meaningless feature of the existing inputs,   such as a negative mass.  Liberal use of hidden flags can make a   program very hard to debug and understand. 
high bit is  [from `high-order bit'] n. 1. The most significant   bit in a byte.  2. By extension, the most significant part of   something other than a data byte "Spare me the whole {saga},   just give me the high bit."  See also {meta bit}, {hobbit...
high bit2 is  mainstream slang   `bottom line'. 
high moby is  /hi' mohb'ee/ n. The high half of a 512K {PDP-10}'s   physical address space; the other half was of course the low moby.  This   usage has been generalized in a way that has outlasted the   {PDP-10}; for example, at the 1990 Washington ...
high moby2 is  (Disclave), when a miscommunication resulted in two   separate wakes being held in commemoration of the shutdown of MIT's   last {{ITS}} machines, the one on the upper floor was dubbed the   `high moby' and the other the `low moby'.  A...
highly is  [scientific computation] adv. The preferred modifier for   overstating an understatement.  As in `highly nonoptimal', the   worst possible way to do something; `highly nontrivial', either   impossible or requiring a major research project;...
highly2 is  unpredictable; `highly   nontechnical', drivel written for {luser}s, oversimplified to the   point of being misleading or incorrect (compare {drool-proof   paper}).  In other computing cultures, postfixing of {in the   extreme} might be p...
hirsute is  adj. Occasionally used humorously as a synonym for {hairy}.
HLL is  /H-L-L/ n. [High-Level Language (as opposed to assembler)]   Found primarily in email and news rather than speech.  Rarely, the   variants `VHLL' and `MLL' are found.  VHLL stands for `Very-High-Level   Language' and is used to describe a {bo...
HLL2 is  speaker happens to like; Prolog and Backus's FP   are often called VHLLs.  `MLL' stands for `Medium-Level Language' and is   sometimes used half-jokingly to describe {C}, alluding to its   `structured-assembler' image.  See also {languages o...
hobbit is  n. 1. The High Order Bit of a byte; same as the {meta   bit} or {high bit}.  2. The non-ITS name of vad@ai.mit.edu   (*Hobbit*), master of lasers.
hog is  n.,vt. 1. Favored term to describe programs or hardware that   seem to eat far more than their share of a system's resources,   esp. those which noticeably degrade interactive response.   *Not* used of programs that are simply extremely large...
hog2 is  slow themselves (see {pig,   run like a}).  More often than not encountered in qualified forms,   e.g., `memory hog', `core hog', `hog the processor', `hog   the disk'.  "A controller that never gives up the I/O bus   gets killed after the b...
hog3 is  *people* who use more than their fair share of resources   (particularly disk, where it seems that 10% of the people use 90%   of the disk, no matter how big the disk is or how many people use   it).  Of course, once disk hogs fill up one fi...
hog4 is  one to infect, claiming to the   sysadmin that they have an important new project to complete. 
holy wars is  [from {USENET}, but may predate it] n. {flame   war}s over {religious issues}.  The paper by Danny Cohen that   popularized the terms {big-endian} and {little-endian} in   connection with the LSB-first/MSB-first controversy was entitled...
holy wars2 is  perennial Holy   Wars have included {EMACS} vs. {vi}, my personal computer vs.   everyone else's personal computer, {{ITS}} vs. {{UNIX}},   {{UNIX}} vs. {VMS}, {BSD} UNIX vs. {USG UNIX}, {C} vs.   {{Pascal}}, {C} vs. {LISP}, etc., ad n...
holy wars3 is  distinguishes {holy wars} from normal   technical disputes is that in a holy wars most of the participants   spend their time trying to pass off personal value choices and   cultural attachments as objective technical evaluations. See ...
home box is  n. A hacker's personal machine, especially one he or she   owns.  "Yeah?  Well, *my* home box runs a full 4.2 BSD, so   there!"
hook is  n. A software or hardware feature included in order to   simplify later additions or changes by a user.  For example,   a simple program that prints numbers might always print them in   base 10, but a more flexible version would let a variab...
hook2 is  variable to 5 would make   the program print numbers in base 5.  The variable is a simple   hook.  An even more flexible program might examine the variable   and treat a value of 16 or less as the base to use, but treat any   other number a...
hook3 is  printing   a number.  This is a {hairy} but powerful hook; one can then write a   routine to print numbers as Roman numerals, say, or as Hebrew   characters, and plug it into the program through the hook.  Often   the difference between a g...
hook4 is  latter has useful hooks in judiciously chosen places.  Both may do   the original job about equally well, but the one with the hooks is   much more flexible for future expansion of capabilities ({EMACS},   for example, is *all* hooks).  The...
hook5 is  formal and less hackish. 
hop is  n. One file transmission in a series required to get a file   from point A to point B on a store-and-forward network.  On such   networks (including {UUCPNET} and {FidoNet}), the important   inter-machine metric is the number of hops in the s...
hop2 is  geographical separation.  See   {bang path}. 
hose is  1. vt. To make non-functional or greatly degraded in   performance.  "That big ray-tracing program really hoses the   system."  See {hosed}.  2. n. A narrow channel through which   data flows under pressure.  Generally denotes data paths tha...
hose2 is  Cabling, especially   thick Ethernet cable.  This is sometimes called `bit hose' or   `hosery' (play on `hosiery') or `etherhose'.  See also   {washing machine}. 
hosed is  adj. Same as {down}.  Used primarily by UNIX hackers.   Humorous also implies a condition thought to be relatively easy to   reverse.  Probably derived from the Canadian slang `hoser'   popularized by the Bob and Doug Mackenzie skits on SCT...
hosed2 is  people in the mainstream sense   of `in an extremely unfortunate situation'.   Once upon a time, a Cray that had been experiencing periodic   difficulties crashed, and it was announced to have been hosed.   It was discovered that the crash...
hosed3 is  hoses.  The problem was corrected, and users were then   assured that everything was OK because the system had been rehosed.   See also {dehose}. 
hot spot is  n. 1. [primarily used by C/UNIX programmers, but   spreading] It is received wisdom that in most programs, less than   10% of the code eats 90% of the execution time; if one were to   graph instruction visits versus code addresses, one w...
hot spot2 is  a lot of low-level noise.  Such spikes   are called `hot spots' and are good candidates for heavy   optimization or {hand-hacking}.  The term is especially used of   tight loops and recursions in the code's central algorithm, as   oppos...
hot spot3 is  infrequent I/O   operations.  See {tune}, {bum}, {hand-hacking}.  2. The   active location of a cursor on a bit-map display.  "Put the   mouse's hot spot on the `ON' widget and click the left button."   3. In a massively parallel comput...
hot spot4 is  all 10,000 processors are trying to read or   write at once (perhaps because they are all doing a {busy-wait}   on the same lock).

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

spool is  [from early IBM `Simultaneous Peripheral Operation Off-Line',   but this acronym is widely thought to have been contrived for   effect] vt. To send files to some device or program (a `spooler')   that queues them up and does something usefu...
spool2 is  understood is the `print spooler' controlling   output of jobs to a printer, but the term has been used in   connection with other peripherals (especially plotters and graphics   devices).  See also {demon}. 
stack is  n. A person's stack is the set of things he or she has to do   in the future.  One speaks of the next project to be attacked as   having risen to the top of the stack.  "I'm afraid I've got real   work to do, so this'll have to be pushed wa...
stack2 is  because every time I pop my stack something   new gets pushed."  If you are interrupted several times in the   middle of a conversation, "My stack overflowed" means "I   forget what we were talking about."  The implication is that more   i...
stack3 is  remembered, so the   least recent items were lost.  The usual physical example of a   stack is to be found in a cafeteria a pile of plates or trays   sitting on a spring in a well, so that when you put one on the top   they all sink down, ...
stack4 is  spring up a bit.  See also {push} and {pop}.   At MIT, {pdl} used to be a more common synonym for {stack} in   all these contexts, and this may still be true.  Everywhere else   {stack} seems to be the preferred term.  {Knuth}   (`The Art ...
stack5 is  1,   p. 236) says        Many people who realized the importance of stacks and queues        independently have given other names to these structures        stacks have been called push-down lists, reversion storages,        cellars, nesti...
stack6 is      lists, and even yo-yo lists! 
stack puke is  n. Some processor architectures are said to `puke their   guts onto the stack' to save their internal state during exception   processing.  The Motorola 68020, for example, regurgitates up to   92 bytes on a bus fault.  On a pipelined ...
stale pointer bug is  n. Synonym for {aliasing bug} used esp. among   microcomputer hackers.
state is  n. 1. Condition, situation.  "What's the state of your   latest hack?"  "It's winning away."  "The system tried to read   and write the disk simultaneously and got into a totally wedged   state."  The standard question "What's your state?" ...
state2 is  you about to do?"  Typical   answers are "about to gronk out", or "hungry".  Another   standard question is "What's the state of the world?", meaning   "What's new?" or "What's going on?".  The more terse and   humorous way of asking these...
state3 is  of phrasing the first question under sense 1 would be   "state-p latest hack?".  2. Information being maintained in   non-permanent memory (electronic or human). 
steam-powered is  adj. Old-fashioned or underpowered; archaic.  This   term does not have a strong negative loading and may even be used   semi-affectionately for something that clanks and wheezes a lot   but hangs in there doing the job.
stiffy is  [University of Lowell,  Massachusetts.] n. 3.5-inch   {microfloppies}, so called because their jackets are more firm   than those of the 5.25-inch and the 8-inch floppy.  Elsewhere this might be   called a `firmy'.
stir-fried random is  alt. `stir-fried mumble' n. Term used for the    best dish of many of those hackers who can cook.  Consists of   random fresh veggies and meat wokked with random spices.  Tasty and   economical.  See {random}, {great-wall}, {rav...
stomp on is  vt. To inadvertently overwrite something important, usually   automatically.  "All the work I did this weekend got   stomped on last night by the nightly server script."  Compare   {scribble}, {mangle}, {trash}, {scrog}, {roach}.
Stone Age is  n., adj. 1. In computer folklore, an ill-defined period   from ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of   electromechanical {dinosaur}s.  Sometimes used for the entire   period up to 1960--61 (see {Iron Age}); however, it is ...
Stone Age2 is  the latter period in terms of   a `Bronze Age' era of transistor-logic, pre-ferrite-{core}   machines with drum or CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury   delay lines and/or relays).  See also {Iron Age}.  2. More   generally, a...
Stone Age3 is  hardware   or software technology.  Note that this is used even by people who   were there for the {Stone Age} (sense 1). 
stoppage is  /sto'p*j/ n. Extreme {lossage} that renders   something (usually something vital) completely unusable.  "The   recent system stoppage was caused by a {fried} transformer."
store is  [prob. from techspeak `main store'] n. Preferred Commonwealth   synonym for {core}.  Thus, `bringing a program into store' means   not that one is returning shrink-wrapped software but that a   program is being {swap}ped in.
stroke is  n. Common name for the slant (`/', ASCII 0101111)   character.  See {ASCII} for other synonyms.
strudel is  n. Common (spoken) name for the circumflex (`', ASCII   1000000) character.  See {ASCII} for other synonyms.
stubroutine is  /stuhb'roo-teen/ [contraction of `stub routine']   n.  Tiny, often vacuous placeholder for a subroutine that is to be   written or fleshed out later.
studlycaps is  /stuhd'lee-kaps/ n. A hackish form of silliness   similar to {BiCapitalization} for trademarks, but applied   randomly and to arbitrary text rather than to trademarks.  ThE   oRigiN and SigNificaNce of thIs pRacTicE iS oBscuRe.
stunning is  adj. Mind-bogglingly stupid.  Usually used in sarcasm.   "You want to code *what* in ADA?  That's ... a stunning   idea!"
stupid-sort is  n. Syn. {bogo-sort}.
subshell is  /suhb'shel/ [UNIX, MS-DOS] n. An OS command interpreter   (see {shell}) spawned from within a program, such that exit from   the command interpreter returns one to the parent program in a   state that allows it to continue execution.  Co...
sucking mud is  [Applied Data Research] adj. (also `pumping   mud') Crashed or wedged.  Usually said of a machine that provides   some service to a network, such as a file server.  This Dallas   regionalism derives from the East Texas oilfield lament...
sucking mud2 is  Often used as a query.  "We   are going to reconfigure the network, are you ready to suck mud?" 
sufficiently small is  adj. Syn. {suitably small}.
suit is  n. 1. Ugly and uncomfortable `business clothing' often worn   by non-hackers.  Invariably worn with a `tie', a strangulation   device that partially cuts off the blood supply to the brain.  It   is thought that this explains much about the b...
suit2 is  2. A person who habitually wears   suits, as distinct from a techie or hacker.  See {loser},   {burble}, {management}, and {brain-damaged}.  English, by the   way, is relatively kind; our Soviet correspondent informs us that   the correspon...
suit3 is  lit.   a tool for grabbing garbage. 
suitable win is  n. See {win}.
suitably small is  [perverted from mathematical jargon] adj. An   expression used ironically to characterize unquantifiable   behavior that differs from expected or required behavior.  For   example, suppose a newly created program came up with a cor...
suitably small2 is  exclaimed "It works!"   Then, if the program dumps core on the first mouse click, one might   add "Well, for suitably small values of `works'."  Compare   the characterization of pi under {{random numbers}}. 
sun-stools is  n. Unflattering hackerism for SunTools, a pre-X   windowing environment notorious in its day for size, slowness, and   misfeatures.  {X}, however, is larger and slower; see   {second-system effect}.
sunspots is  n. 1. Notional cause of an odd error.  "Why did the   program suddenly turn the screen blue?"  "Sunspots, I guess."   2. Also the cause of {bit rot} --- from the myth that sunspots   will increase {cosmic rays}, which can flip single bit...
superprogrammer is  n. A prolific programmer; one who can code   exceedingly well and quickly.  Not all hackers are   superprogrammers, but many are.  (Productivity can vary from one   programmer to another by three orders of magnitude.  For example,...
superprogrammer2 is  average of 3 lines of   working code in one day, while another, with the proper tools,   might be able to write 3,000.  This range is astonishing; it is   matched in very few other areas of human endeavor.)  The term   `superprog...
superprogrammer3 is  places as IBM   than in the hacker community.  It tends to stress na"ive measures   of productivity and to underweight creativity, ingenuity, and   getting the job *done* --- and to sidestep the question of   whether the 3,000 li...
superprogrammer4 is  three lines that do the {Right Thing}.  Hackers tend to prefer   the terms {hacker} and {wizard}. 
superuser is  [UNIX] n. Syn. {root}, {avatar}.  This usage has   spread to non-UNIX environments; the superuser is any account with   all {wheel} bits on.  A more specific term than {wheel}.
support is  n. After-sale handholding; something many software   vendors promise but few deliver.  To hackers, most support people   are useless --- because by the time a hacker calls support he or   she will usually know the relevant manuals better ...
support2 is  *not* a joke or exaggeration).  A   hacker's idea of `support' is a t^ete-`a-t^ete with the   software's designer. 
Suzie COBOL is  /soo'zee koh'bol/ 1. [IBM prob. from Frank Zappa's   `Suzy Creamcheese'] n. A coder straight out of training school who   knows everything except the value of comments in plain English.   Also (fashionable among personkind wishing to ...
Suzie COBOL2 is  or (in some non-IBM circles) `Cobol Charlie'.   2. [proposed] Meta-name for any {code grinder}, analogous to   {J. Random Hacker}. 
swab is  /swob/ [From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 `SWAp Byte'   instruction, as immortalized in the `dd(1)' option `conv=swab'   (see {dd})] 1. vt. To solve the {NUXI problem} by swapping   bytes in a file.  2. n. The program in V7 UNIX used to perfo...
swab2 is  equivalent to it.  See also   {big-endian}, {little-endian}, {middle-endian},   {bytesexual}. 
swap is  vt. 1. [techspeak] To move information from a fast-access   memory to a slow-access memory (`swap out'), or vice versa   (`swap in').  Often refers specifically to the use of disks as   `virtual memory'.  As pieces of data or program are nee...
swap2 is  processing; when they are no longer   needed they may be swapped out again.  2. The jargon use of these   terms analogizes people's short-term memories with core.  Cramming   for an exam might be spoken of as swapping in.  If you temporaril...
swap3 is  it, your excuse is that it   was swapped out.  To `keep something swapped in' means to keep it   fresh in your memory "I reread the TECO manual every few months   to keep it swapped in."  If someone interrupts you just as you got   a good i...
swap4 is  this   out", implying that the piece of paper is your extra-somatic   memory and if you don't swap the info out by writing it down it   will get overwritten and lost as you talk.  Compare {page in},   {page out}. 
swap space is  n. Storage space, especially temporary storage space   used during a move or reconfiguration.  "I'm just using that corner   of the machine room for swap space."
swapped in is  n. See {swap}.  See also {page in}.
swapped out is  n. See {swap}.  See also {page out}.
swizzle is  v. To convert external names, array indices, or references   within a data structure into address pointers when the data   structure is brought into main memory from external storage (also   called `pointer swizzling'); this may be done f...
swizzle2 is  simplify code (e.g., by turning lots of   name lookups into pointer dereferences).  The converse operation is   sometimes termed `unswizzling'.  See also {snap}. 
sync is  /sink/ (var. `synch') n., vi. 1. To synchronize, to   bring into synchronization.  2. [techspeak] To force all pending   I/O to the disk; see {flush}, sense 2.  3. More generally, to   force a number of competing processes or agents to a sta...
sync2 is  to crash; thus, to checkpoint   (in the database-theory sense). 
syntactic sugar is  [coined by Peter Landin] n. Features added to a   language or other formalism to make it `sweeter' for humans,   that do not affect the expressiveness of the formalism (compare   {chrome}).  Used esp. when there is an obvious and ...
syntactic sugar2 is  into other constructs already   present in the notation.  C's `a[i]' notation is syntactic   sugar for `*(a + i)'.  "Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the   semicolon."  --- Alan Perlis   The variant `syntactic saccharine' is also...
syntactic sugar3 is  gratuitous, in that syntactic sugar   serves a purpose (making something more acceptable to humans) but   syntactic saccharine serves no purpose at all. 
sys-frog is  /sis'frog/ [the PLATO system] n. Playful variant of   `sysprog', which is in turn short for `systems programmer'.
sysadmin is  /sis'ad-min/ n. Common contraction of `system   admin'; see {admin}.
sysop is  /sis'op/ n. [esp. in the BBS world] The operator (and   usually the owner) of a bulletin-board system.  A common neophyte   mistake on {FidoNet} is to address a message to `sysop' in an   international {echo}, thus sending it to hundreds of...
system is  n. 1. The supervisor program or OS on a computer.  2. The   entire computer system, including input/output devices, the   supervisor program or OS, and possibly other software.  3. Any   large-scale program.  4. Any method or algorithm.  5...
system2 is  (in senses 1 and 2 only; for   sense 3 one mentions the particular program e.g., `LISP   hacker') 
systems jock is  n. See {jock}, (sense 2).
SysVile is  /sis-vil'/ n. See {Missed'em-five}.
system mangler is  n. Humorous synonym for `system manager', poss.   from the fact that one major IBM OS had a {root} account called   SYSMANGR.  Refers specifically to a systems programmer in charge of   administration, software maintenance, and upd...
system mangler2 is  emphasizes the technical end of the   skills involved.*T /T/ 1. [from LISP terminology for `true] Yes.  Used in   reply to a question (particularly one asked using the `-P   convention).  In LISP, the constant T means `true, among...
system mangler3 is  instead of `Yes and `No   almost reflexively.  This sometimes causes misunderstandings.  When   a waiter or flight attendant asks whether a hacker wants coffee, he   may well respond `T, meaning that he wants coffee; but of course...
system mangler4 is  it happens, most   hackers (particularly those who frequent Chinese restaurants) like   tea at least as well as coffee --- so it is not that big a problem.   2. See {time T} (also {since time T equals minus infinity}).   3. [techs...
system mangler5 is  abbreviation   for the noun `transaction.  4. [Purdue] Alternate spelling of   {tee}. 
tail recursion is  n. If you arent sick of it already, see {tail   recursion}.
talk mode is  n. A feature supported by UNIX, ITS, and some other   OSes that allows two or more logged-in users to set up a real-time   on-line conversation.  It combines the immediacy of talking with   all the precision (and verbosity) that written...
talk mode2 is  communicate inflection, though conventions have   arisen for some of these (see the section on writing style in the   Prependices for details).   Talk mode has a special set of jargon words, used to save typing,   which are not used or...
talk mode3 is  probably derived from) Morse-code jargon used by ham-radio amateurs   since the 1920s.   Most of these are not used at universities or in the UNIX world,   though ROTF and TTFN have gained some currency there and IMHO is   common; conv...
talk mode4 is  unfamiliar with FOO?, BCNU, HELLOP, {NIL}, and {T}.   The {MUD} community uses a mixture of USENET/Internet emoticons, a   few of the more natural of the old-style talk-mode abbrevs, and   some of the `social list above; specifically, ...
talk mode5 is  b4, BTW, WTF, TTFN, and WTH.  The use of   `rehi is also common; in fact, mudders are fond of re- compounds and   will frequently `rehug or `rebonk (see {bonk/oif}) people.  The   word `re by itself is taken as `regreet.  In general, t...
talk mode6 is  typing things out in full rather   than using abbreviations; this may be due to the relative youth of   the MUD cultures, which tend to include many touch typists and   to assume high-speed links.  The following uses specific to MUDs a...
talk mode7 is  variant spelling `d00d)   appear to be passing into wider use among some subgroups of   MUDders.   One final note on talk mode style neophytes, when in talk mode,   often seem to think they must produce letter-perfect prose because   t...
talk mode8 is  not the best   approach.  It can be very frustrating to wait while your partner   pauses to think of a word, or repeatedly makes the same spelling   error and backs up to fix it.  It is usually best just to leave   typographical errors...
talk mode9 is  confusion may result; in that case it is often fastest just to type   "xxx" and start over from before the mistake.   See also {hakspek}, {emoticon}, {bonk/oif}. 
talker system is  n. British hackerism for software that enables   real-time chat or {talk mode}.
tall card is  n. A PC/AT-size expansion card (these can be larger   than IBM PC or XT cards because the AT case is bigger).  See also   {short card}.  When IBM introduced the PS/2 model 30 (its last   gasp at supporting the ISA) they made the case lo...
tall card2 is  wouldnt fit; this was felt to be a   reincarnation of the {connector conspiracy}, done with less   style. 
tanked is  adj. Same as {down}, used primarily by UNIX hackers.  See   also {hosed}.  Popularized as a synonym for `drunk by Steve   Dallas in the late lamented "Bloom County" comic strip.
tar and feather is  [from UNIX `tar(1)] vt. To create a   transportable archive from a group of files by first sticking them   together with `tar(1) (the Tape ARchiver) and then   compressing the result (see {compress}).  The latter action is   dubbe...
tar and feather2 is  an airplane   propeller to decrease wind resistance, or with an oar to reduce   water resistance; smaller files, after all, slip through comm links   more easily. 
taste is  [primarily MIT] n. 1. The quality in a program that tends   to be inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and   kluges programmed into it.  Also `tasty, `tasteful,   `tastefulness.  "This feature comes in N tasty flavors." ...
taste2 is  essentially   synonyms, `taste and {flavor} are not.  Taste refers to   sound judgment on the part of the creator; a program or feature   can *exhibit* taste but cannot {have} taste.  On the other   hand, a feature can have {flavor}.  Also...
taste3 is  `kind or `variety not shared by   `taste.  {Flavor} is a more popular word than `taste,   though both are used.  See also {elegant}.  2. Alt. sp. of   {tayste}. 
tayste is  /tayst/ n. Two bits; also as {taste}.  Syn. {crumb},   {quarter}.  Compare {{byte}}, {dynner}, {playte},   {nybble}, {quad}.
TCB is  /T-C-B/ [IBM] n. 1. Trouble Came Back.  An intermittent or   difficult-to-reproduce problem that has failed to respond to   neglect.  Compare {heisenbug}.  Not to be confused with   2. Trusted Computing Base, an `official jargon term from the...
ISO standard cup of tea is  [South Africa] n. A cup of tea with milk   and one teaspoon of sugar, where the milk is poured into the cup   before the tea.  Variations are ISO 0, with no sugar; ISO 2, with   two spoons of sugar; and so on.   Like many ...
ISO standard cup of tea2 is  ring in North   America, where hackers generally shun the decadent British practice   of adulterating perfectly good tea with dairy products and   prefer instead to add a wedge of lemon, if anything.  If one were   feelin...
ISO standard cup of tea3 is  analogous `ANSI   standard cup of tea and wind up with a political situation   distressingly similar to several that arise in much more serious   technical contexts.  Milk and lemon dont mix very well. 
TechRef is  /tekref/ [MS-DOS] n. The original `IBM PC   Technical Reference Manual, including the BIOS listing and   complete schematics for the PC.  The only PC documentation in the   issue package thats considered serious by real hackers.
TECO is  /teekoh/ obs. 1. vt. Originally, to edit using the TECO   editor in one of its infinite variations (see below).  2. vt.,obs.   To edit even when TECO is *not* the editor being used!  This   usage is rare and now primarily historical.  2. [or...
TECO2 is  and COrrector; later, `Text   Editor and COrrector] n. A text editor developed at MIT and   modified by just about everybody.  With all the dialects included,   TECO might have been the most prolific editor in use before   {EMACS}, to which...
TECO3 is  powerful programming-language-like features and its unspeakably   hairy syntax.  It is literally the case that every string of   characters is a valid TECO program (though probably not a useful   one); one common hacker game used to be ment...
TECO4 is  corresponding to human names did.  As an example   of TECOs obscurity, here is a TECO program that takes a list of   names such as     Loser, J. Random     Quux, The Great     Dick, Moby   sorts them alphabetically according to surname, and...
TECO5 is  comma, to produce the following     Moby Dick     J. Random Loser     The Great Quux   The program is     [1 J^P$L$$     J <.-Z; .,(S,$ -D .)FX1 @F^B $K L I $ G1 L>$$   (where ^B means `Control-B (ASCII 0000010) and $ is actually   an {ALT}...
TECO6 is  fact, this very program was used to produce the second, sorted   list from the first list.  The first hack at it had a {bug} GLS   (the author) had accidentally omitted the `@ in front   of `F^B, which as anyone can see is clearly the {Wron...
TECO7 is  There is no space to describe all the   features of TECO, but it may be of interest that `^P means   `sort and `J<.-Z; ... L> is an idiomatic series of commands   for `do once for every line.   In mid-1991, TECO is pretty much one with the ...
TECO8 is  affections of hackerdom by {EMACS}.   Descendants of an early (and somewhat lobotomized) version adopted   by DEC can still be found lurking on VMS and a couple of crufty   PDP-11 operating systems, however, and ports of the more advanced  ...
TECO9 is  antiquarian interest.  See   also {retrocomputing}, {write-only language}. 
tee is  n.,vt. [Purdue] A carbon copy of an electronic transmission.   "Oh, youre sending him the {bits} to that?  Slap on a tee for   me."  From the UNIX command `tee(1), itself named after a   pipe fitting (see {plumbing}).  Can also mean `save one...
Telerat is  /tel*-rat/ n. Unflattering hackerism for `Teleray, a   line of extremely losing terminals.  See also {terminak},   {sun-stools}, {HP-SUX}.
TELNET is  /telnet/ vt. To communicate with another Internet host   using the {TELNET} program.  TOPS-10 people used the word   IMPCOM, since that was the program name for them.  Sometimes   abbreviated to TN /T-N/.  "I usually TN over to SAIL just t...
ten-finger interface is  n. The interface between two networks that   cannot be directly connected for security reasons; refers to the   practice of placing two terminals side by side and having an   operator read from one and type into the other.
tense is  adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient.  A tense piece   of code often got that way because it was highly {bum}med, but   sometimes it was just based on a great idea.  A comment in a clever   routine by Mike Kazar, once a grad-student ...
tense2 is  will bring tears to your eyes."  A tense   programmer is one who produces tense code. 
tenured graduate student is  n. One who has been in graduate school   for 10 years (the usual maximum is 5 or 6) a `ten-yeared   student (get it?).  Actually, this term may be used of any grad   student beginning in his seventh year.  Students dont r...
tenured graduate student2 is  professors do, but a tenth-year graduate   student has probably been around the university longer than any   untenured professor. 
tera- is  /ter*/ [SI] pref. See {{quantifiers}}.
teraflop club is  /ter*-flop kluhb/ [FLOP = Floating Point   Operation] n. A mythical association of people who consume outrageous   amounts of computer time in order to produce a few simple pictures   of glass balls with intricate ray-tracing techni...

( run in 1.085 second using v1.01-cache-2.11-cpan-6aa56a78535 )