colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (05/16/86)
.\" tbl | ditroff -ms
.TL
GLOSSARY OF JARGON
.ND November 14, 1982
.AU
Compiled by Guy L. Steele Jr., Raphael Finkel, Donald Woods,
Geoff Goodfellow and Mark Crispin,
with assistance from the MIT and Stanford AI communities
and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Some contributions were submitted via the ARPAnet
from miscellaneous sites.
.AE
.if n \{\
.ds -> \->
.ds em --
.ds 2m ---
.ds 0 '
.ds fm '
.ds mu u\}
.if t \{\
.ds -> \(->
.ds em \(em
.ds 2m \l'2m\(em'
.if \w'\(2m' .ds 2m \(2m
.ds 0 `
.ds fm \(fm
.ds mu \(mu\}
.de QU
\\$3\\*Q\\$1\\*U\\$2
..
.de IQ
\\$3\\*0\\$1'\\$2
..
.de DF
. in 0
. sp 0.7
. ft B
\\$1
. ft R
' in 4n
..
.LP
.DF "Verb doubling:"
a standard construction is to double a verb and use it
as a comment on what the implied subject does.
Often used to terminate a conversation.
Typical examples involve WIN, LOSE, HACK, FLAME, BARF, CHOMP:
.DS
\*QThe disk heads just crashed.\*U \*QLose, lose.\*U
\*QMostly he just talked about his \*(2m crock. Flame, flame.\*U
\*QBoy, what a bagbiter! Chomp, chomp!\*U
.DE
.DF "Soundalike slang:"
similar to Cockney rhyming slang.
Often made up on the spur of the moment.
Standard examples:
.DS
Boston Globe \*(-> Boston Glob
Herald American \*(-> Horrid (Harried) American
New York Times \*(-> New York Slime
historical reasons \*(-> hysterical raisins
government property \- do not duplicate (seen on keys)
\*(-> government duplicity \- do not propagate
.DE
Often the substitution will be made in such a way as to slip in
a standard jargon word:
.DS
Dr. Dobb's Journal \*(-> Dr. Frob's Journal
creeping featurism \*(-> feeping creaturism
Margaret Jacks Hall \*(-> Marginal Hacks Hall
.DE
.DF "The -P convention:"
turning a word into a question by appending the syllable
.QU P ;
from the LISP convention of appending the letter
.QU P
to denote a predicate (a Boolean-valued function).
The question should expect a yes/no answer, though it needn't.
(See T and NIL.)
.DS
At dinnertime: \*QFoodp?\*U \*QYeah, I'm pretty hungry.\*U or \*QT!\*U
\*QState-of-the-world-P?\*U (Straight) \*QI'm about to go home.\*U
(Humorous) \*QYes, the world has a state.\*U
.DE
[One of the best of these is a Gosperism (i.e., due to Bill Gosper).
When we were at a Chinese restaurant, he wanted to know
whether someone would like to share with him a two-person-sized
bowl of soup.
His inquiry was:
.QU "Split-p soup?"
\*-GLS]
.DF "Peculiar nouns:"
MIT AI hackers love to take various words and add the
wrong endings to them to make nouns and verbs, often by extending a
standard rule to nonuniform cases.
Examples:
.DS
porous => porosity
generous => generosity
Ergo: mysterious => mysteriosity
ferrous => ferocity
.DE
Other examples: winnitude, disgustitude, hackification.
.DF "Spoken inarticulations:"
Words such as
.QU mumble,
.QU sigh,
and
.QU groan
are spoken in places where their referent might more naturally be used.
It has been suggested that this usage derives from the
impossibility of representing such noises in a com link.
Another expression sometimes heard is
.QU complain!
.DF @BEGIN
(primarily CMU) with @END, used humorously in writing to
indicate a context or to remark on the surrounded text.
From the SCRIBE command of the same name.
For example:
.DS
@Begin(Flame)
Predicate logic is the only good programming language.
Anyone who would use anything else is an idiot. Also,
computers should be tredecimal instead of binary.
@End(Flame)
.DE
.DF "ANGLE BRACKETS"
(primarily MIT) n. Either of the characters
.QU <
and
.QU > .
See BROKET.
.DF AOS
(aus (East coast) ay-ahs (West coast)) [based on a PDP-10
increment instruction] v. To increase the amount of something.
.QU "Aos the campfire."
Usage: considered silly.
See SOS.
.DF ARG
n. Abbreviation for
.QU argument
(to a function), used so often as to have become a new word.
.DF AUTOMAGICALLY
adv. Automatically, but in a way which, for some reason
(typically because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps
even too trivial), I don't feel like explaining to you.
See MAGIC.
Example: Some programs which produce XGP output files spool them
automagically.
.DF BAGBITER
1. n. Equipment or program that fails, usually
intermittently. 2. BAGBITING: adj. Failing hardware or software.
.QU "This bagbiting system won't let me get out of spacewar."
Usage: verges on obscenity.
Grammatically separable; one may speak of
.QU "biting the bag."
Synonyms: LOSER, LOSING, CRETINOUS, BLETCHEROUS,
BARFUCIOUS, CHOMPER, CHOMPING.
.DF BANG
n. Common alternate name for EXCL (q.v.), especially at CMU.
See SHRIEK.
.DF BAR
1. The second metasyntactic variable, after FOO.
\*QSuppose we have two functions FOO and BAR.
FOO calls BAR...\*U
2. Often appended to FOO to produce FOOBAR.
.DF BARF
[from the
.QU layman
slang, meaning
.QU vomit ]
1. interj. Term of
disgust. See BLETCH. 2. v. Choke, as on input. May mean to give
an error message.
\*QThe function
.IQ =
compares two fixnums or two
flonums, and barfs on anything else.\*U
3. BARFULOUS, BARFUCIOUS:
adj. Said of something which would make anyone barf, if only for
aesthetic reasons.
.DF "BELLS AND WHISTLES"
n. Unnecessary but useful (or amusing) features of
a program.
\*QNow that we've got the basic program working, let's go
back and add some bells and whistles.\*U
Nobody seems to know what
distinguishes a bell from a whistle.
.DF BIGNUMS
[from Macsyma] n. 1. In backgammon, large numbers on the dice.
2. Multiple-precision (sometimes infinitely extendable) integers
and, through analogy, any very large numbers.
3. EL CAMINO BIGNUM:
El Camino Real, a street through the San Francisco peninsula that
originally extended (and still appears in places) all the way to
Mexico City.
It was termed
.QU "El Camino Double Precision"
when
someone noted it was a very long street, and then
.QU "El Camino Bignum"
when it was pointed out that it was hundreds of miles long.
.DF BIN
[short for BINARY; used as a second file name on ITS] 1. n.
BINARY. 2. BIN FILE: A file containing the BIN for a program.
Usage: used at MIT, which runs on ITS.
The equivalent term at
Stanford is DMP (pronounced
.QU dump )
FILE.
Other names used include
SAV
.QU save ) (
FILE (DEC and Tenex), SHR
.QU share ) (
and LOW FILES (DEC), and EXE
.QU ex\*(fmee ) (
FILE (DEC and Twenex).
Also in this
category are the input files to the various flavors of linking
loaders (LOADER, LINK-10, STINK), called REL FILES.
.DF BINARY
n. The object code for a program.
.DF BIT
n. 1. The unit of information; the amount of information obtained
by asking a yes-or-no question.
.QU Bits
is often used simply to mean information, as in
.QU "Give me bits about DPL replicators."
2. [By extension from
.QU "interrupt bits"
on a computer] A reminder that
something should be done or talked about eventually.
Upon seeing
someone that you haven't talked to for a while, it's common for one
or both to say,
.QU "I have a bit set for you."
.DF BITBLT
(bit\*(fmblit) 1. v. To perform a complex operation on a large
block of bits, usually involving the bits being displayed on a
bitmapped raster screen.
See BLT.
2. n. The operation itself.
.DF "BIT BUCKET"
n. 1. A receptacle used to hold the runoff from the
computer's shift registers.
2. Mythical destination of deleted
files, GC'ed memory, and other no-longer-accessible data.
3. The physical device associated with
.QU NUL: \&.
.DF BLETCH
[from German
.QU brechen,
to vomit] 1. interj. Term of
disgust.
2. BLETCHEROUS: adj. Disgusting in design or function.
.QU "This keyboard is bletcherous!"
Usage: slightly comic.
.DF BLT
(blit, very rarely belt) [based on the PDP-10 block transfer
instruction; confusing to users of the PDP-11] 1. v. To transfer a
large contiguous package of information from one place to another.
2. THE BIG BLT: n. Shuffling operation on the PDP-10 under some
operating systems that consumes a significant amount of computer
time. 3. (usually pronounced B-L-T) n. Sandwich containing bacon,
lettuce, and tomato.
.DF BOGOSITY
n. The degree to which something is BOGUS (q.v.).
At CMU,
bogosity is measured with a bogometer; typical use: in a seminar,
when a speaker says something bogus, a listener might raise his
hand and say,
.QU "My bogometer just triggered."
The agreed-upon unit of bogosity is the microLenat (\*(muL).
.DF BOGUS
(WPI, Yale, Stanford) adj. 1. Non-functional.
.QU "Your patches are bogus."
2. Useless.
.QU "OPCON is a bogus program."
3. False.
.QU "Your arguments are bogus."
4. Incorrect.
.QU "That algorithm is bogus."
5. Silly.
.QU "Stop writing those bogus sagas."
(This word seems to
have some, but not all, of the connotations of RANDOM.)
[Etymological note from Lehman/Reid at CMU:
.QU Bogus
was originally
used (in this sense) at Princeton, in the late 60's.
It was used
not particularly in the CS department, but all over campus.
It came to Yale, where one of us (Lehman) was an undergraduate, and
(we assume) elsewhere through the efforts of Princeton alumni who
brought the word with them from their alma mater.
In the Yale
case, the alumnus is Michael Shamos, who was a graduate student at
Yale and is now a faculty member here.
A glossary of bogus words
was compiled at Yale when the word was first popularized (e.g.,
autobogophobia: the fear of becoming bogotified).]
.DF BOUNCE
(Stanford) v. To play volleyball.
\*QBounce, bounce!
Stop wasting time on the computer and get out to the court!\*U
.DF BRAIN-DAMAGED
[generalization of
.QU "Honeywell Brain Damage"
(HBD), a
theoretical disease invented to explain certain utter cretinisms in
Multics] adj. Obviously wrong; cretinous; demented.
There is an
implication that the person responsible must have suffered brain
damage, because he should have known better.
Calling something
brain-damaged is really bad; it also implies it is unusable.
.DF BREAK
v. 1. To cause to be broken (in any sense).
.QU "Your latest patch to the system broke the TELNET server."
2. (of a program) To stop
temporarily, so that it may be examined for debugging purposes.
The place where it stops is a BREAKPOINT.
.DF BROKEN
adj. 1. Not working properly (of programs). 2. Behaving
strangely; especially (of people), exhibiting extreme depression.
.DF BROKET
[by analogy with
.QU bracket:
a
.QU "broken bracket" ]
(primarily
Stanford) n. Either of the characters
.QU <
and
.QU > .
(At MIT, and
apparently in The Real World (q.v.) as well, these are usually
called ANGLE BRACKETS.)
.DF "BUCKY BITS"
(primarily Stanford) n. The bits produced by the CTRL and
META shift keys on a Stanford (or Knight) keyboard.
Rumor has it
that the idea for extra bits for characters came from Niklaus
Wirth, and that his nickname was
.QU Bucky.
.DF "DOUBLE BUCKY"
adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys.
.QU "The command to burn all LEDs is double bucky F."
.DF BUG
[from telephone terminology,
.QU "bugs in a telephone cable,"
blamed for noisy lines; however, Jean Sammet has repeatedly been heard to
claim that the use of the term in CS comes from a story concerning
actual bugs found wedged in an early malfunctioning computer] n. An
unwanted and unintended property of a program. (People can have
bugs too (even winners) as in
.QU "PHW is a super winner, but he has some bugs." )
See FEATURE.
.DF BUM
1. v. To make highly efficient, either in time or space, often at
the expense of clarity. The object of the verb is usually what was
removed
.QU "I managed to bum three more instructions." ) (
but can be
the program being changed
.QU "I bummed the inner loop down to seven microseconds." ) (
2. n. A small change to an algorithm to make it more efficient.
.DF BUZZ
v. To run in a very tight loop, perhaps without guarantee of getting out.
.DF CANONICAL
adj. The usual or standard state or manner of something.
A true story: One Bob Sjoberg, new at the MIT AI Lab, expressed
some annoyance at the use of jargon.
Over his loud objections, we
made a point of using jargon as much as possible in his presence,
and eventually it began to sink in.
Finally, in one conversation, he used the word
.QU canonical
in jargon-like fashion without thinking.
.DS
Steele: \*QAha! We've finally got you talking jargon too!\*U
Stallman: \*QWhat did he say?\*U
Steele: \*QHe just used \*0canonical' in the canonical way.\*U
.DE
.DF CATATONIA
(kat-uh-toe\*(fmnee-uh) n. A condition of suspended animation in
which the system is in a wedged (CATATONIC) state.
.DF CDR
(ku\*(fmder) [from LISP] v. With
.QU down,
to trace down a list of elements.
.QU "Shall we cdr down the agenda?"
Usage: silly.
.DF "CHINE NUAL"
n. The Lisp Machine Manual, so called because the title is
wrapped around the cover so only those letters show.
.DF CHOMP
v. To lose; 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, consisting of
the four fingers held together as if in a mitten or hand puppet,
and the fingers and thumb open and close rapidly to illustrate a
biting action. The gesture alone means CHOMP CHOMP (see Verb
Doubling).
.DF CLOSE
n. Abbreviation for
.QU "close (or right) parenthesis,"
used when necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity. See OPEN.
.DF COKEBOTTLE
n. Any very unusual character.
MIT people complain about the
.QU control-meta-cokebottle
commands at SAIL, and SAIL people
complain about the
.QU altmode-altmode-cokebottle
commands at MIT.
.DF "COM MODE"
(variant: COMM MODE) [from the ITS feature for linking two or
more terminals together so that text typed on any is echoed on all,
providing a means of conversation among hackers] n. The state a
terminal is in when linked to another in this way. Com mode has a
special set of jargon words, used to save typing, which are not
used orally:
.TS
center;
l lw(3.5i).
BCNU Be seeing you.
BTW By the way ...
BYE? T{
Are you ready to unlink? (This is the standard way to
end a com mode conversation; the other person types
BYE to confirm, or else continues the conversation.)
T}
CUL See you later.
FOO? T{
A greeting, also meaning R U THERE? Often used in the
case of unexpected links, meaning also
.QU "Sorry if I butted in"
(linker) or
.QU "What's up?"
(linkee).
T}
FYI For your information...
GA T{
Go ahead (used when two people have tried to type
simultaneously; this cedes the right to type to the other).
T}
HELLOP T{
A greeting, also meaning R U THERE? (An instance of the
.QU -P
convention.)
T}
MtFBWY May the Force be with you. (From Star Wars.)
NIL No (see the main entry for NIL).
OBTW Oh, by the way ...
R U THERE? Are you there?
SEC Wait a second (sometimes written SEC...).
T Yes (see the main entry for T).
TNX Thanks.
TNX 1.0E6 Thanks a million (humorous).
<double CRLF> T{
When the typing party has finished, he types
two CRLF's to signal that he is done; this leaves a
blank line between individual
.QU speeches
in the conversation, making it easier to re-read the preceding text.
T}
<name>: T{
When three or more terminals are linked, each speech
is preceded by the typist's login name and a colon (or
a hyphen) to indicate who is typing.
The login name often is shortened to a unique prefix (possibly a
single letter) during a very long conversation.
T}
/\e/\e/\e The equivalent of a giggle.
.TE
At Stanford, where the link feature is implemented by
.QU "talk loops,"
the term TALK MODE is used in place of COM MODE. Most of the above
.QU sub-jargon
is used at both Stanford and MIT.
.DF "CONNECTOR CONSPIRACY"
[probably came into prominence with the
appearance of the KL-10, none of whose connectors match anything
else] n. The tendency of manufacturers (or, by extension,
programmers or purveyors of anything) to come up with new products
which don't fit together with the old stuff, thereby making you buy
either all new stuff or expensive interface devices.
.DF CONS
[from LISP] 1. v. To add a new element to a list. 2. CONS UP:
v. To synthesize from smaller pieces:
.QU "to cons up an example."
.DF CRASH
1. n. A sudden, usually drastic failure. Most often said of the
system (q.v., definition #1), sometimes of magnetic disk drives.
.QU "Three lusers lost their files in last night's disk crash."
A disk crash which entails the read/write heads dropping onto the surface
of the disks and scraping off the oxide may also be referred to as a
.QU "head crash."
2. v. To fail suddenly.
.QU "Has the system just crashed?"
Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the
crash (usually a person or a program, or both).
.QU "Those idiots playing spacewar crashed the system."
Sometimes said of people.
See GRONK OUT.
.DF CRETIN
1. n. Congenital loser (q.v.). 2. CRETINOUS: adj. See
BLETCHEROUS and BAGBITING. Usage: somewhat ad-hominem.
.DF CRLF
(cur\*(fmlif, sometimes crul\*(fmlif) n. A carriage return (CR) followed
by a line feed (LF). See TERPRI.
.DF CROCK
[probably from
.QU layman
slang, which in turn may be derived from
.QU "crock of shit" ]
n. An awkward feature or programming technique
that ought to be made cleaner. Example: Using small integers to
represent error codes without the program interpreting them to the
user is a crock.
Also, a technique that works acceptably but which
is quite prone to failure if disturbed in the least, for example
depending on the machine opcodes having particular bit patterns so
that you can use instructions as data words too; a tightly woven,
almost completely unmodifiable structure.
.DF CRUFTY
[from
.QU cruddy ]
adj. 1. Poorly built, possibly overly complex.
.QU "This is standard old crufty DEC software."
Hence CRUFT, n. shoddy construction.
Also CRUFT, v. [from hand cruft, pun on hand craft]
to write assembler code for something normally (and better) done by
a compiler. 2. Unpleasant, especially to the touch, often with
encrusted junk. Like spilled coffee smeared with peanut butter and
catsup. Hence CRUFT, n. disgusting mess. 3. Generally unpleasant.
CRUFTY or CRUFTIE n. A small crufty object (see FROB); often one
which doesn't fit well into the scheme of things.
.QU "A LISP property list is a good place to store crufties (or, random cruft)."
[Note: Does CRUFT have anything to do with the Cruft Lab at Harvard?
I don't know, though I was a Harvard student. \*(emGLS]
.DF CRUNCH
v. 1. To process, usually in a time-consuming or complicated way.
Connotes an essentially trivial operation which is
nonetheless painful to perform. The pain may be due to the
--
Col. G. L. Sicherman
UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
CS: colonel@buffalo-cs
BI: csdsicher@sunyabva