Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d12/csrc1.arc/COOJAR.SRC

Text File | 1989-07-27 | 52KB | 1,030 lines

%%
 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:
        "The disk heads just crashed."  "Lose, lose."
        "Mostly he just talked about his --- crock.  Flame, flame."
        "Boy, what a bagbiter!  Chomp, chomp!"
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 Soundalike slang: similar to Cockney rhyming slang.  Often made up on
   the spur of the moment.  Standard examples:
        Boston Globe => Boston Glob
        Herald American => Horrid (Harried) American
        New York Times => New York Slime
        Dime Time => Slime Time
        government property - do not duplicate (seen on keys)
                => government duplicity - do not propagate
   Often the substitution will be made in such a way as to slip in
   a standard jargon word:
        Dr. Dobb's Journal => Dr. Frob's Journal
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 The -P convention: turning a word into a question by appending the
   syllable "P"; from the LISP convention of appending the letter "P"
   to denote a predicate (a Boolean-values function).  The question
   should expect a yes/no answer, though it needn't.  (See T and NIL.)
     At dinnertime: "Foodp?"  "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." or "T!"
     "State-of-the-world-P?"  (Straight) "I'm about to go home."
                              (Humorous) "Yes, the world has a state."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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:
                porous => porosity
                generous => generosity
        Ergo:   mysterious => mysteriosity
                ferrous => ferocity

        Other examples:  winnitude, disgustitude, hackification.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 AOS (aus (East coast) ay-ahs (West coast)) [based on a PDP-10
   increment instruction] v. To increase the amount of something.
   "Aos the campfire."  Usage: considered silly.  See SOS.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 ANGLE BRACKETS (primarily MIT) n. Either of the characters "<" and
   ">".  See BROKET.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 ARG n. Abbreviation for "argument" (to a function), used so often as
   to have become a new word.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BAGBITER 1. n. Equipment or program that fails, usually
   intermittently.  2. BAGBITING: adj. Failing hardware or software.
   "This bagbiting system won't let me get out of spacewar."  Usage:
   verges on obscenity.  Grammatically separable; one may speak of
   "biting the bag".  Synonyms: LOSER, LOSING, CRETINOUS, BLETCHEROUS,
   BARFUCIOUS, CHOMPER, CHOMPING.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BANG n. Common alternate name for EXCL (q.v.), especially at CMU.  See
   SHRIEK.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BAR 1. The second metasyntactic variable, after FOO.  "Suppose we have
   two functions FOO and BAR.  FOO calls BAR..."  2. Often appended to
   FOO to produce FOOBAR.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BARF [from the "layman" slang, meaning "vomit"] 1. interj. Term of
   disgust.  See BLETCH.  2. v. Choke, as on input.  May mean to give
   an error message.  "The function `=' compares two fixnums or two
   flonums, and barfs on anything else."  3. BARFULOUS, BARFUCIOUS:
   adj. Said of something which would make anyone barf, if only for
   aesthetic reasons.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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 "El Camino Double Precision" when
   someone noted it was a very long street, and then "El Camino
   Bignum" when it was pointed out that it was hundreds of miles long.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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 "dump") FILE.  Other names used include
   SAV ("save") FILE (DEC and Tenex), SHR ("share") and LOW FILES
   (DEC), and EXE ("ex'ee") 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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BINARY n. The object code for a program.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BLETCH [from German "brechen", to vomit (?)] 1. interj. Term of
   disgust.  2. BLETCHEROUS: adj. Disgusting in design or function.
   "This keyboard is bletcherous!"  Usage: slightly comic.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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, "My bogometer just triggered."  The agreed-upon unit
   of bogosity is the microLenat (uL).
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BOGUS (WPI, Yale, Stanford) adj. 1. Non-functional.  "Your patches are
   bogus."  2. Useless.  "OPCON is a bogus program."  3. False.  "Your
   arguments are bogus."  4. Incorrect.  "That algorithm is bogus."
   5. Silly.  "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:  "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).]
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BOUNCE (Stanford) v. To play volleyball.  "Bounce, bounce!  Stop
   wasting time on the computer and get out to the court!"
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BRAIN-DAMAGED [generalization of "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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BREAK v. 1. To cause to be broken (in any sense).  "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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BROKEN adj. 1. Not working properly (of programs).  2. Behaving
   strangely; especially (of people), exhibiting extreme depression.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BROKET [by analogy with "bracket": a "broken bracket"] (primarily
   Stanford) n. Either of the characters "<" and ">".  (At MIT, and
   apparently in The Real World (q.v.) as well, these are usually
   called ANGLE BRACKETS.)
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BUCKY BITS (primarily Stanford) n. The bits produced by the CTRL and
   META shift keys on a Stanford (or Knight) keyboard.
   DOUBLE BUCKY: adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys.  "The command
   to burn all LEDs is double bucky F."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BUG [from telephone terminology, "bugs in a telephone cable", blamed
   for noisy lines] n. An unwanted and unintended property of a
   program.  See FEATURE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BUM 1. v. To make highly efficient, either in time or space, often at
   the expense of clarity.  "I managed to bum three more
   instructions."  2. n. A small change to an algorithm to make it
   more efficient.  Usage: somewhat rare.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 BUZZ v. To run in a very tight loop, perhaps without guarantee of
   getting out.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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 "canonical" in jargon-like fashion without
   thinking.
   Steele: "Aha!  We've finally got you talking jargon too!"
   Stallman: "What did he say?"
   Steele: "He just used `canonical' in the canonical way."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CATATONIA (kat-uh-toe'-nee-uh) n. A condition of suspended animation
   in which the system is in a wedged (CATATONIC) state.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CDR (ku'der) [from LISP] v. With "down", to trace down a list of
   elements.  "Shall we cdr down the agenda?"  Usage: silly.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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).
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CLOSE n. Abbreviation for "close (or right) parenthesis", used when
   necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity.  See OPEN.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 COKEBOTTLE n. Any very unusual character.  MIT people complain about
   the "control-meta-cokebottle" commands at SAIL, and SAIL people
   complain about the "altmode-altmode-cokebottle" commands at MIT.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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:
     Part 1:
        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).
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 COM MODE [cont.] (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:
     Part 2:
        FYI     For your information...
        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).
        OBTW    Oh, by the way...
        R U THERE?      Are you there?
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 COM MODE [cont.] (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:
     Part 3:
        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>  When the typing party has finished, he types
                two CRLF's 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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 COM MODE [cont.] (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:
     Part 4:
        <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.
   At Stanford, where the link feature is implemented by "talk loops",
   the term TALK MODE is used in place of COM MODE.  Most of the above
   "sub-jargon" is used at both Stanford and MIT.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CONS [from LISP] 1. v. To add a new element to a list.  2. CONS UP:
   v. To synthesize from smaller pieces: "to cons up an example".
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CRASH 1. n. A sudden, usually drastic failure.  Most often said of the
   system (q.v., definition #1), sometimes of magnetic disk drives.
   "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 "head crash".  2. v. To fail suddenly.  "Has the system just
   crashed?"  Also used transitively to indicate the cause of the
   crash (usually a person or a program, or both).  "Those idiots
   playing spacewar crashed the system."  Sometimes said of people.
   See GRONK OUT.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CRETIN 1. n. Congenital loser (q.v.).  2. CRETINOUS: adj. See
   BLETCHEROUS and BAGBITING.  Usage: somewhat ad hominem.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CRLF (cur'lif, sometimes crul'lif) n. A carriage return (CR) followed
   by a line feed (LF).  See TERPRI.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CROCK [probably from "layman" slang, which in turn may be derived from
   "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.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CRUFTY [from "cruddy"] adj. 1. Poorly built, possibly overly complex.
   "This is standard old crufty DEC software".  Hence CRUFT, n. shoddy
   construction.  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.  "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. - GLS]
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 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
   triviality being imbedded in a loop from 1 to 1000000000.  "FORTRAN
   programs do mostly number crunching."  2. To reduce the size of a
   file by a complicated scheme that produces bit configurations
   completely unrelated to the original data, such as by a Huffman
   code.  (The file ends up looking like a paper document would if
   somebody crunched the paper into a wad.)  Since such compression
   usually takes more computations than simpler methods such as
   counting repeated characters (such as spaces) the term is doubly
   appropriate.  (This meaning is usually used in the construction
   "file crunch(ing)" to distinguish it from "number crunch(ing)".)
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CTY (city) n. The terminal physically associated with a computer's
   operating console.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 CUSPY [from the DEC acronym CUSP, for Commonly Used System Program,
   i.e., a utility program used by many people] (WPI) adj. 1. (of a
   program) Well-written.  2. Functionally excellent.  A program which
   performs well and interfaces well to users is cuspy.  See RUDE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DAEMON (day'mun, dee'mun) [archaic form of "demon", which has slightly
   different connotations (q.v.)] n. A program which is not invoked
   explicitly, but which lays dormant waiting for some condition(s) to
   occur.  The idea is that the perpetrator of the condition need not
   be aware that a daemon is lurking (though often a program will
   commit an action only because it knows that it will implicitly
   invoke a daemon).  For example, writing a file on the lpt spooler's
   directory will invoke the spooling daemon, which prints the file.
   The advantage is that programs which want (in this example) files
   printed need not compete for access to the lpt.  They simply enter
   their implicit requests and let the daemon decide what to do with
   them.  Daemons are usually spawned automatically by the system, and
   may either live forever or be regenerated at intervals.  Usage:
   DAEMON and DEMON (q.v.) are often used interchangeably, but seem to
   have distinct connotations.  DAEMON was introduced to computing by
   CTSS people (who pronounced it dee'mon) and used it to refer to
   what is now called a DRAGON or PHANTOM (q.v.).  The meaning and
   pronunciation have drifted, and we think this glossary reflects
   current usage.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DAY MODE  See PHASE (of people).
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DEADLOCK n. A situation wherein two or more processes are unable to
   proceed because each is waiting for another to do something.  A
   common example is a program communicating to a PTY or STY, which
   may find itself waiting for output from the PTY/STY before sending
   anything more to it, while the PTY/STY is similarly waiting for
   more input from the controlling program before outputting anything.
   (This particular flavor of deadlock is called "starvation".
   Another common flavor is "constipation", where each process is
   trying to send stuff to the other, but all buffers are full because
   nobody is reading anything.)  See DEADLY EMBRACE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DEADLY EMBRACE n. Same as DEADLOCK (q.v.), though usually used only
   when exactly two processes are involved.  DEADLY EMBRACE is the
   more popular term in Europe; DEADLOCK in the United States.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DEMENTED adj. Yet another term of disgust used to describe a program.
   The connotation in this case is that the program works as designed,
   but the design is bad.  For example, a program that generates large
   numbers of meaningless error messages implying it is on the point
   of imminent collapse.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DEMON (dee'mun) n. A portion of a program which is not invoked
   explicitly, but which lays dormant waiting for some condition(s) to
   occur.  See DAEMON.  The distinction is that demons are usually
   processes within a program, while daemons are usually programs
   running on an operating system.  Demons are particularly common in
   AI programs.  For example, a knowledge manipulation program might
   implement inference rules as demons.  Whenever a new piece of
   knowledge was added, various demons would activate (which demons
   depends on the particular piece of data) and would create
   additional pieces of knowledge by applying their respective
   inference rules to the original piece.  These new pieces could in
   turn activate more demons as the inferences filtered down through
   chains of logic.  Meanwhile the main program could continue with
   whatever its primary task was.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DIABLO (dee-ah'blow) [from the Diablo printer] 1. n. Any letter-
   quality printing device.  2. v. To produce letter-quality output
   from such a device.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DIDDLE v. To work with in a not particularly serious manner.  "I
   diddled with a copy of ADVENT so it didn't double-space all the
   time."  "Let's diddle this piece of code and see if the problem
   goes away."  See TWEAK and TWIDDLE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DIKE [from "diagonal cutters"] v. To remove a module or disable it.
   "When in doubt, dike it out."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DMP (dump)  See BIN.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DO PROTOCOL [from network protocol programming] v. To perform an
   interaction with somebody or something that follows a clearly
   defined procedure.  For example, "Let's do protocol with the check"
   at a restaurant means to ask the waitress for the check, calculate
   the tip and everybody's share, generate change as necessary, and
   pay the bill.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DOWN 1. adj. Not working.  "The up escalator is down."  2. TAKE DOWN,
   BRING DOWN: v. To deactivate, usually for repair work.  See UP.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DPB (duh-pib') [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v. To plop something
   down in the middle.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 DRAGON n. (MIT) A program similar to a "daemon" (q.v.), except that it
   is not invoked at all, but is instead used by the system to perform
   various secondary tasks.  A typical example would be an accounting
   program, which keeps track of who is logged in, accumulates load-
   average statistics, etc.  At MIT, all free TV's display a list of
   people logged in, where they are, what they're running, etc. along
   with some random picture (such as a unicorn, Snoopy, or the
   Enterprise) which is generated by the "NAME DRAGON".  See PHANTOM.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 ENGLISH n. The source code for a program, which may be in any
   language, as opposed to BINARY.  Usage: slightly obsolete, used
   mostly by old-time hackers, though recognizable in context.  At
   MIT, directory SYSENG is where the "English" for system programs is
   kept, and SYSBIN, the binaries.  SAIL has many such directories,
   but the canonical one is [CSP,SYS].
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 EPSILON [from standard mathematical notation for a small quantity] 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 indistinguishable for all practical purposes.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 EXCH (ex'chuh, ekstch) [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v. To
   exchange two things, each for the other.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 EXCL (eks'cul) n. Abbreviation for "exclamation point".  See BANG,
   SHRIEK, WOW.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 EXE (ex'ee)  See BIN.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FAULTY adj. Same denotation as "bagbiting", "bletcherous", "losing",
   q.v., but the connotation is much milder.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FEATURE n. 1. A surprising property of a program.  Occasionally docu-
   mented.  To call a property a feature sometimes means the author of
   the program did not consider the particular case, and the program
   makes an unexpected, although not strictly speaking an incorrect
   response.  See BUG.  "That's not a bug, that's a feature!"  A bug
   can be changed to a feature by documenting it.  2. A well-known and
   beloved property; a facility.  Sometimes features are planned, but
   are called crocks by others.  An approximately correct spectrum:

   (These terms are all used to describe programs or portions thereof,
   except for the first two, which are included for completeness.)
        CRASH  STOPPAGE  BUG  SCREW  LOSS  MISFEATURE
                CROCK  KLUGE  HACK  WIN  FEATURE  PERFECTION
   (The last is never actually attained.)
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FEEP 1. n. The soft bell of a display terminal (except for a VT-52!);
   a beep.  2. v. To cause the display to make a feep sound.  TTY's do
   not have feeps.  Alternate forms: BEEP, BLEEP, or just about
   anything suitably onomatopoeic.  The term BREEDLE is sometimes
   heard at SAIL, where the terminal bleepers are not particularly
   "soft" (they sound more like the musical equivalent of sticking out
   one's tongue).  The "feeper" on a VT-52 has been compared to the
   sound of a '52 Chevy stripping its gears.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FENCEPOST ERROR n. The discrete equivalent of a boundary condition.
   Often exhibited in programs by iterative loops.  From the following
   problem: "If you build a fence 100 feet long with posts ten feet
   apart, how many posts do you need?"  (Either 9 or 11 is a better
   answer than the obvious 10.)
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FINE (WPI) adj. Good, but not good enough to be CUSPY.  [The word FINE
   is used elsewhere, of course, but without the implicit comparison
   to the higher level implied by CUSPY.]
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLAG DAY [from a bit of Multics history involving a change in the
   ASCII character set originally scheduled for June 14, 1966]
   n. A software change which is neither forward nor backward
   compatible, and which is costly to make and costly to revert.
   "Can we install that without causing a flag day for all users?"
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLAKEY adj. Subject to frequent lossages.  See LOSSAGE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLAME v. To speak incessantly and/or rabidly on some relatively
   uninteresting subject or with a patently ridiculous attitude.
   FLAME ON: v. To continue to flame.  See RAVE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLAP v. To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap, flap...).  Old
   hackers at MIT tell of the days when the disk was device 0 and
   microtapes were 1, 2,... and attempting to flap device 0 would
   instead start a motor banging inside a cabinet near the disk!
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLAVOR n. 1. Variety, type, kind.  "DDT commands come in two flavors."
   2. The attribute of causing something to be FLAVORFUL.  "This
   convention yields additional flavor by allowing one to..."
   See VANILLA.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLAVORFUL adj. Aesthetically pleasing.  See RANDOM and LOSING for
   antonyms.  See also the entry for TASTE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FLUSH v. 1. To delete something, usually superfluous.  "All that
   nonsense has been flushed."  Standard ITS terminology for aborting
   an output operation.  2. To leave at the end of a day's work (as
   opposed to leaving for a meal).  "I'm going to flush now."  "Time
   to flush."  3. To exclude someone from an activity.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FOO 1. [from Yiddish "feh" or the Anglo-Saxon "fooey!"] interj. Term
   of disgust.  2. [from FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition),
   from WWII, often seen as FOOBAR] Name used for temporary programs,
   or samples of three-letter names.  Other similar words are BAR, BAZ
   (Stanford corruption of BAR), and rarely RAG.  These have been used
   in Pogo as well.  3. Used very generally as a sample name for
   absolutely anything.  The old `Smokey Stover' comic strips often
   included the word FOO, in particular on license plates of cars.
   MOBY FOO: See MOBY. 4. The legendary South Sea island FOO bird,
   named for its characteristic squawk, "whose digestive system
   [as described by Spider Robinson] is so incredibly rank that,
   if its excrement should contact your skin, re-exposure of the
   contaminated skin to air is invariably fatal."  Thus, "if the
   foo defecates, wear it."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FRIED adj. 1. Non-working due to hardware failure; burnt out.  2. Of
   people, exhausted.  Said particularly of those who continue to work
   in such a state.  Often used as an explanation or excuse.  "Yeah, I
   know that fix destroyed the file system, but I was fried when I put
   it in."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FROB 1. n. (MIT) The official Tech Model Railroad Club definition is
   "FROB = protruding arm or trunnion", and by metaphoric extension
   any somewhat small thing.  See FROBNITZ.  2. v. Abbreviated form of
   FROBNICATE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FROBNICATE v. To manipulate or adjust, to tweak.  Derived from
   FROBNITZ (q.v.).  Usually abbreviated to FROB.  Thus one has the
   saying "to frob a frob".  See TWEAK and TWIDDLE.  Usage: FROB,
   TWIDDLE, and TWEAK sometimes connote points along a continuum.
   FROB connotes aimless manipulation; TWIDDLE connotes gross
   manipulation, often a coarse search for a proper setting; TWEAK
   connotes fine-tuning.  If someone is turning a knob on an
   oscilloscope, then if he's carefully adjusting it he is probably
   tweaking it; if he is just turning it but looking at the screen he
   is probably twiddling it; but if he's just doing it because turning
   a knob is fun, he's frobbing it.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FROBNITZ, pl. FROBNITZEM (frob'nitsm) n. An unspecified physical
   object, a widget.  Also refers to electronic black boxes.  This
   rare form is usually abbreviated to FROTZ, or more commonly to
   FROB.  Also used are FROBNULE and FROBULE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FROG (variant: PHROG) 1. interj. Term of disgust (we seem to have a
   lot of them).  2. Used as a name for just about anything.  See FOO.
   3. n. Of things, a crock.  Of people, somewhere inbetween a turkey
   and a toad.  4. Jake Brown (FRG@SAIL).  5. FROGGY: adj. Similar to
   BAGBITING (q.v.), but milder.  "This froggy program is taking
   forever to run!"
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FROTZ 1. n. See FROBNITZ.  2. MUMBLE FROTZ: An interjection of very
   mild disgust.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FRY v. 1. To fail.  Said especially of smoke-producing hardware
   failures.  2. More generally, to become non-working.  Usage: never
   said of software, only of hardware and humans.  See FRIED.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FTP (spelled out, NOT pronounced "fittip") 1. n. The File Transfer
   Protocol for transmitting files between systems on the AInet.  2.
   v. To transfer a file using the File Transfer Program.  "Lemme get
   this copy of Wuthering Heights FTP'd from SAIL."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FUDGE 1. v. To perform in an incomplete but marginally acceptable way,
   particularly with respect to the writing of a program.  "I didn't
   feel like going through that pain and suffering, so I fudged it."
   2. n. The resulting code.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 FUDGE FACTOR n. A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way
   to produce the desired result.  The terms "tolerance" and "slop"
   are also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided leeway,
   such as a buffer which is made larger than necessary because one
   isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, and it is better to
   waste a little space than to lose completely for not having enough.
   A fudge factor, on the other hand, can often be tweaked in more
   than one direction.  An example might be the coefficients of an
   equation, where the coefficients are varied in an attempt to make
   the equation fit certain criteria.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GABRIEL [for Dick Gabriel, SAIL volleyball fanatic] n. An unnecessary
   (in the opinion of the opponent) stalling tactic, e.g., tying one's
   shoelaces or hair repeatedly, asking the time, etc.  Also used to
   refer to the perpetrator of such tactics.  Also, "pulling a
   Gabriel", "Gabriel mode".
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GARBAGE COLLECT v., GARBAGE COLLECTION n. See GC.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GARPLY n. (Stanford) Another meta-word popular among SAIL hackers.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GAS [as in "gas chamber"] interj. 1. A term of disgust and hatred,
   implying that gas should be dispensed in generous quantities,
   thereby exterminating the source of irritation.  "Some loser just
   reloaded the system for no reason!  Gas!"  2. A term suggesting
   that someone or something ought to be flushed out of mercy.  "The
   system's wedging every few minutes.  Gas!"  3. v. FLUSH (q.v.).
   "You should gas that old crufty software."  4. GASEOUS adj.
   Deserving of being gassed.  Usage: primarily used by Geoff
   Goodfellow at SRI, but spreading; became particularly popular after
   the Moscone/Milk murders in San Francisco, when it was learned that
   Dan White (who supported Proposition 7) would get the gas chamber
   under 7 if convicted.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GC [from LISP terminology] 1. v. To clean up and throw away useless
   things.  "I think I'll GC the top of my desk today."  2. v. To
   recycle, reclaim, or put to another use.  3. n. An instantiation of
   the GC process.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GEDANKEN [from Einstein's term "gedanken-experimenten", such as the
   standard proof that E=mc^2] adj. An AI project which is written up
   in grand detail without ever being implemented to any great extent.
   Usually perpetrated by people who aren't very good hackers or find
   programming distasteful or are just in a hurry.  A gedanken thesis
   is usually marked by an obvious lack of intuition about what is
   programmable and what is not and about what does and does not
   constitute a clear specification of a program-related concept such
   as an algorithm.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GLASS TTY n. A terminal which has a display screen but which, because
   of hardware or software limitations, behaves like a teletype or
   other printing terminal.  An example is the ADM-3 (without cursor
   control).  A glass tty can't do neat display hacks, and you can't
   save the output either.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GLITCH [from the Yiddish "glitshen", to slide] 1. n. A sudden
   interruption in electric service, sanity, or program function.
   Sometimes recoverable.  2. v. To commit a glitch.  See GRITCH.
   3. v. (Stanford) To scroll a display screen.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GLORK 1. interj. Term of mild surprise, usually tinged with outrage,
   as when one attempts to save the results of two hours of editing
   and finds that the system has just crashed.  2. Used as a name for
   just about anything.  See FOO.  3. v. Similar to GLITCH (q.v.), but
   usually used reflexively.  "My program just glorked itself."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GOBBLE v. To consume or to obtain.  GOBBLE UP tends to imply
   "consume", while GOBBLE DOWN tends to imply "obtain".  "The output
   spy gobbles characters out of a TTY output buffer."  "I guess I'll
   gobble down a copy of the documentation tomorrow."  See SNARF.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GORP (CMU) [perhaps from a brand of dried hiker's food?]  Another
   metasyntactic variable, like FOO and BAR.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GRIND v. 1. (primarily MIT) To format code, especially LISP code, by
   indenting lines so that it looks pretty.  Hence, PRETTY PRINT, the
   generic term for such operations.  2. To run seemingly
   interminably, performing some tedious and inherently useless task.
   Similar to CRUNCH.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GRITCH 1. n. A complaint (often caused by a GLITCH (q.v.)).  2. v. To
   complain.  Often verb-doubled: "Gritch gritch".  3. Glitch.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GROK [from the novel "Stranger in a Strange Land", by Robert Heinlein,
   where it is a Martian word meaning roughly "to be one with"] v. To
   understand, usually in a global sense.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GRONK [popularized by the cartoon strip "B.C." by Johnny Hart, but the
   word apparently predates that] v. 1. To clear the state of a wedged
   device and restart it.  More severe than "to frob" (q.v.).  2. To
   break.  "The teletype scanner was gronked, so we took the system
   down."  3. GRONKED: adj. Of people, the condition of feeling very
   tired or sick.  4. GRONK OUT: v. To cease functioning.  Of people,
   to go home and go to sleep.  "I guess I'll gronk out now; see you
   all tomorrow."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GROVEL v. To work interminably and without apparent progress.  Often
   used with "over".  "The compiler grovelled over my code."  Compare
   GRIND and CRUNCH.  Emphatic form: GROVEL OBSCENELY.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 GRUNGY adj. Incredibly dirty or grubby.  Anything which has been
   washed within the last year is not really grungy.  Also used
   metaphorically; hence some programs (especially crocks) can be
   described as grungy.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HACK n. 1. Originally a quick job that produces what is needed, but
   not well.  2. The result of that job.  3. NEAT HACK: A clever
   technique.  Also, a brilliant practical joke, where neatness is
   correlated with cleverness, harmlessness, and surprise value.
   Example: the Caltech Rose Bowl card display switch circa 1961.
   4. REAL HACK: A crock (occasionally affectionate).
   v. 5. With "together", to throw something together so it will work.
   6. To bear emotionally or physically.  "I can't hack this heat!" 7.
   To work on something (typically a program).  In specific sense:
   "What are you doing?"  "I'm hacking TECO."  In general sense: "What
   do you do around here?"  "I hack TECO."  (The former is
   time-immediate, the latter time-extended.)  More generally, "I hack
   x" is roughly equivalent to "x is my bag".  "I hack solid-state
   physics."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HACK n. (contd.) 8. To pull a prank on.  See definition 3 and HACKER
   (def #6).  9. v.i. To waste time (as opposed to TOOL).  "Watcha up
   to?" "Oh, just hacking."  10. HACK UP (ON): To hack, but generally
   implies that the result is meanings 1-2.  11. HACK VALUE: Term used
   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 has code to read and print roman numerals,
   which was installed purely for hack value.
   HAPPY HACKING: A farewell.  HOW'S HACKING?: A friendly greeting
   among hackers.  HACK HACK: A somewhat pointless but friendly
   comment, often used as a temporary farewell.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HACKER [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n. 1. A
   person who enjoys learning the details of programming systems and
   how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users who
   prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.  2. One who programs
   enthusiastically, or who enjoys programming rather than just
   theorizing about programming.  3. A person capable of appreciating
   hack value (q.v.).  4. A person who is good at programming quickly.
   Not everything a hacker produces is a hack.  5. An expert at a
   particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on
   it; example: "A SAIL hacker".  (Definitions 1 to 5 are correlated,
   and people who fit them congregate.)  6. A malicious or inquisitive
   meddler who tries to discover information by poking around.  Hence
   "password hacker", "network hacker".
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HACKISH adj. Being or involving a hack.  HACKISHNESS n.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HAIR n. The complications which make something hairy.  "Decoding TECO
   commands requires a certain amount of hair."  Often seen in the
   phrase INFINITE HAIR, which connotes extreme complexity.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HAIRY adj. 1. Overly 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: "He knows this hairy lawyer who
   says there's nothing to worry about."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HAKMEM n. MIT AI Memo 239 (February 1972).  A collection of neat
   mathematical and programming hacks contributed by many people
   at MIT and elsewhere.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HANDWAVE 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, what a handwave!"  The
   use of 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 forearms still while rotating
   the hands at the wrist to make them flutter.  In context, the
   gestures alone can suffice as a remark.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HARDWARILY adv. In a way pertaining to hardware.  "The system is
   hardwarily unreliable."  The adjective "hardwary" is NOT used.  See
   SOFTWARILY.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HELLO WALL  See WALL.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HIRSUTE  Occasionally used humorously as a synonym for HAIRY.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HOOK n. An extraneous piece of software or hardware included in order
   to simplify later additions or debug options.  For instance, a
   program might execute a location that is normally a JFCL, but by
   changing the JFCL to a PUSHJ one can insert a debugging routine at
   that point.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HUMONGOUS, HUMUNGOUS  See HUNGUS.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 HUNGUS (hung'-ghis) [perhaps related to current slang "humongous";
   which one came first (if either) is unclear] adj. Large, unwieldy,
   usually unmanageable.  "TCP is a hungus piece of code."  "This is a
   hungus set of modifications."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 IMPCOM  See TELNET.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 INFINITE adj. Consisting of a large number of objects; extreme.  Used
   very loosely as in: "This program produces infinite garbage."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 IRP (erp) [from the MIDAS pseudo-op which generates a block of code
   repeatedly, substituting in various places the car and/or cdr of
   the list(s) supplied at the IRP] v. To perform a series of tasks
   repeatedly with a minor substitution each time through.  "I guess
   I'll IRP over these homework papers so I can give them some random
   grade for this semester."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 JFCL (djif'kl or djafik'l) [based on the PDP-10 instruction that acts
   as a fast no-op] v. To cancel or annul something.  "Why don't you
   jfcl that out?"
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 JIFFY n. 1. Interval of CPU time, commonly 1/60 second or 1
   millisecond.  2. Indeterminate time from a few seconds to forever.
   "I'll do it in a jiffy" means certainly not now and possibly never.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 JOCK n. Programmer who is characterized by large and somewhat brute
   force programs.  The term is particularly well-suited for systems
   programmers.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 J. RANDOM  See RANDOM.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 JRST (jerst) [based on the PDP-10 jump instruction] v. To suddenly
   change subjects.  Usage: rather rare.  "Jack be nimble, Jack be
   quick; Jack jrst over the candle stick."
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 JSYS (jay'sis), pl. JSI (jay'sigh) [Jump to SYStem] See UUO.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 KLUGE (kloodj) alt. KLUDGE [from the German "kluge", clever] n. 1. A
   Rube Goldberg device in hardware or software.  2. A clever
   programming trick intended to solve a particular nasty case in an
   efficient, if not clear, manner.  Often used to repair bugs.  Often
   verges on being a crock.  3. Something that works for the wrong
   reason.  4. v. To insert a kluge into a program.  "I've kluged this
   routine to get around that weird bug, but there's probably a better
   way."  Also KLUGE UP.  5. KLUGE AROUND: To avoid by inserting a
   kluge.  6. (WPI) A feature which is implemented in a RUDE manner.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LDB (lid'dib) [from the PDP-10 instruction set] v. To extract from the
   middle.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LIFE n. A cellular-automata game invented by John Horton Conway, and
   first introduced publicly by Martin Gardner (Scientific American,
   October 1970).
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LINE FEED (standard ASCII terminology) 1. v. To feed the paper through
   a terminal by one line (in order to print on the next line).  2. n.
   The "character" which causes the terminal to perform this action.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LINE STARVE (MIT) Inverse of LINE FEED.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LOGICAL [from the technical term "logical device", wherein a physical
   device is referred to by an arbitrary name] adj. Understood to have
   a meaning not necessarily corresponding to reality.  E.g., if a
   person who has long held a certain post (e.g., Les Earnest at SAIL)
   left and was replaced, the replacement would for a while be known
   as the "logical Les Earnest".  The word VIRTUAL is also used.  At
   SAIL, "logical" compass directions denote a coordinate system in
   which "logical north" is toward San Francisco, "logical west" is
   toward the ocean, etc., even though logical north varies between
   physical (true) north near SF and physical west near San Jose.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LOSE [from MIT jargon] v. 1. To fail.  A program loses when it
   encounters an exceptional condition.  2. To be exceptionally
   unaesthetic.  3. Of people, to be obnoxious or unusually stupid (as
   opposed to ignorant).  4. DESERVE TO LOSE: v. Said of someone who
   willfully does the wrong thing; humorously, if one uses a feature
   known to be marginal.  What is meant is that one deserves the
   consequences of one's losing actions.  "Boy, anyone who tries to
   use MULTICS deserves to lose!"
   LOSE LOSE - a reply or comment on a situation.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LOSER n. An unexpectedly bad situation, program, programmer, or
   person.  Especially "real loser".
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LOSS n. Something which loses.  WHAT A (MOBY) LOSS!: interjection.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LOSSAGE n. The result of a bug or malfunction.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LPT (lip'-it) n. Line printer, of course.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 LUSER  See USER.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 MACROTAPE n. An industry standard reel of tape, as opposed to a
   MICROTAPE.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 MAGIC adj. 1. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain.
   (Arthur C. Clarke once said that magic was as-yet-not-understood
   science.)  "TTY echoing is controlled by a large number of magic
   bits."  "This routine magically computes the parity of an eight-bit
   byte in three instructions."  2. (Stanford) A feature not generally
   publicized which allows something otherwise impossible, or a
   feature formerly in that category but now unveiled.  Example: The
   keyboard commands which override the screen-hiding features.
                -- From the AI Hackers' Dictionary
%%
 MARGINAL adj. 1. Extremely small.  "A marginal increase in core can
   decrease GC time drastically."  2. Of extremely small merit.  "This
   proposed new feature seems rather marginal to me."  3. Of extremely
   small probability of winning.  "The power supply was rather
   marginal anyway; no w