by = T =
T (tee) 1. [from LISP terminology for ``true''] Yes. Usage: used in
reply to a question, particularly one asked using the ``-P''
convention). See NIL. 2. See TIME T. 3. In transaction-processing
circles, an abbreviation for the noun ``transaction''.
TALK MODE n. The state a terminal is in when linked to another via a
bidirectional character pipe to support on-line dialogue between
two or more users. Talk mode has a special set of jargon words,
used to save typing, which are not used orally:
BCNU Be seeing you.
BTW By the way...
BYE? 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.)
CUL See you later.
FOO? A greeting, also meaning R U THERE? Often used in the
case of unexpected links, meaning also ``Sorry if I
butted in'' (linker) or ``What's up?'' (linkee).
FYI For your information...
FYA For your amusement...
GA Go ahead (used when two people have tried to type
simultaneously; this cedes the right to type to
the other).
HELLOP A greeting, also meaning R U THERE? (An instance
of the ``-P'' convention.)
NIL No (see the main entry for NIL).
O Over to you.
OO Over and out.
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).
WTF The universal interrogative particle. WTF knows what
it means?
WTH What the hell
<double CRLF> When the typing party has finished, he types
two CRLFs to signal that he is done; this leaves a
blank line between individual ``speeches'' in the
conversation, making it easier to re-read the
preceding text.
<name>: 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.
Most of the above ``sub-jargon'' is used at both Stanford and MIT.
Several of these are also common in EMAIL, esp. FYI, FYA, BTW,
BCNU, and CUL A few other abbrevs have been reported from
commercial networks such as GEnie and Compuserve where on-line
`live' chat including more than two people is common and usually
involves a more `social' context, notably
<g> grin
BRB be right back
HHOJ ha ha only joking
HHOS HA HA ONLY SERIOUS
LOL laughing out load
ROTF rolling on the floor
AFK away from keyboard
b4 before
CU l8tr see you later
MORF Male or Female?
TTFN ta-ta for now
OIC Oh, I see
rehi hello again
These are not used at universities; conversely, most of the people
who know these are unfamiliar with FOO?, BCNU, HELLOP, NIL, and T.
TANKED 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'' comix.
TASTE n. [primarily MIT-DMS] The quality in programs which 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.'' Although TASTEFUL and
FLAVORFUL are essentially synonyms, TASTE and FLAVOR are not.
TCB (tee see bee) [IBM] Trouble Came Back. Intermittent or
difficult-to reproduce problem which has failed to respond to
neglect. Compare HEISENBUG.
TELERAT (tel'@-rat) n. Unflattering hackerism for ``Teleray'', a line
of extremely losing terminals. See also TERMINAK, SUN-STOOLS,
HP-SUX.
TELNET (telnet) v. To communicate with another ARPAnet host using the
TELNET program. TOPS-10 people use the word IMPCOM since that is
the program name for them. Sometimes abbreviated to TN. ``I
usually TN over to SAIL just to read the AP News.''
TENSE adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece of
code often got that way because it was highly bummed, but sometimes
it was just based on a great idea. A comment in a clever display
routine by Mike Kazar: ``This routine is so tense it will bring
tears to your eyes. Much thanks to Craig Everhart and James
Gosling for inspiring this hack attack.'' A tense programmer is
one who produces tense code.
TERAFLOP CLUB (ter'a-flop kluhb) n. Mythical group of people who
consume outragous amounts of computer time in order to produce a
few simple pictures of glass balls with intricate ray tracing
techniques. Cal Tech professor James Kajiya is said to be the
founding member.
TERMINAK (ter'mi-nak) [Caltech, ca. 1979] n. Any malfunctioning
computer terminal. A common failure mode of Lear-Siegler ADM3a
terminals caused the ``L'' key to produce the ``K'' code instead;
complaints about this tended to look like ``Terminak #3 has a bad
keyboard. Pkease fix.'' See SUN-STOOLS, TELERAT, HP-SUX.
TERMINAL ILLNESS n. 1. Syn. with RASTER BURN. 2. The `burn-in'
condition your CRT tends to get if you don't have a screen saver.
TERPRI (ter'pree) [from the LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP) function to
start a new line of output] v. To output a CRLF (q.v.).
THANKS IN ADVANCE [USENET] Conventional net.politeness ending a posted
request for information or assistance. Sometimes written
``advTHANKSance''. See ``NET.'', NETIQUETTE.
THEOLOGY n. 1. Ironically used to refer to RELIGIOUS ISSUES. 2.
Technical fine points of an abstruse nature, esp. those where the
resolution is of theoretical interest but relatively MARGINAL with
respect to actual use of a design or system. Used esp. around
software issues with a heavy AI or language design component.
Example: the deep- vs. shallow-binding debate in the design of
dynamically-scoped LISPS.
THEORY n. Used in the general sense of idea, plan, story, or set of
rules. ``What's the theory on fixing this TECO loss?'' ``What's
the theory on dinner tonight?'' (``Chinatown, I guess.'')
``What's the current theory on letting lusers on during the day?''
``The theory behind this change is to fix the following well-known
screw...''
THINKO (thin'ko) [by analogy with `typo'] n. A bubble in the stream of
consciousness; a momentary, correctable glitch in mental
processing, especially one involving recall of information learned
by rote. Compare MOUSO.
THRASH v. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything
useful. Paging or swapping systems which are overloaded waste most
of their time moving data into and out of core (rather than
performing useful computation), and are therefore said to thrash.
THREE-FINGER SALUTE n. Syn. for VULCAN NERVE PINCH.
THUNK n. 1. An expression, frozen together with its environment for
later evaluation if and when needed. The process of unfreezing a
THUNK is called `forcing'. 2. People and and activities scheduled
in a thunklike manner. ``It occurred to me the other day that I am
rather accurately modelled by a thunk -- I frequently need to be
forced to completion.'' -- paraphrased from a .plan file.
TICK n. 1. Interval of time; basic clock time on the computer.
Typically 1/60 second. See JIFFY. 2. In simulations, the discrete
unit of time that passes ``between'' iterations of the simulation
mechanism. In AI applications, this amount of time is often left
unspecified, since the only constraint of interest is that caused
things happen after their causes. This sort of AI simulation is
often pejoratively referred to as ``tick-tick-tick'' simulation,
especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with long,
independent chains of causes is handwaved.
TIME T (tiem tee) n. 1. An unspecified but usually well-understood
time, often used in conjunction with a later time T+1. ``We'll
meet on campus at time T or at Louie's at time T+1.'' 2. SINCE (OR
AT) TIME T EQUALS MINUS INFINITY: A long time ago; for as long as
anyone can remember; at the time that some particular frob was
first designed.
TIP OF THE ICE-CUBE [IBM] n. The visible part of something small and
insignificant. Used as an ironic comment in situations where ``tip
of the iceberg'' might be appropriate if the subject were actually
nontrivial.
TIRED IRON [IBM] n. Hardware that is perfectly functional but enough
behind the state of the art to have been superseded by new
products, presumably with enough improvement in bang-per-buck that
the old stuff is starting to look a bit like a DINOSAUR.
TLA (tee el ay) [Three-Letter-Abbreviation] n. 1. Self-describing
acronym for a species with which computing terminology is infested.
2. Any confusing acronym at all. Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA,
CPU, MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, TLA, NNTP. People who like this looser
usage argue that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all
four letter words have four letters.
TOAST 1. n. Any completely inoperable system, esp. one that has just
crashed; ``I think BUACCA is toast.'' 2. v. To cause a system to
crash accidentally, especially in a manner that requires manual
rebooting. ``Rick just toasted harp again.''
TOASTER n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded
microprocessor controller esp. `toaster oven'; often used in
comments which imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology.
``DWIM for an assembler? That'd be as silly as running UNIX on
your toaster!'' 2. A very very dumb computer. ``You could run this
program on any dumb toaster.'' See BITTY BOX, TOASTER, TOY.
TOOL 1. n. A program primarily used to create other programs, such as
a compiler or editor or cross-referencing program. Oppose APP,
OPERATING SYSTEM. 2. [UNIX] An application program with a simple,
``transparent'' (typically text-stream) interface designed
specifically to be used in programmed combination with other tools
(see FILTER). 3. [MIT] v.i.
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