Definitions of Web Jargon Terms.

• SSL
• Database Support
• Distributed Authoring
• Application Building Components
• Scripting Support
• Spam & Virus Protection
• Admin & User level Control Panel
• Shell & Telnet Access

-fu -fu [common; generalized from kung-fu ] Combining form denoting expert prac...

-oid -oid : suff. [from Greek suffix -oid = in the image of ] 1. Used as in main...

-ware -ware : suff. [from ‘software’] Commonly used to form jargon te...

0 0 Numeric zero, as opposed to the letter ‘O’ (the 15th letter o...

1TBS 1TBS : // , n. The “ One True Brace Style ”; see indent style .

2 2 : infix. In translation software written by hackers, infix 2 often repres...

404 404 : // , n. [from the HTTP error “ file not found on server ”...

404 compliant 404 compliant : adj. The status of a website which has been completely remo...

ABEND ABEND : /a´bend/ , /@·bend´/ , n. [ABnormal END] 1. Abnormal termination...

ACK ACK : /ak/ , interj. 1. [common; from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110] Ackno...

ADVENT ADVENT : /ad´vent/ , n. The prototypical computer adventure game, first de...

AFAIK AFAIK : // , n. [Usenet; common] Abbrev. for “ As Far As I Know ̶...

AFJ AFJ : // , n. Written-only abbreviation for “ April Fool_s Joke ̶...

AFK AFK [MUD] Abbrev. for “ Away From Keyboard ”. Used to notify ot...

AI-complete AI-complete : /A·I k@m·pleet_/ , adj. [MIT, Stanford: by analogy with NP-...

AI AI : /A·I/ , n. Abbreviation for ‘Artificial Intelligence’, so...

ANSI standard ANSI standard : /an´see stan´d@rd/ The ANSI standard usage of ANSI standa...

ANSI standard pizza ANSI standard pizza : /an´see stan´d@rd peet´z@/ [CMU] Pepperoni and mus...

AOL! AOL! : n. [Usenet] Common synonym for “ Me, too! ” alluding to ...

ARMM ARMM : n. [acronym, ‘Automated Retroactive Minimal Moderation’]...

ASCII ASCII : /as´kee/ , n. [originally an acronym (American Standard Code for I...

ASCII art ASCII art : n. The fine art of drawing diagrams using the ASCII character s...

ASCIIbetical order ASCIIbetical order : /as´kee·be_·t@·kl or´dr/ , adj.,n. Used to indica...

AUP AUP : /A·U·P/ Abbreviation, “ Acceptable Use Policy ”. The po...

Acme Acme : n. [from Greek akme highest point of perfection or achievement] The ...

Alderson loop Alderson loop : n. [Intel] A special version of an infinite loop where ther...

Alice and Bob Alice and Bob : n. The archetypal individuals used as examples in discussio...

All hardware sucks_ all software sucks. All hardware sucks, all software sucks. : prov. [from scary devil monastery...

Aluminum Book Aluminum Book : n. [MIT] Common LISP: The Language , by Guy L. Steele Jr. (...

Amiga Amiga : n A series of personal computer models originally sold by Commodore...

Amiga Persecution Complex Amiga Persecution Complex : n. The disorder suffered by a particularly egre...

Angband Angband : n. , /ang´band/ Like nethack , moria , and rogue , one of the la...

Archimedes Archimedes The world_s first RISC microcomputer, available only in the Brit...

Aunt Tillie Aunt Tillie : n. [linux-kernel mailing list] The archetypal non-technical u...

B1FF B1FF : /bif/ , BIFF , n. The most famous pseudo , and the prototypical newb...

B5 B5 : // [common] Abbreviation for “ Babylon 5 ”, a science-fict...

BAD BAD : /B·A·D/ , adj. [IBM: acronym, “ Broken As Designed ”] S...

BASIC BASIC : /bay_·sic/ , n. A programming language, originally designed for Da...

BBS BBS : /B·B·S/ , n. [common; abbreviation, “ Bulletin Board System &...

BCPL BCPL : // , n. [abbreviation, “ Basic Combined Programming Language &...

BDFL BDFL [Python; common] Benevolent Dictator For Life. Guido , considered in h...

BFI BFI : /B·F·I/ , n. See brute force and ignorance . Also encountered in th...

BI BI : // Common written abbreviation for Breidbart Index .

BLOB BLOB 1. n. [acronym: Binary Large OBject] Used by database people to refer ...

BLT BLT : /B·L·T/ , /bl@t/ , /belt/ , n.,vt. Synonym for blit . This is the o...

BNF BNF : /B·N·F/ , n. 1. [techspeak] Acronym for Backus Normal Form (later r...

BOF BOF : /B·O·F/ , /bof/ , n. 1. [common] Abbreviation for the phrase “...

BOFH BOFH : // , n. [common] Acronym, Bastard Operator From Hell. A system admin...

BRS BRS : /B·R·S/ , n. Syn. Big Red Switch . This abbreviation is fairly comm...

BSD BSD : /B·S·D/ , n. [abbreviation for ‘Berkeley Software Distributio...

BSOD BSOD : /B·S·O·D/ Very common abbreviation for Blue Screen of Death . Bot...

BUAF BUAF : // , n. [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord ] Big Ugly ASCII Font &#...

BUAG BUAG : // , n. [abbreviation, from alt.fan.warlord ] Big Ugly ASCII Graphic...

BWQ BWQ : /B·W·Q/ , n. [IBM: abbreviation, `Buzz Word Quotient_] The percenta...

Bad Thing Bad Thing : n. [very common; always pronounced as if capitalized. Orig. fr....

Bad and Wrong Bad and Wrong : adj. [Durham, UK] Said of something that is both badly desi...

Batman factor Batman factor : n. 1. An integer number representing the number of items ha...

Befunge Befunge : n. A worthy companion to INTERCAL ; a computer language family wh...

Berkeley Quality Software Berkeley Quality Software : adj. (often abbreviated “ BQS ”) Te...

Berzerkeley Berzerkeley : /b@r·zer´klee/ , n. [from ‘berserk’, via the na...

BiCapitalization BiCapitalization : n. The act said to have been performed on trademarks (su...

Big Red Switch Big Red Switch : n. [IBM] The power switch on a computer, esp. the ‘E...

Big Room Big Room : n. (Also Big Blue Room ) The extremely large room with the blue ...

Black Screen of Death Black Screen of Death : [prob.: related to the Floating Head of Death in a ...

Bloggs Family Bloggs Family : n. An imaginary family consisting of Fred and Mary Bloggs a...

Blue Glue Blue Glue : n. [IBM; obs.] IBM_s SNA (Systems Network Architecture), an inc...

Blue Screen of Death Blue Screen of Death : n. [common] This term is closely related to the olde...

BogoMIPS BogoMIPS : /bo´go·mips/ , n. The number of million times a second a proce...

Bohr bug Bohr bug : /bohr buhg/ , n. [from quantum physics] A repeatable bug ; one t...

Borg Borg : n. In Star Trek: The Next Generation the Borg is a species of cyborg...

Breidbart Index Breidbart Index : /bri:d´bart ind@ks/ A measurement of the severity of spa...

BrokenWindows BrokenWindows : n. Abusive hackerism for the crufty and elephantine X envir...

Brooks's Law Brooks_s Law : prov. “ Adding manpower to a late software project mak...

Bzzzt! Wrong. Bzzzt! Wrong. : /bzt rong/ , excl. [common; Usenet/Internet; punctuation va...

C C : n. 1. The third letter of the English alphabet. 2. ASCII 1000011. 3. Th...

CDA CDA : /C·D·A/ The “ Communications Decency Act ”, passed as s...

CHOP CHOP : /chop/ , n. [IRC] See channel op .

CI$ CI$ : // , n. Hackerism for ‘CIS’, CompuServe Information Servi...

CLM CLM : /C·L·M/ [Sun: ‘Career Limiting Move’] 1. n. An action e...

COBOL COBOL : /koh´bol/ , n. [COmmon Business-Oriented Language] (Synonymous wit...

COBOL fingers COBOL fingers : /koh´bol fing´grz/ , n. Reported from Sweden, a (hypothet...

COME FROM COME FROM : n. A semi-mythical language construct dual to the ‘go to&...

CPU Wars CPU Wars : /C·P·U worz/ , n. A 1979 large-format comic by Chas Andres chr...

CP/M CP/M : /C·P·M/ , n. [Control Program/Monitor; later retcon ned to Control...

CRC handbook CRC handbook Any of the editions of the Chemical Rubber Company Handbook of...

CTSS CTSS : /C·T·S·S/ , n. Compatible Time-Sharing System. An early (1963) ex...

C|N>_K C|N>K : n. [Usenet] Coffee through Nose to Keyboard; that is, “ I ...

C Programmer's Disease C Programmer_s Disease : n. The tendency of the undisciplined C programmer ...

C++ C++ : /C_·pluhs·pluhs/ , n. Designed by Bjarne Stroustrup of AT&T Bel...

C&_C C&C : // [common, esp. on news.admin.net-abuse.email ] Contraction of &...

Camel Book Camel Book : n. Universally recognized nickname for the book Programming Pe...

Cancelmoose[tm] Cancelmoose[tm] : /kan´sel·moos/ [Usenet] The archetype and model of all ...

Chernobyl chicken Chernobyl chicken : n. See laser chicken .

Chernobyl packet Chernobyl packet : /cher·noh´b@l pak_@t/ , n. A network packet that induc...

Chinese Army technique Chinese Army technique : n. Syn. Mongolian Hordes technique .

Christmas tree Christmas tree : n. A kind of RS-232 line tester or breakout box featuring ...

Christmas tree packet Christmas tree packet : n. A packet with every single option set for whatev...

Church of the SubGenius Church of the SubGenius : n. A mutant offshoot of Discordianism launched in...

Cinderella Book Cinderella Book : n. [CMU] Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and ...

Classic C Classic C : /klas´ik C/ , n. [a play on ‘Coke Classic’] The C ...

Code of the Geeks Code of the Geeks : n. see geek code .

Commonwealth Hackish Commonwealth Hackish : n. Hacker jargon as spoken in English outside the U....

Compu$erve Compu$erve : n. See CI$ . Synonyms CompuSpend and Compu$pend are also repor...

Conway's Law Conway_s Law : prov. The rule that the organization of the software and the...

Core Wars Core Wars : n. A game between assembler programs in a machine or machine si...

CrApTeX CrApTeX : /krap´tekh/ , n. [University of York, England] Term of abuse use...

DAU DAU : /dow/ , n. [German FidoNet] German acronym for Dümmster Anzunehmende...

DDT DDT : /D·D·T/ , n. [from the insecticide para-dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro...

DEADBEEF DEADBEEF : /ded·beef/ , n. The hexadecimal word-fill pattern for freshly a...

DEC DEC : /dek/ , n. n. Commonly used abbreviation for Digital Equipment Corpor...

DEC Wars DEC Wars : n. A 1983 Usenet posting by Alan Hastings and Steve Tarr spoofin...

DED DED : /D·E·D/ , n. Dark-Emitting Diode (that is, a burned-out LED). Compa...

DMZ DMZ [common] Literally, De-Militarized Zone. Figuratively, the portion of a...

DP DP : /D·P/ , n. 1. Data Processing. Listed here because, according to hack...

DPer DPer : /dee·pee·er/ , n. Data Processor. Hackers are absolutely amazed th...

DRECNET DRECNET : /drek´net/ , n. [from Yiddish/German ‘dreck’, meanin...

DSW DSW : n. [alt.(sysadmin|tech-support).recovery; abbrev. for Dick Size War ]...

DWIM DWIM : /dwim/ [acronym, ‘Do What I Mean’] 1. adj. Able to guess...

Datamation Datamation : /day`t@·may´sh@n/ , n. A magazine that many hackers assume a...

Dave the Resurrector Dave the Resurrector : n. [Usenet; also abbreviated DtR] A cancelbot that c...

Death Square Death Square : n. The corporate logo of Novell, the people who acquired USL...

Death Star Death Star : n. [from the movie Star Wars ] 1. The AT&T corporate logo,...

Death_ X of Death, X of [common] A construction used to imbue the subject with campy me...

Dejagoo Dejagoo [Portmanteau of Dejanews and Google] Google newsgroups. Became comm...

Dilbert Dilbert n. Name and title character of a comic strip nationally syndicated ...

Discordianism Discordianism : /dis·kor´di·@n·ism/ , n. The veneration of Eris , a.k.a...

Dissociated Press Dissociated Press : n. [play on ‘Associated Press’; perhaps ins...

DoS attack DoS attack : // [Usenet,common; note that it_s unrelated to DOS as name of ...

Don't do that then! Don_t do that then! : imp. [from an old doctor_s office joke about a patien...

Doom_ X of Doom, X of [common] A construction similar to ‘ Death, X of , but der...

Dr. Fred Mbogo Dr. Fred Mbogo : /@m·boh´goh, dok´tr fred/ , n. [Stanford] The archetypa...

Dragon Book Dragon Book : n. The classic text Compilers: Principles, Techniques and Too...

Duff's device Duff_s device : n. The most dramatic use yet seen of fall through in C, inv...

EBCDIC EBCDIC : /eb´s@·dik/ , /eb´see`dik/ , /eb´k@·dik/ , n. [abbreviation, ...

ECP ECP : /E·C·P/ , n. See spam and velveeta .

ELIZA effect ELIZA effect : /@·li:´z@ @·fekt´/ , n. [AI community] The tendency of h...

EMACS EMACS : /ee´maks/ , n. [from Editing MACroS] The ne plus ultra of hacker e...

EMP EMP : /E·M·P/ See spam .

ENQ ENQ : /enkw/ , /enk/ [from the ASCII mnemonic ENQuire for 0000101] An on-li...

EOD EOD : n. [IRC, Usenet] Abbreviation: End of Discussion. Used when the speak...

EOF EOF : /E·O·F/ , n. [abbreviation, ‘End Of File’] 1. [techspea...

EOL EOL : /E·O·L/ , n. [End Of Line] Syn. for newline , derived perhaps from ...

EOU EOU : /E·O·U/ , n. The mnemonic of a mythical ASCII control character (En...

EXCH EXCH : /eks´ch@/ , /eksch/ , vt. To exchange two things, each for the othe...

EXE EXE : /eks´ee/ , /eek´see/ , /E·X·E/ , n. An executable binary file. So...

Easter egg Easter egg : n. [from the custom of the Easter Egg hunt observed in the U.S...

Easter egging Easter egging : n. [IBM] The act of replacing unrelated components more or ...

El Camino Bignum El Camino Bignum : /el´ k@·mee´noh big´nuhm/ , n. The road mundanely ca...

English English 1. n. obs. The source code for a program, which may be in any langu...

Eric Conspiracy Eric Conspiracy : n. A shadowy group of mustachioed hackers named Eric firs...

Eris Eris : /e´ris/ , n. The Greek goddess of Chaos, Discord, Confusion, and Th...

Evil Empire Evil Empire : n. [from Ronald Reagan_s famous characterization of the commu...

Exon Exon : /eks´on/ , excl. A generic obscenity that quickly entered wide use ...

Exploder Exploder : n. Used within Microsoft to refer to the Windows Explorer, the w...

FAQ FAQ : /F·A·Q/ , /fak/ , n. [Usenet] 1. A Frequently Asked Question. 2. A ...

FAQL FAQL : /fa´kl/ , n. Syn. FAQ list .

FAQ list FAQ list : /F·A·Q list/ , /fak list/ , n. [common; Usenet] Syn FAQ , sens...

FISH queue FISH queue : n. [acronym, by analogy with FIFO (First In, First Out)] ̵...

FITNR FITNR : // , adj. [Thinking Machines, Inc.] Fixed In The Next Release. A wr...

FIXME FIXME : imp. [common] A standard tag often put in C comments near a piece o...

FM FM : /F·M/ , n. 1. [common] Not ‘Frequency Modulation’ but rat...

FOAF FOAF : // , n. [Usenet; common] Acronym for ‘Friend Of A Friend’...

FOD FOD : /fod/ , v. [Abbreviation for ‘Finger of Death’, originall...

FRS FRS : // , n.,obs. [obs.] Abbreviation for “ Freely Redistributable S...

FSF FSF : /F·S·F/ , abbrev. Common abbreviation (both spoken and written) for...

FUBAR FUBAR : n. The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX . A good example of ...

FUD FUD : /fuhd/ , n. Defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to found his own...

FUD wars FUD wars : /fuhd worz/ , n. 1, [from FUD ] Historically, political posturin...

FidoNet FidoNet : n. A worldwide hobbyist network of personal computers which excha...

Finagle's Law Finagle_s Law : n. The generalized or ‘folk’ version of Murphy_...

Flyspeck 3 Flyspeck 3 : n. Standard name for any font that is so tiny as to be unreada...

Foonly Foonly : n. 1. The PDP-10 successor that was to have been built by the Supe...

Formosa's Law Formosa_s Law : n. “ The truly insane have enough on their plates wit...

Fortrash Fortrash : /for´trash/ , n. Hackerism for the FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator)...

Frankenputer Frankenputer : n. 1. A mostly-working computer thrown together from the spa...

Fred Foobar Fred Foobar : n. J. Random Hacker _s cousin. Any typical human being, more ...

Full Monty Full Monty : n. See monty , sense 2.

G G : pref.,suff. 1. [SI] See quantifiers . 2. The letter G has special signi...

GC GC : /G·C/ [from LISP terminology; Garbage Collect ] 1. vt. To clean up an...

GCOS GCOS : /jee´kohs/ , n. A quick-and-dirty clone of System/360 DOS that emer...

GECOS GECOS : /jee´kohs/ , n. See GCOS .

GIFs at 11 GIFs at 11 [Fidonet] Fidonet alternative to film at 11 , especially in echo...

GIGO GIGO : /gi:´goh/ 1. ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out’ — usually ...

GIPS GIPS : /gips/ , /jips/ , n. [analogy with MIPS ] Giga-Instructions per Seco...

GIYF GIYF : n. Abbrev: Google Is Your Friend. Used to suggest, gently and polite...

GNU GNU : /gnoo/ , not , /noo/ 1. [acronym: ‘GNU’s Not Unix!_, see ...

GNUMACS GNUMACS : /gnoo´maks/ , n. [contraction of ‘GNU EMACS’] Often-...

GOSMACS GOSMACS : /goz´maks/ , n. [contraction of ‘Gosling EMACS’] The...

GPL GPL : /G·P·L/ , n. Abbreviation for ‘General Public License’ ...

GPV GPV : /G·P·V/ , n. Abbrev. for General Public Virus in widespread use.

GWF GWF : n. “ Common abbreviation for Goober with Firewall ”. A lu...

GandhiCon GandhiCon There is a quote from Mohandas Gandhi, describing the stages of e...

Gang of Four Gang of Four : n. (also abbreviated GOF ) [prob. a play on the ‘Gang ...

Gates's Law Gates_s Law “ The speed of software halves every 18 months. ” T...

General Public Virus General Public Virus : n. Pejorative name for some versions of the GNU proj...

Genius From Mars Technique Genius From Mars Technique : n. [TMRC] A visionary quality which enables on...

Get a life! Get a life! : imp. Hacker-standard way of suggesting that the person to who...

Get a real computer! Get a real computer! : imp. In 1996 when this entry first entered the File,...

GoAT GoAT : // [Usenet] Abbreviation: “ Go Away, Troll ”. See troll .

Godwin's Law Godwin_s Law : prov. [Usenet] “ As a Usenet discussion grows longer, ...

Godzillagram Godzillagram : /god·zil_@·gram/ , n. [from Japan_s national hero] 1. A ne...

Good Thing Good Thing : n.,adj. [very common; always pronounced as if capitalized. Ori...

Great Internet Explosion Great Internet Explosion The mainstreaming of the Internet in 1993-1994. Us...

Great Renaming Great Renaming : n. The flag day in 1987 on which all of the non-local grou...

Great Runes Great Runes : n. Uppercase-only text or display messages. Some archaic oper...

Great Worm Great Worm : n. The 1988 Internet worm perpetrated by RTM . This is a play ...

Green's Theorem Green_s Theorem : prov. [TMRC] For any story, in any group of people there ...

Guido Guido : /gwee´do/ , /khwee´do/ Without qualification, Guido van Rossum (a...

HAKMEM HAKMEM : /hak´mem/ , n. MIT AI Memo 239 (February 1972). A legendary colle...

HAND HAND : // [Usenet: very common] Abbreviation: Have A Nice Day. Typically us...

HCF HCF : /H·C·F/ , n. Mnemonic for ‘Halt and Catch Fire’, any of...

HHOK HHOK See ha ha only serious .

HHOS HHOS See ha ha only serious .

HLL HLL : /H·L·L/ , n. [High-Level Language (as opposed to assembler)] Found ...

HP-SUX HP-SUX : /H·P suhks/ , n. Unflattering hackerism for HP-UX, Hewlett-Packar...

HTH HTH : // [Usenet: very common] Abbreviation: Hope This Helps (e.g. followin...

Hackers (the movie) Hackers (the movie) : n. A notable bomb from 1995. Should have been titled ...

Hacking X for Y Hacking X for Y : n. [ITS] Ritual phrasing of part of the information which...

Hackintosh Hackintosh : n. 1. An Apple Lisa that has been hacked into emulating a Maci...

Halloween Documents Halloween Documents : n. A pair of Microsoft internal strategy memoranda le...

Hanlon's Razor Hanlon_s Razor : prov. A corollary of Finagle_s Law , similar to Occam_s Ra...

Hed Rat Hed Rat Unflattering spoonerism of Red Hat, a popular Linux distribution. C...

IANAL IANAL : // [Usenet] Abbreviation, “ I Am Not A Lawyer ”. Usuall...

IBM IBM : /I·B·M/ Once upon a time, the computer company most hackers loved t...

ICBM address ICBM address : n. (Also missile address ) The form used to register a site ...

ID10T error ID10T error : /I·D·ten·T er_@r/ Synonym for PEBKAC , e.g. “ The us...

IDP IDP : /I·D·P/ , v.,n. [Usenet] Abbreviation for Internet Death Penalty . ...

IIRC IIRC : // Common abbreviation for “ If I Recall Correctly ”.

IMHO IMHO : // , abbrev. [from SF fandom via Usenet; abbreviation for ‘In ...

INTERCAL INTERCAL : /in´t@r·kal/ , n. [said by the authors to stand for Compiler L...

IRC IRC : /I·R·C/ , n. [Internet Relay Chat] A worldwide “ party line &...

ISO standard cup of tea ISO standard cup of tea : n. [South Africa] A cup of tea with milk and one ...

ISP ISP : /I·S·P/ Common abbreviation for Internet Service Provider, a kind o...

ITS ITS : /I·T·S/ , n. 1. Incompatible Time-sharing System, an influential th...

IWBNI IWBNI : // Abbreviation for ‘It Would Be Nice If’. Compare WIBNI .

IYFEG IYFEG : // [Usenet] Abbreviation for ‘Insert Your Favorite Ethnic Gro...

I didn't change anything! I didn_t change anything! : interj. An aggrieved cry often heard as bugs ma...

I see no X here. I see no X here. Hackers (and the interactive computer games they write) tr...

If you want X_ you know where to find it. If you want X, you know where to find it. There is a legend that Dennis Rit...

Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted! Imminent Death Of The Net Predicted! : prov. [Usenet] Since Usenet first go...

Indent-o-Meter Indent-o-Meter [] A fiendishly clever ASCII display hack that became a brie...

Infinite-Monkey Theorem Infinite-Monkey Theorem : n. “ If you put an infinite number of monke...

Infocom Infocom : n. A now-legendary games company, active from 1979 to 1989, that ...

InterCaps InterCaps [Great Britain] Synonym for BiCapitalization .

Internet Internet : n. The mother of all networks. First incarnated beginning in 196...

Internet Death Penalty Internet Death Penalty [Usenet] (often abbreviated IDP) The ultimate sancti...

Internet Exploder Internet Exploder [very common] Pejorative hackerism for Microsoft_s “...

Internet Exploiter Internet Exploiter : n. Another common name-of-insult for Internet Explorer...

Iron Age Iron Age : n. In the history of computing, 1961-1971 — the formative ...

Itanic Itanic : n. The Intel Itanium, so called in reference to the legendary disa...

JCL JCL : /J·C·L/ , n. 1. IBM_s supremely rude Job Control Language. JCL is t...

JEDR JEDR : // , n. Synonymous with IYFEG . At one time, people in the Usenet ne...

J. Random J. Random : /J rand´m/ , n. [common; generalized from J. Random Hacker ] A...

J. Random Hacker J. Random Hacker : /J rand´m hak´r/ , n. [very common] A mythical figure ...

Java Java An object-oriented language originally developed at Sun by James Gosli...

Jeff K. Jeff K. The spiritual successor to B1FF and the archetype of script kiddies...

Jeopardy-style quoting Jeopardy-style quoting See top-post .

K K : /K/ , n. [from kilo- ] A kilobyte. Used both as a spoken word and a wri...

KIBO KIBO : /ki:´boh/ 1. [acronym] Knowledge In, Bullshit Out. A summary of wha...

KIPS KIPS : /kips/ , n. [abbreviation, by analogy with MIPS using K ] Thousands ...

KISS Principle KISS Principle : /kis´ prin´si·pl/ , n. “ Keep It Simple, Stupid &...

KLB KLB : n. [common among Perl hackers] Known Lazy Bastard. Used to describe s...

K&_R K&R : n. Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie_s book The C Programming La...

Knights of the Lambda Calculus Knights of the Lambda Calculus : n. A semi-mythical organization of wizardl...

Knuth Knuth : /ka·nooth´/ , n. [Donald E. Knuth_s The Art of Computer Programmi...

Kool-Aid Kool-Aid [from a kid_s sugar-enriched drink in fruity flavors] When someone...

LAN party LAN party : /lan par´tee/ An event to which several users bring their boxe...

LART LART : // Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool. 1. n. In the collective mythos ...

LER LER : /L·E·R/ n. 1. [TMRC, from ‘Light-Emitting Diode’] A lig...

LERP LERP : /lerp/ , vi.,n. Quasi-acronym for Linear Interpolation, used as a ve...

LISP LISP : n. [from ‘LISt Processing language’, but mythically from...

Life is hard Life is hard : prov. [XEROX PARC] This phrase has two possible interpretati...

Lintel Lintel : n. The emerging Linux /Intel alliance. This term began to be used ...

Linus Linus : /leen´us/ , /lin´us/ , /li:´nus/ Linus Torvalds, the author of L...

Linux Linux : /lee´nuhks/ , /li´nuks/ , not , /li:´nuhks/ , n. The free Unix w...

Lions Book Lions Book : n. Source Code and Commentary on Unix level 6 , by John Lions....

Live Free Or Die! Live Free Or Die! : imp. 1. The state motto of New Hampshire, which appears...

Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology Lubarsky_s Law of Cybernetic Entomology : prov. “ There is always one...

Lumber Cartel Lumber Cartel : n. A mythical conspiracy accused by spam -spewers of fundin...

M M : pref. [SI] See quantifiers .

MEGO MEGO : /me´goh/ , /mee´goh/ [“ My Eyes Glaze Over ”, often &#...

MFTL MFTL : /M·F·T·L/ [abbreviation: ‘My Favorite Toy Language’] ...

MIPS MIPS : /mips/ , n. [abbreviation] 1. A measure of computing speed; formally...

MMF MMF : // [Usenet; common] Abbreviation: “ Make Money Fast ”. Re...

MOTAS MOTAS : /moh·tahz/ , n. [Usenet: Member Of The Appropriate Sex, after MOTO...

MOTOS MOTOS : /moh·tohs/ , n. [acronym from the 1970 U.S. census forms via Usene...

MOTSS MOTSS : /mots/ , /M·O·T·S·S/ , n. [from the 1970 U.S. census forms via ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS : /M·S·dos/ , n. [MicroSoft Disk Operating System] A clone of CP/M...

MUD MUD : /muhd/ , n. [acronym, Multi-User Dungeon; alt.: Multi-User Dimension]...

M$ M$ Common net abbreviation for Microsoft, everybody_s least favorite monopoly.

Macintoy Macintoy : /mak´in·toy/ , n. The Apple Macintosh, considered as a toy . L...

Macintrash Macintrash : /mak´in·trash`/ , n. The Apple Macintosh, as described by a ...

Mars Mars : n. A legendary tragic failure, the archetypal Hacker Dream Gone Wron...

Matrix Matrix : n. [FidoNet] 1. What the Opus BBS software and sysops call FidoNet...

McQuary limit McQuary limit [from the name of the founder of alt.fan.warlord ; see warlor...

MiSTing MiSTing [blogosphere] A variant of fisking patterned on the protocol of Mys...

MicroDroid MicroDroid : n. [Usenet] A Microsoft employee, esp. one who posts to variou...

Microsloth Windows Microsloth Windows : /mi:´kroh·sloth` win´dohz/ , n. (Variants combine {...

Microsoft Microsoft The new Evil Empire (the old one was IBM ). The basic complaints ...

Mongolian Hordes technique Mongolian Hordes technique : n. [poss. from the Sixties counterculture expr...

Moof Moof : /moof/ [Macintosh users] 1. n. The call of a semi-legendary creature...

Moore's Law Moore_s Law : /morz law/ , prov. Any one of several similar folk theorems t...

Multics Multics : /muhl´tiks/ , n. [from “ MULTiplexed Information and Compu...

Murphy's Law Murphy_s Law : prov. The correct, original Murphy_s Law reads: “ If t...

N N : /N/ , quant. 1. A large and indeterminate number of objects: “ Th...

NAK NAK : /nak/ , interj. [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0010101] 1. On-line joke...

NANA NANA : // [Usenet] The newsgroups news.admin.net-abuse.*, devoted to fighti...

NIL NIL : /nil/ No. Used in reply to a question, particularly one asked using t...

NMI NMI : /N·M·I/ , n. Non-Maskable Interrupt. An IRQ 7 on the PDP-11 or 680[...

NP- NP- : /N·P/ , pref. Extremely. Used to modify adjectives describing a leve...

NSA line eater NSA line eater : n. The National Security Agency trawling program sometimes...

NSP NSP : /N·S·P/ , n. Common abbreviation for ‘Network Service Provide...

NUXI problem NUXI problem : /nuk´see pro´bl@m/ , n. Refers to the problem of transferr...

Nathan Hale Nathan Hale : n. An asterisk (see also splat , ASCII ). Oh, you want an ety...

NeWS NeWS : /nee´wis/ , /n[y]oo´is/ , /n[y]ooz/ , n. [acronym; the “ Net...

Netscrape Netscrape : n. [sometimes elaborated to Netscrape Fornicator , also Nutscra...

New Jersey New Jersey : adj. [primarily Stanford/Silicon Valley] Brain-dam­aged or of...

New Testament New Testament : n. [C programmers] The second edition of K&R_s The C Pr...

Nightmare File System Nightmare File System : n. Pejorative hackerism for Sun_s Network File Syst...

Ninety-Ninety Rule Ninety-Ninety Rule : n. “ The first 90% of the code accounts for the ...

OP OP : // [Usenet; common] Abbreviation for “ original poster ”, ...

OS OS : /O·S/ 1. [Operating System] n. An abbreviation heavily used in email,...

OSS OSS Written-only acronym for “ Open Source Software ” (see open...

OS/2 OS/2 : /O S too/ , n. The anointed successor to MS-DOS for Intel 286- and 3...

OT OT : // [Usenet: common] Abbreviation for “ off-topic ”. This i...

OTOH OTOH : // [Usenet; very common] On The Other Hand.

Ob- Ob- : /ob/ , pref. Obligatory. A piece of netiquette acknowledging that the...

Obfuscated C Contest Obfuscated C Contest : n. (in full, the ‘International Obfuscated C C...

Objectionable-C Objectionable-C : n. Hackish take on “ Objective-C ”, the name ...

Old Testament Old Testament : n. [C programmers] The first edition of K&R , the sacre...

Oracle_ the Oracle, the The all-knowing, all-wise Internet Oracle rec.humor.oracle , or...

Orange Book Orange Book : n. The U.S. Government_s (now obsolete) standards document Tr...

PARC PARC : n. See XEROX PARC .

PBD PBD : /P·B·D/ , n. [abbrev. of ‘Programmer Brain Damage’] App...

PD PD : /P·D/ , adj. [common] Abbreviation for ‘public domain’, a...

PDP-10 PDP-10 : n. [Programmed Data Processor model 10] The machine that made time...

PDP-11 PDP-11 Possibly the single most successful minicomputer design in history, ...

PDP-20 PDP-20 : n. The most famous computer that never was. PDP-10 computers runni...

PEBKAC PEBKAC : /peb´kak/ [Abbrev., “ Problem Exists Between Keyboard And C...

PFY PFY : n. [Usenet; common, originally from the BOFH mythos] Abbreviation for...

PHB PHB : /P·H·B/ [Usenet; common; rarely spoken] Abbreviation, “ Point...

PM PM : /P·M/ 1. v. (from preventive maintenance ) To bring down a machine fo...

POM POM : /P·O·M/ , n. Common abbreviation for phase of the moon . Usage: usu...

P.O.D. P.O.D. : /P·O·D/ [rare; sometimes ‘POD’ without the periods] ...

Parkinson's Law of Data Parkinson_s Law of Data : prov. “ Data expands to fill the space avai...

Pascal Pascal : n. An Algol-descended language designed by Niklaus Wirth on the CD...

PascalCasing PascalCasing The practice of marking all word boundaries in long identifier...

Pentagram Pro Pentagram Pro : n. A humorous corruption of “ Pentium Pro ”, wi...

Pentium Pentium : n. The name given to Intel_s P5 chip, the successor to the 80486....

Perl Perl : /perl/ , n. [Practical Extraction and Report Language, a.k.a. Pathol...

Ping O' Death Ping O_ Death : n. A notorious exploit that (when first discovered) could b...

Plan 9 Plan 9 : n. In the late 1980s, researchers at Bell Labs (especially Rob Pik...

PostScript PostScript : n. A page description language, based on work originally done ...

Postel's Prescription Postel_s Prescription [proposed] Several of the key Internet RFC s, especia...

Programmer's Cheer Programmer_s Cheer “ Shift to the left! Shift to the right! Pop up, p...

Purple Book Purple Book : n. 1. The System V Interface Definition . The covers of the f...

Python Python : /pi:´thon/ In the words of its author, “ the other scriptin...

QWERTY QWERTY : /kwer´tee/ , adj. [from the keycaps at the upper left] Pertaining...

Quirk objection Quirk objection : interj. [Named for Captain Gym Z. Quirk, the first to rai...

RBL RBL : /R·B·L/ Abbreviation: “ Realtime Blackhole List ”. A se...

RE RE : /R·E/ , n. Common spoken and written shorthand for regexp .

README file README file : n. Hacker_s-eye introduction traditionally included in the to...

RETI RETI : v. Syn. RTI

RFC RFC : /R·F·C/ , n. [Request For Comment] One of a long-es­tab­lished se...

RFE RFE : /R·F·E/ , n. 1. [techspeak] Request For Enhancement (compare RFC )....

RL RL : // , n. [MUD community] Real Life. “ Firiss laughs in RL ”...

RSN RSN : /R·S·N/ , adj. See Real Soon Now .

RTBM RTBM : /R·T·B·M/ , imp. [Unix] Commonwealth Hackish variant of RTFM ; ex...

RTFAQ RTFAQ : /R·T·F·A·Q/ , imp. [Usenet: primarily written, by analogy with ...

RTFB RTFB : /R·T·F·B/ , imp. [Unix] Abbreviation for ‘Read The Fucking ...

RTFM RTFM : /R·T·F·M/ , imp. [Unix] Abbreviation for ‘Read The Fucking ...

RTFS RTFS : /R·T·F·S/ [Unix] 1. imp. Abbreviation for ‘Read The Fucking...

RTI RTI : /R·T·I/ , interj. The mnemonic for the ‘return from interrupt...

RTM RTM : /R·T·M/ 1. [Usenet: abbreviation for ‘Read The Manual’]...

RTS RTS : /R·T·S/ , imp. Abbreviation for ‘Read The Screen’. Main...

Random Number God Random Number God [rec.games.roguelike.angband; often abbreviated ‘RN...

Real Programmer Real Programmer : n. [indirectly, from the book Real Men Don_t Eat Quiche ]...

Real Soon Now Real Soon Now : adv. [orig. from SF_s fanzine community, popularized by Jer...

Real World Real World : n. 1. Those institutions at which ‘programming’ ma...

Right Thing Right Thing : n. That which is compellingly the correct or appropriate thin...

SAIL SAIL : /sayl/ , /S·A·I·L/ , n. 1. The Stanford Artificial Intelligence L...

SCNR SCNR : abbrev [common] Sorry, Could Not Resist. Normally used to semi-apolo...

SCSI SCSI : n. [Small Computer System Interface] A bus-independent standard for ...

SCSI voodoo SCSI voodoo : /skuz´ee voo´doo/ [common among Mac users] SCSI interface h...

SED SED : /S·E·D/ , n. [TMRC, from ‘Light-Emitting Diode’] Smoke-...

SEX SEX : /seks/ [Sun Users_ Group & elsewhere] n. 1. Software EXchange. A ...

SIG SIG : /sig/ , n. (also common as a prefix in combining forms) A Special Int...

SMOP SMOP : /S·M·O·P/ , n. [Simple (or Small) Matter of Programming] 1. A pie...

SNAFU principle SNAFU principle : /sna´foo prin´si·pl/ , n. [from a WWII Army ac­ro­ny...

SO SO : /S·O/ , n. 1. (also S.O. ) Abbrev. for Significant Other, almost inva...

SPACEWAR SPACEWAR : n. A space-combat simulation game, inspired by E. E. “ Doc...

STFW STFW : imp. , /S·T·F·W/ [Usenet] Common abbreviation for “ Search ...

STR STR Spot the reference. Used in scary devil monastery to mark the witticism...

S/N ratio S/N ratio : // , n. (also s/n ratio , s:n ratio ). Syn. signal-to-noise rat...

Saturday-night special Saturday-night special : n. [from police slang for a cheap handgun] A quick...

See figure 1 See figure 1 Metaphorically, “ Get stuffed. ” From the title of...

September that never ended September that never ended All time since September 1993. One of the season...

Share and enjoy! Share and enjoy! : imp. 1. Commonly found at the end of software release an...

Shub-Internet Shub-Internet : /shuhb´ in´t@r·net/ , n. [MUD: from H. P. Lovecraft_s ev...

Slowlaris Slowlaris : /slo_·lahr·is/ , n. [Usenet; poss. from the variety of prosim...

Spinning Pizza of Death Spinning Pizza of Death : n. [OS X; common] The quartered-circle busy indic...

Stanford Bunny Stanford Bunny The successor of the Utah Teapot . The model is of a chocola...

Stone Age Stone Age : n.,adj. 1. In computer folklore, an ill-defined period from ENI...

Stupids Stupids : n. Term used by samurai for the suit s who employ them; succinctl...

Sturgeon's Law Sturgeon_s Law : prov. “ Ninety percent of everything is crud ”...

Sun Sun : n. Sun Microsystems. Hackers remember that the name was originally an...

Suzie COBOL Suzie COBOL : /soo´zee koh´bol/ 1. [IBM: prob.: from Frank Zappa_s ‘...

Swiss-Army chainsaw Swiss-Army chainsaw In early Unix days, a well-known technical paper analog...

T T : /T/ 1. [from LISP terminology for ‘true’] Yes. Used in repl...

TAN TAN : adj. [Usenet, particularly rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan ] Abbrev...

TANSTAAFL TANSTAAFL : /tan´stah·fl/ [acronym, from Robert Heinlein_s classic SF nov...

TCB TCB : /T·C·B/ , n. [IBM] 1. Trouble Came Back. An intermittent or difficu...

TCP/IP TCP/IP : /T´C·P I´P/ , n. 1. [Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Pro...

TECO TECO : /tee´koh/ , n.,v. obs. 1. [originally an acronym for ‘[paper]...

TINC TINC : // [Usenet] Abbreviation: “ There Is No Cabal ”. See bac...

TINLC TINLC : // Abbreviation: “ There Is No Lumber Cartel ”. See Lum...

TLA TLA : /T·L·A/ , n. [Three-Letter Acronym] 1. Self-describing abbreviation...

TMRC TMRC : /tmerk´/ , n. The Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT, one of the wells...

TMRCie TMRCie : /tmerk´ee/ , n. [MIT] A denizen of TMRC .

TMTOWTDI TMTOWTDI : /tim·toh_·dee/ , abbrev. There_s More Than One Way To Do It. T...

TOFU TOFU Text Over, Fullquote Under; see top-post .

TOPS-10 TOPS-10 : /tops·ten/ , n. DEC _s proprietary OS for the fabled PDP-10 mach...

TOPS-20 TOPS-20 : /tops·twen´tee/ , n. See TWENEX .

TOS TOS : vt. [from the acronym for ‘Terms Of Service’ playing on t...

TWENEX TWENEX : /twe´neks/ , n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC — the s...

TeX TeX : /tekh/ , n. An extremely powerful macro -based text formatter written...

That's not a bug_ that's a feature! That_s not a bug, that_s a feature! The canonical first parry in a debate a...

This can't happen This can_t happen Less clipped variant of can_t happen .

This time_ for sure! This time, for sure! : excl. Ritual affirmation frequently uttered during p...

Tinkerbell program Tinkerbell program : n. [Great Britain] A monitoring program used to scan i...

Trojan horse Trojan horse : n. [coined by MIT-hacker-turned-NSA-spook Dan Edwards] A mal...

Troll-O-Meter Troll-O-Meter : n. Common Usenet jargon for a notional instrument used to m...

Turing tar-pit Turing tar-pit : n. 1. A place where anything is possible but nothing of in...

Tux Tux Tux the Penguin is the official emblem of Linux , This eventuated after...

UBD UBD : /U·B·D/ , n. [abbreviation for ‘User Brain Damage’] An ...

UBE UBE : // , n. [abbrev., Unsolicited Bulk Email] A widespread, more formal t...

UCE UCE : n. [abbrev., Unsolicited Commercial Email] A widespread, more formal ...

UDP UDP : /U·D·P/ , v.,n. [Usenet] Abbreviation for Usenet Death Penalty . Co...

UN*X UN*X : n. Used to refer to the Unix operating system (a trademark of AT&...

URL URL : /U·R·L/ , /erl/ , n. Uniform Resource Locator, an address widget th...

UTSL UTSL : // , n. [Unix] On-line acronym for ‘Use the Source, Luke’...

UUOC UUOC [from the comp.unix.shell group on Usenet] Stands for Useless Use of c...

Unix Unix : /yoo´niks/ , n. [In the authors_ words, “ A weak pun on Multi...

Unix brain damage Unix brain damage : n. Something that has to be done to break a network pro...

Unix conspiracy Unix conspiracy : n. [ITS] According to a conspiracy theory long popular am...

Unix weenie Unix weenie : n. [ITS] 1. A derogatory play on ‘Unix wizard’, c...

Usenet Usenet : /yoos´net/ , /yooz´net/ , n. [from ‘Users_ Network’;...

Usenet Death Penalty Usenet Death Penalty [Usenet] A sanction against sites that habitually spew...

Utah teapot_ the Utah teapot, the This object is historically one of the first complex 3D mo...

V7 V7 : /V´sev´en/ , n. See Version 7 .

VAX VAX : /vaks/ , n. 1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] The most successful m...

VAXen VAXen : /vak´sn/ , n. [from ‘oxen’, perhaps influenced by R...

VMS VMS : /V·M·S/ , n. DEC _s proprietary operating system for its VAX minico...

VR VR : // , n. On-line abbrev for virtual reality , as opposed to RL .

Venus flytrap Venus flytrap : n. [after the insect-eating plant] See firewall machine .

Version 7 Version 7 : /vee´ se´vn/ , n. The first widely distributed version of Uni...

Visual Fred Visual Fred : n. Pejorative hackerism for VB.NET (Visual Basic for the .NET...

Vulcan nerve pinch Vulcan nerve pinch : n. [from the old Star Trek TV series via Commodore Ami...

WAITS WAITS : /wayts/ , n. The mutant cousin of TOPS-10 used on a handful of syst...

WIBNI WIBNI : // , n. [Bell Labs: Wouldn_t It Be Nice If] What most requirements ...

WIMP environment WIMP environment : n. [acronym: ‘Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device ...

WOMBAT WOMBAT : /wom´bat/ , adj. [acronym: Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time] Appl...

WYSIAYG WYSIAYG : /wiz´ee·ayg/ , adj. Describes a user interface under which R...

WYSIWYG WYSIWYG : /wiz´ee·wig/ , /wiss´ee·wig/ , adj. [Traced to Flip Wilson_s ...

Weenix Weenix : /wee´niks/ , n. 1. [ITS] A derogatory term for Unix , derived fro...

What's a spline? What_s a spline? [XEROX PARC] This phrase expands to: “ You have just...

Whorfian mind-lock Whorfian mind-lock [from the Lojban-language list] Software designs are oft...

Winchester Winchester : n. Informal generic term for sealed-enclosure magnetic-disk dr...

Windowsitis Windowsitis 1. As a disease of people: the tendency of inexperienced (or Wi...

Windoze Windoze : /win´dohz/ , n. See Microsloth Windows . (Also Losedoze .)

Wintel Wintel : n. Microsoft Windows plus Intel — the tacit alliance that do...

Wintendo Wintendo : /win·ten´doh/ , n. [Play on “ Nintendo ”] A PC run...

Wizard Book Wizard Book : n. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (Hal Abe...

Wrong Thing Wrong Thing : n. A design, action, or decision that is clearly incorrect or...

X X : /X/ , n. 1. Used in various speech and writing contexts (also in lowerc...

XEROX PARC XEROX PARC : /zee´roks park´/ , n. The famed Palo Alto Research Center. F...

XOFF XOFF : /X·of/ , n. Syn. control-S .

XON XON : /X·on/ , n. Syn. control-Q .

XXX XXX : /X·X·X/ , n. A marker that attention is needed. Commonly used in pr...

YA- YA- : abbrev. [Yet Another] In hackish acronyms this almost invariably expa...

YABA YABA : /ya´b@/ , n. [Cambridge] Yet Another Bloody Acronym. Whenever some ...

YAFIYGI YAFIYGI : /yaf´ee·y@·gee/ , adj. [coined in response to WYSIWYG] Describ...

YAUN YAUN : /yawn/ , n. [Acronym for ‘Yet Another Unix Nerd’] Report...

YHBT YHBT : // [Usenet: very common] Abbreviation: You Have Been Trolled (see tr...

YKYBHTLW YKYBHTLW : // , abbrev. Abbreviation of ‘You know you_ve been hacking...

YMMV YMMV : // , cav. Abbreviation for Your mileage may vary common on Usenet.

Yet Another Yet Another : adj. [From Unix_s yacc (1) , ‘Yet Another Compiler-Comp...

You are not expected to understand this You are not expected to understand this : cav. [Unix] The canonical comment...

You know you've been hacking too long when You know you_ve been hacking too long when The set-up line for a genre of o...

Your mileage may vary Your mileage may vary : cav. [from the standard disclaimer attached to EPA ...

Yow! Yow! : /yow/ , interj. [from “ Zippy the Pinhead ” comix] A fav...

Yu-Shiang Whole Fish Yu-Shiang Whole Fish : /yoo·shyang hohl fish/ , n. obs. The character gamm...

Zawinski's Law Zawinski_s Law “ Every program attempts to expand until it can read m...

Zero-One-Infinity Rule Zero-One-Infinity Rule : prov. “ Allow none of foo , one of foo , or ...

Zork Zork : /zork/ , n. The second of the great early experiments in computer fa...

@-party @-party : /at´par`tee/ , n. [from the @-sign in an Internet address] (alt....

(TM) (TM) : // [Usenet] ASCII rendition of the ™ appended to phrases that ...

/dev/null /dev/null : /dev·nuhl/ , n. [from the Unix null device, used as a data sin...

/me /me : // [IRC; common] Under most IRC, /me is the “ pose ” comm...

abbrev abbrev : /@·breev´/ , /@·brev´/ , n. Common abbreviation for ‘abb...

accumulator accumulator : n. obs. 1. Archaic term for a register. On-line use of it as ...

ad-hockery ad-hockery : /ad·hok_@r·ee/ , n. [Purdue] 1. Gratuitous assumptions made ...

address harvester address harvester : n. A robot that searches web pages and/or filters netne...

adger adger : /aj´r/ , vt. [UCLA mutant of nadger , poss. also from the middle n...

admin admin : /ad·min´/ , n. Short for ‘administrator’; very common...

adware adware : n. Software which is free to download and use but includes pop-up ...

airplane rule airplane rule : n. “ Complexity increases the possibility of failure;...

aliasing bug aliasing bug : n. A class of subtle programming errors that can arise in co...

all your base are belong to us all your base are belong to us A declaration of victory or superiority. The...

alpha geek alpha geek : n. [from animal ethologists_ alpha male ] The most technically...

alpha particles alpha particles : n. See bit rot .

alt alt : /awlt/ 1. n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or clone keyboard; see bu...

alt bit alt bit : /awlt bit/ , adj. See meta bit .

ambimouseterous ambimouseterous : /am·b@·mows´ter·us/ , /am·b@·mows´trus/ , adj [mod...

amp off amp off : vt. [Purdue] To run in background . From the Unix shell ‘&a...

amper amper : n. Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand (‘&&...

and there was much rejoicing and there was much rejoicing [from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grai...

angle brackets angle brackets : n. Either of the characters < (ASCII 0111100) and > ...

angry fruit salad angry fruit salad : n. A bad visual-interface design that uses too many col...

annoybot annoybot : /@·noy·bot/ , n. [IRC] See bot .

annoyware annoyware : n. A type of shareware that frequently disrupts normal program ...

anti-idiotarianism anti-idiotarianism : n. [very common] Opposition to idiots of all political...

app app : /ap/ , n. Short for ‘application program’, as opposed to ...

arena arena : n. [common; Unix] The area of memory attached to a process by brk (...

arg arg : /arg/ , n. Abbreviation for ‘argument’ (to a function), u...

armor-plated armor-plated : n. Syn. for bulletproof .

asbestos asbestos : adj. [common] Used as a modifier to anything intended to protect...

asbestos cork award asbestos cork award : n. Once, long ago at MIT, there was a flamer so consi...

asbestos longjohns asbestos longjohns : n. Notional garments donned by Usenet posters just bef...

astroturfing astroturfing : n. 1. The use of paid shills to create the impression of a p...

atomic atomic : adj. [from Gk. atomos , indivisible] 1. Indivisible; cannot be spl...

attoparsec attoparsec : n. About an inch. atto- is the standard SI prefix for multipli...

autobogotiphobia autobogotiphobia : /aw´toh·boh·got`@·foh´bee·@/ n. See bogotify .

autoconfiscate autoconfiscate To set up or modify a source-code distribution so that it co...

automagically automagically : /aw·toh·maj´i·klee/ , adv. Automatically, but in a way ...

avatar avatar : n. [in Hindu mythology, the incarnation of a god] 1. Among people ...

awk awk : /awk/ 1. n. [Unix techspeak] An interpreted language for massaging te...

back door back door : n. [common] A hole in the security of a system deliberately lef...

backbone cabal backbone cabal : n. A group of large-site administrators who pushed through...

backbone site backbone site : n.,obs. Formerly, a key Usenet and email site, one that pro...

backgammon backgammon See bignum (sense 3), moby (sense 4), and pseudoprime .

background background : n.,adj.,vt. [common] To do a task in background is to do it wh...

backreference backreference : n. 1. In a regular expression or pattern match, the text wh...

backronym backronym : n. [portmanteau of back + acronym] A word interpreted as an acr...

backward combatability backward combatability : /bak´w@rd k@m·bat_@·bil_@·tee/ , n. [CMU, Tekt...

bag on the side bag on the side : n. [prob. originally related to a colostomy bag] An exten...

bagbiter bagbiter : /bag´bi:t·@r/ , n. 1. Something, such as a program or a comput...

bagbiting bagbiting : adj. [MIT; now rare] Having the quality of a bagbiter . “...

baggy pantsing baggy pantsing : v. [Georgia Tech] A “ baggy pantsing ” is used...

balloonian variable balloonian variable : n. [Commodore users; perh. a deliberate phonetic mang...

bamf bamf : /bamf/ 1. [from X-Men comics; originally “ bampf ”] inte...

banana problem banana problem : n. [from the story of the little girl who said “ I k...

bandwidth bandwidth : n. 1. [common] Used by hackers (in a generalization of its tech...

bang bang 1. n. Common spoken name for ! (ASCII 0100001), especially when used i...

bang on bang on : vt. To stress-test a piece of hardware or software: “ I ban...

bang path bang path : n. [now historical] An old-style UUCP electronic-mail address s...

banner banner : n. 1. A top-centered graphic on a web page. Esp. used in banner ad...

banner ad banner ad : n. Any of the annoying graphical advertisements that span the t...

banner site banner site : n. [warez d00dz] An FTP site storing pirated files where one ...

bar bar : /bar/ , n. 1. [very common] The second metasyntactic variable , after...

bare metal bare metal : n. 1. [common] New computer hardware, unadorned with such snar...

barf barf : /barf/ , n.,v. [common; from mainstream slang meaning ‘vomit&#...

barfmail barfmail : n. Multiple bounce message s accumulating to the level of seriou...

barfulation barfulation : /bar`fyoo·lay´sh@n/ , interj. Variation of barf used around...

barfulous barfulous : /bar´fyoo·l@s/ , adj. (alt.: barfucious , /bar-fyoo-sh@s/ ) S...

barn barn : n. [uncommon; prob. from the nuclear military] An unexpectedly large...

barney barney : n. In Commonwealth hackish, barney is to fred (sense #1) as bar is...

baroque baroque : adj. [common] Feature-encrusted; complex; gaudy; verging on exces...

batbelt batbelt : n. Many hackers routinely hang numerous devices such as pagers, c...

batch batch : adj. 1. Non-interactive. Hackers use this somewhat more loosely tha...

bathtub curve bathtub curve : n. Common term for the curve (resembling an end-to-end sect...

baud baud : /bawd/ , n. [simplified from its technical meaning] n. Bits per seco...

baz baz : /baz/ , n. 1. [common] The third metasyntactic variable “ Suppo...

bazaar bazaar : n.,adj. In 1997, after meditating on the success of Linux for thre...

bboard bboard : /bee´bord/ , n. [contraction of ‘bulletin board’] 1. ...

beam beam : vt. [from Star Trek Classic_s “ Beam me up, Scotty! ”] 1...

beanie key beanie key : n. [Mac users] See command key .

beep beep : n.,v. Syn. feep . This term is techspeak under MS-DOS/Windows and OS...

beige toaster beige toaster : n. [obs.] An original Macintosh in the boxy beige case. See...

bells and whistles bells and whistles : n. [common] Features added to a program or system to m...

bells whistles and gongs bells whistles and gongs : n. A standard elaborated form of bells and whist...

benchmark benchmark : n. [techspeak] An inaccurate measure of computer performance. &...

beta beta : /bay´t@/ , /be´t@/ , /bee´t@/ , n. 1. Mostly working, but still u...

bible bible : n. 1. One of a small number of fundamental source books such as Knu...

biff biff : /bif/ , vt. [now rare] To notify someone of incoming mail. From the ...

big-endian big-endian : adj. [common; From Swift_s Gulliver_s Travels via the famous p...

big iron big iron : n. [common] Large, expensive, ultra-fast computers. Used general...

big win big win : n. 1. [common] Major success. 2. [MIT] Serendipity. “ Yes, ...

bignum bignum : /big´nuhm/ , n. [common; orig. from MIT MacLISP] 1. [techspeak] A...

bigot bigot : n. [common] A person who is religiously attached to a particular co...

bikeshedding bikeshedding [originally BSD, now common] Technical disputes over minor, ma...

binary four binary four : n. [Usenet] The finger, in the sense of digitus impudicus . T...

bit-paired keyboard bit-paired keyboard : n.,obs. (alt.: bit-shift keyboard ) A non-standard ke...

bit bit : n. [from the mainstream meaning and “ Binary digIT ”] 1. ...

bit bashing bit bashing : n. (alt.: bit diddling or bit twiddling ) Term used to descri...

bit bucket bit bucket : n. [very common] 1. The universal data sink (originally, the m...

bit decay bit decay : n. See bit rot . People with a physics background tend to prefe...

bit rot bit rot : n. [common] Also bit decay . Hypothetical disease the existence o...

bit twiddling bit twiddling : n. [very common] 1. (pejorative) An exercise in tuning (see...

bitblt bitblt : /bit´blit/ , n. [from BLT , q.v.:] 1. [common] Any of a family of...

bits bits : pl.n. 1. Information. Examples: “ I need some bits about file ...

bitty box bitty box : /bit´ee boks/ , n. 1. A computer sufficiently small, primitive...

bixie bixie : /bik´see/ , n. Variant emoticon s used BIX (the BIX Information eX...

black art black art : n. [common] A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by implic...

black hat black hat 1. [common among security specialists] A cracker , someone bent o...

black hole black hole : n.,vt. [common] What data (a piece of email or netnews, or a s...

black magic black magic : n. [common] A technique that works, though nobody really unde...

blammo blammo : v. [Oxford Brookes University and alumni, UK] To forcibly remove s...

blargh blargh : /blarg/ , n. [MIT; now common] The opposite of ping , sense 5; an ...

blast blast 1. v.,n. Synonym for BLT , used esp. for large data sends over a netw...

blat blat : n. 1. Syn. blast , sense 1. 2. See thud .

bletch bletch : /blech/ , interj. [very common; from Yiddish/German ‘brechen...

bletcherous bletcherous : /blech_@·r@s/ , adj. Disgusting in design or function; esthe...

blinkenlights blinkenlights : /blink_@n·li:tz/ , n. [common] Front-panel diagnostic ligh...

blit blit : /blit/ , vt. 1. [common] To copy a large array of bits from one part...

blitter blitter : /blit´r/ , n. [common] A special-purpose chip or hardware system...

blivet blivet : /bliv_@t/ , n. [allegedly from a World War II military term meanin...

bloatware bloatware : n. [common] Software that provides minimal functionality while ...

block block : v. [common; from process scheduling terminology in OS theory] 1. vi...

blog blog : n. [common] Short for weblog , an on-line web-zine or diary (usually...

blogosphere blogosphere The totality of all blog s. A culture heavily overlapping with ...

blogrolling blogrolling [From the American political term ‘logrolling’, for...

blow an EPROM blow an EPROM : /bloh @n ee´prom/ , v. (alt.: blast an EPROM , burn an EPR...

blow away blow away : vt. To remove (files and directories) from permanent storage, g...

blow out blow out : vi. [prob.: from mining and tunneling jargon] Of software, to fa...

blow past blow past : vt. To blow out despite a safeguard. “ The server blew pa...

blow up blow up : vi. 1. [scientific computation] To become unstable. Suggests that...

blue box blue box n. 1. obs. Once upon a time, before all-digital switches made it p...

blue goo blue goo : n. Term for ‘police’ nanobot s intended to prevent g...

blue wire blue wire : n. [IBM] Patch wires (esp. 30 AWG gauge) added to circuit board...

blurgle blurgle : /bler´gl/ , n. [UK] Spoken metasyntactic variable , to indicate ...

boa boa : n. Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor in a dinosaur ...

board board : n. 1. In-context synonym for bboard ; sometimes used even for Usene...

boat anchor boat anchor : n. [common; from ham radio] 1. Like doorstop but more severe;...

bob bob : n. At Demon Internet , all tech support personnel are called “ ...

bodge bodge [Commonwealth hackish] Syn. kludge or hack (sense 1). “ I_ll bo...

bogo-sort bogo-sort : /boh`goh·sort´/ , n. (var.: stupid-sort ) The archetypical pe...

bogometer bogometer : /boh·gom_·@t·er/ , n. A notional instrument for measuring bo...

bogon bogon : /boh´gon/ , n. [very common; by analogy with proton/electron/neutr...

bogon filter bogon filter : /boh´gon fil_tr/ , n. Any device, software or hardware, tha...

bogon flux bogon flux : /boh´gon fluhks/ , n. A measure of a supposed field of bogosi...

bogosity bogosity : /boh·go´s@·tee/ , n. 1. [orig. CMU, now very common] The degr...

bogotify bogotify : /boh·go´t@·fi:/ , vt. To make or become bogus. A program that...

bogue out bogue out : /bohg owt/ , vi. To become bogus, suddenly and unexpectedly. &#...

bogus bogus : adj. 1. Non-functional. “ Your patches are bogus. ” 2. ...

boink boink : /boynk/ 1. [Usenet: variously ascribed to the TV series Cheers , Mo...

bomb bomb 1. v. General synonym for crash (sense 1) except that it is not used a...

bondage-and-discipline language bondage-and-discipline language : n. A language (such as Pascal , Ada, APL,...

bonk/oif bonk/oif : /bonk/ , /oyf/ , interj. In the U.S. MUD community, it has becom...

book titles book titles There is a tradition in hackerdom of informally tagging importa...

boot boot : v.,n. [techspeak; from ‘by one_s bootstraps’] To load an...

borken borken : adj. (also borked ) Common deliberate typo for ‘broken’.

bot bot : n [common on IRC, MUD and among gamers; from “ robot ”] 1...

bottom-post bottom-post : v. In a news or mail reply, to put the response to a news or ...

bottom-up implementation bottom-up implementation : n. Hackish opposite of the techspeak term top-do...

bottom feeder bottom feeder : n. 1. An Internet user that leeches off ISPs — the so...

bounce bounce : v. 1. [common; perhaps by analogy to a bouncing check] An electron...

bounce message bounce message : n. [common] Notification message returned to sender by a s...

boustrophedon boustrophedon : n. [from a Greek word for turning like an ox while plowing]...

box box : n. A computer; esp. in the construction foo box where foo is some fun...

boxed comments boxed comments : n. Comments (explanatory notes attached to program instruc...

boxen boxen : /bok´sn/ , pl.n. [very common; by analogy with VAXen ] Fanciful pl...

boxology boxology : /bok·sol_@·jee/ , n. Syn. ASCII art . This term implies a more...

bozotic bozotic : /boh·zoh´tik/ , /boh·zo´tik/ , adj. [from the name of a TV cl...

brain-damaged brain-damaged : adj. 1. [common; generalization of “ Honeywell Brain ...

brain-dead brain-dead : adj. [common] Brain-damaged in the extreme. It tends to imply ...

brain dump brain dump : n. [common] The act of telling someone everything one knows ab...

brain fart brain fart : n. The actual result of a braino , as opposed to the mental gl...

braino braino : /bray´no/ , n. Syn. for thinko . See also brain fart .

brainwidth brainwidth : n. [Great Britain] Analagous to bandwidth but used strictly fo...

bread crumbs bread crumbs : n. 1. Debugging statements inserted into a program that emit...

break-even point break-even point : n. In the process of implementing a new computer languag...

break break 1. vt. To cause to be broken (in any sense). “ Your latest patc...

breath-of-life packet breath-of-life packet : n. [XEROX PARC] An Ethernet packet that contains bo...

breedle breedle : n. See feep .

brick brick : n. 1. A piece of equipment that has been programmed or configured i...

bricktext bricktext [Usenet: common] Text which is carefully composed to be right-jus...

bring X to its knees bring X to its knees : v. [common] To present a machine, operating system, ...

brittle brittle : adj. Said of software that is functional but easily broken by cha...

broadcast storm broadcast storm : n. [common] An incorrect packet broadcast on a network th...

broken-ring network broken-ring network Pejorative hackerism for “ token-ring network ...

broken broken : adj. 1. Not working according to design (of programs). This is the...

broken arrow broken arrow : n. [IBM] The error code displayed on line 25 of a 3270 termi...

broket broket : /broh´k@t/ , /broh´ket`/ , n. [rare; by analogy with ‘brac...

brown-paper-bag bug brown-paper-bag bug : n. A bug in a public software release that is so emba...

browser browser : n. A program specifically designed to help users view and navigat...

brute force brute force : adj. Describes a primitive programming style, one in which th...

brute force and ignorance brute force and ignorance : n. A popular design technique at many software ...

bubble sort bubble sort : n. Techspeak for a particular sorting technique in which pair...

bucky bits bucky bits : /buh´kee bits/ , n. 1. [obs.] The bits produced by the CONTRO...

buffer chuck buffer chuck : n. Shorter and ruder syn. for buffer overflow .

buffer overflow buffer overflow : n. What happens when you try to stuff more data into a bu...

bug-compatible bug-compatible : adj. [common] Said of a design or revision that has been b...

bug-for-bug compatible bug-for-bug compatible : n. Same as bug-compatible , with the additional im...

bug-of-the-month club bug-of-the-month club : n. [from “ book-of-the-month club ”, a ...

bug bug : n. An unwanted and unintended property of a program or piece of hardw...

bulletproof bulletproof : adj. Used of an algorithm or implementation considered extrem...

bullschildt bullschildt : /bul´shilt/ , n. [comp.lang.c on USENET] A confident, but in...

bump bump : vt. Synonym for increment. Has the same meaning as C_s ++ operator. ...

burble burble : v. [from Lewis Carroll_s Jabberwocky ] Like flame , but connotes t...

buried treasure buried treasure : n. A surprising piece of code found in some program. Whil...

burn-in period burn-in period : n. 1. A factory test designed to catch systems with margin...

burn a CD burn a CD : v. To write a software or document distribution on a CDR. Coine...

burst page burst page : n. Syn. banner , sense 1.

busy-wait busy-wait : vi. Used of human behavior, conveys that the subject is busy wa...

buzz buzz : vi. 1. Of a program, to run with no indication of progress and perha...

buzzword-compliant buzzword-compliant [also buzzword-enabled ] Used (disparagingly) of product...

by hand by hand : adv. 1. [common] Said of an operation (especially a repetitive, t...

byte byte : /bi:t/ , n. [techspeak] A unit of memory or data equal to the amount...

byte sex byte sex : n. [common] The byte sex of hardware is big-endian or little-end...

bytesexual bytesexual : /bi:t`sek´shu·@l/ , adj. [rare] Said of hardware, denotes wi...

calculator calculator : n. Syn. for bitty box .

camelCase camelCase A variable in a programming language is sait to be camelCased whe...

camelCasing camelCasing See PascalCasing .

can't happen can_t happen The traditional program comment for code executed under a cond...

cancelbot cancelbot : /kan´sel·bot/ [Usenet: compound, cancel + robot] 1. Mythicall...

candygrammar candygrammar : n. A programming-language grammar that is mostly syntactic s...

canonical canonical : adj. [very common; historically, ‘according to religious ...

careware careware : /keir´weir/ , n. A variety of shareware for which either the au...

cargo cult programming cargo cult programming : n. A style of (incompetent) programming dominated ...

cascade cascade : n. 1. A huge volume of spurious error-message output produced by ...

case and paste case and paste : n. [from ‘cut and paste’] The addition of a ne...

case mod case mod [from ‘case modification’] 1. Originally a kind of har...

casters-up mode casters-up mode : n. [IBM, prob. fr. slang belly up ] Yet another synonym f...

casting the runes casting the runes : n. What a guru does when you ask him or her to run a pa...

cat cat : vt. [from catenate via Unix cat (1) ] 1. [techspeak] To spew an entir...

catatonic catatonic : adj. Describes a condition of suspended animation in which some...

cathedral cathedral : n.,adj. [see bazaar for derivation] The ‘classical’...

cd tilde cd tilde : /C·D til·d@/ , vi. To go home. From the Unix C-shell and Korn-...

cdr cdr : /ku´dr/ , /kuh´dr/ , vt. [from LISP] To skip past the first item fr...

chad chad : /chad/ , n. 1. [common] The perforated edge strips on printer paper,...

chad box chad box : n. A metal box about the size of a lunchbox (or in some models a...

chain chain 1. vi. [orig. from BASIC_s CHAIN statement] To hand off execution to ...

chainik chainik : /chi:´nik/ [Russian, literally “ teapot ”] Almost sy...

channel channel : n. [IRC] The basic unit of discussion on IRC . Once one joins a c...

channel hopping channel hopping : n. [common; IRC, GEnie] To rapidly switch channels on IRC...

channel op channel op : /chan´l op/ , n. [IRC] Someone who is endowed with privileges...

chanop chanop : /chan_·op/ , n. [IRC] See channel op .

char char : /keir/ , /char/ , /kar/ , n. Shorthand for ‘character’. ...

charityware charityware : /cha´rit·ee·weir`/ , n. Syn. careware .

chase pointers chase pointers 1. vi. To go through multiple levels of indirection, as in t...

chawmp chawmp : n. [University of Florida] 16 or 18 bits (half of a machine word)....

check check : n. A hardware-detected error condition, most commonly used to refer...

cheerfully cheerfully : adv. See happily .

chemist chemist : n. [Cambridge] Someone who wastes computer time on number-crunchi...

chicken head chicken head : n. [Commodore] The Commodore Business Machines logo, which s...

chickenboner chickenboner : n. [spamfighters] Derogatory term for a spammer. The image t...

chiclet keyboard chiclet keyboard : n. A keyboard with a small, flat rectangular or lozenge-...

choad choad : /chohd/ , n. Synonym for ‘penis’ used in alt.tasteless ...

choke choke : v. [common] To reject input, often ungracefully. “ NULs make ...

chomp chomp : vi. 1. To lose ; specifically, to chew on something of which more w...

chomper chomper : n. Someone or something that is chomping; a loser. See loser , ba...

chrome chrome : n. [from automotive slang via wargaming] Showy features added to a...

chug chug : vi. To run slowly; to grind or grovel . “ The disk is chugging...

clean clean 1. adj. Used of hardware or software designs, implies ‘elegance...

click of death click of death : n. A syndrome of certain Iomega ZIP drives, named for the ...

clobber clobber : vt. To overwrite, usually unintentionally: “ I walked off t...

clock clock n.,v. 1. [techspeak] The master oscillator that steps a CPU or other ...

clocks clocks : n. Processor logic cycles, so called because each generally corres...

clone-and-hack coding clone-and-hack coding : n. [DEC] Syn. case and paste .

clone clone : n. 1. An exact duplicate: “ Our product is a clone of their p...

clover key clover key : n. [Mac users] See feature key .

clue-by-four clue-by-four [Usenet: portmanteau, clue + two-by-four] The notional stick w...

clustergeeking clustergeeking : /kluh´st@r·gee`king/ , n. [CMU] Spending more time at a ...

co-lo co-lo : /koh´loh`/ , n. [very common; first heard c.1995] Short for ‘...

coaster coaster : n. 1. Unuseable CD produced during failed attempt at writing to w...

coaster toaster coaster toaster A writer for recordable CD-Rs, especially cheap IDE models ...

cobweb site cobweb site : n. A World Wide Web Site that hasn_t been updated so long it ...

code code 1. n. The stuff that software writers write, either in source form or ...

code grinder code grinder : n. 1. A suit -wearing minion of the sort hired in legion str...

code monkey code monkey : n 1. A person only capable of grinding out code, but unable t...

code police code police : n. [by analogy with George Orwell_s ‘thought policeR...

codes codes : n. [scientific computing] Programs. This usage is common in people ...

codewalker codewalker : n. A program component that traverses other programs for a liv...

coefficient of X coefficient of X : n. Hackish speech makes heavy use of pseudo-mathematical...

cokebottle cokebottle : /kohk´bot·l/ , n. Any very unusual character, particularly o...

cold boot cold boot : n. See boot .

comm mode comm mode : /kom mohd/ , n. [ITS: from the feature supporting on-line chat;...

command key command key : n. [Mac users] Syn. feature key .

comment out comment out : vt. To surround a section of code with comment delimiters or ...

compact compact : adj. Of a design, describes the valuable property that it can all...

compiler jock compiler jock : n. See jock (sense 2).

compo compo : n. [ demoscene ] Finnish-originated slang for ‘competition...

compress compress : vt. [Unix] When used without a qualifier, generally refers to cr...

computer confetti computer confetti : n. Syn. chad . [obs.] Though this term was common at on...

computron computron : /kom´pyoo·tron`/ , n. 1. [common] A notional unit of computin...

con con : n. [from SF fandom] A science-fiction convention. Not used of other s...

condition out condition out : vt. To prevent a section of code from being compiled by sur...

condom condom : n. 1. The protective plastic bag that accompanies 3.5-inch microfl...

confuser confuser : n. Common soundalike slang for ‘computer’. Usually e...

connector conspiracy connector conspiracy : n. [probably came into prominence with the appearanc...

cons cons : /konz/ , /kons/ [from LISP] 1. vt. To add a new element to a specifi...

considered harmful considered harmful : adj. [very common] Edsger W. Dijkstra_s note in the Ma...

console console : n. 1. The operator_s station of a mainframe . In times past, this...

console jockey console jockey : n. See terminal junkie .

content-free content-free : adj. [by analogy with techspeak context-free ] Used of a mes...

control-C control-C : vi. 1. “ Stop whatever you are doing. ” From the in...

control-O control-O : vi. “ Stop talking. ” From the character used on so...

control-Q control-Q : vi. “ Resume. ” From the ASCII DC1 or XON character...

control-S control-S : vi. “ Stop talking for a second. ” From the ASCII D...

cookbook cookbook : n. [from amateur electronics and radio] A book of small code seg...

cooked mode cooked mode : n. [Unix, by opposition from raw mode ] The normal character-...

cookie cookie : n. A handle, transaction ID, or other token of agreement between c...

cookie bear cookie bear : n. obs. Original term, pre-Sesame-Street, for what is now uni...

cookie file cookie file : n. A collection of fortune cookie s in a format that facilita...

cookie jar cookie jar : n. An area of memory set aside for storing cookie s. Most comm...

cookie monster cookie monster : n. [from the children_s TV program Sesame Street ] Any of ...

copious free time copious free time : n. [Apple; orig. fr. the intro to Tom Lehrer_s song It ...

copper copper : n. Conventional electron-carrying network cable with a core conduc...

copy protection copy protection : n. A class of methods for preventing incompetent pirates ...

copybroke copybroke : /kop´ee·brohk/ , adj. 1. [play on copyright ] Used to describ...

copycenter copycenter : n. [play on ‘copyright’ and ‘copyleft’...

copyleft copyleft : /kop´ee·left/ , n. [play on copyright ] 1. The copyright notic...

copyparty copyparty : n. [C64/amiga demoscene ] A computer party organized so demosce...

copywronged copywronged : /kop´ee·rongd/ , adj. [play on copyright ] Syn. for copybro...

core core : n. Main storage or RAM. Dates from the days of ferrite-core memory; ...

core cancer core cancer : n. [rare] A process that exhibits a slow but inexorable resou...

core dump core dump : n. [common Iron Age jargon, preserved by Unix] 1. [techspeak] A...

core leak core leak : n. Syn. memory leak .

cosmic rays cosmic rays : n. Notionally, the cause of bit rot . However, this is a semi...

cough and die cough and die : v. Syn. barf . Connotes that the program is throwing its ha...

courier courier [BBS & cracker cultures] A person who distributes newly cracked...

cow orker cow orker : n. [Usenet] n. fortuitous typo for co-worker, widely used in Us...

cowboy cowboy : n. [Sun, from William Gibson_s cyberpunk SF] Synonym for hacker . ...

crack crack [warez d00dz] 1. v. To break into a system (compare cracker ). 2. v. ...

crack root crack root : v. [very common] To defeat the security system of a Unix machi...

cracker cracker : n. One who breaks security on a system. Coined ca. 1985 by hacker...

cracking cracking : n. [very common] The act of breaking into a computer system; wha...

crank crank : vt. [from automotive slang] Verb used to describe the performance o...

crapplet crapplet : n. [portmanteau, crap + applet] A worthless applet, esp. a Java ...

crash crash 1. n. A sudden, usually drastic failure. Most often said of the syste...

crash and burn crash and burn : vi.,n. A spectacular crash, in the mode of the conclusion ...

crawling horror crawling horror : n. Ancient crufty hardware or software that is kept obsti...

creationism creationism : n. The (false) belief that large, innovative software designs...

creep creep : v. To advance, grow, or multiply inexorably. In hackish usage this ...

creeping elegance creeping elegance : n. Describes a tendency for parts of a design to become...

creeping featurism creeping featurism : /kree´ping fee´chr·izm/ , n. [common] 1. Describes ...

creeping featuritis creeping featuritis : /kree´ping fee_·chr·i:`t@s/ , n. Variant of creepi...

cretin cretin : /kret´in/ , /kree´tn/ , n. Congenital loser ; an obnoxious perso...

cretinous cretinous : /kret´n·@s/ , /kreet´n·@s/ , adj. Wrong; stupid; non-functi...

crippleware crippleware : n. 1. [common] Software that has some important functionality...

critical mass critical mass : n. In physics, the minimum amount of fissionable material r...

crlf crlf : /ker´l@f/ , /kru´l@f/ , /C·R·L·F/ , n. (often capitalized as &#...

crock crock : n. [from the American scatologism crock of shit ] 1. An awkward fea...

cross-post cross-post : vi. [Usenet; very common] To post a single article simultaneou...

crossload crossload : v.,n. [proposed, by analogy with upload and download ] To move ...

crudware crudware : /kruhd´weir/ , n. Pejorative term for the hundreds of megabytes...

cruft cruft : /kruhft/ [very common; back-formation from crufty ] 1. n. An unplea...

cruft together cruft together : vt. (also cruft up ) To throw together something ugly but ...

cruftsmanship cruftsmanship : /kruhfts´m@n·ship / , n. [from cruft ] The antithesis of ...

crufty crufty : /kruhf´tee/ , adj. [very common; origin unknown; poss. from ̵...

crumb crumb : n. Two binary digits; a quad . Larger than a bit , smaller than a n...

crunch crunch 1. vi. To process, usually in a time-consuming or complicated way. C...

cryppie cryppie : /krip´ee/ , n. A cryptographer. One who hacks or implements cryp...

cthulhic cthulhic : /kthool´hik/ , adj. Having the nature of a Cthulhu, the horrifi...

cube cube : n. 1. [short for ‘cubicle’] A module in the open-plan of...

cup holder cup holder : n. The tray of a CD-ROM drive, or by extension the CD drive it...

cursor dipped in X cursor dipped in X : n. There are a couple of metaphors in English of the f...

cuspy cuspy : /kuhs´pee/ , adj. [WPI: from the DEC abbreviation CUSP, for ‘...

cut a tape cut a tape : vi. To write a software or document distribution on magnetic t...

cybercrud cybercrud : /si:´ber·kruhd/ , n. 1. [coined by Ted Nelson] Obfuscatory te...

cyberpunk cyberpunk : /si:´ber·puhnk/ , n.,adj. [orig. by SF writer Bruce Bethke an...

cyberspace cyberspace : /si:´br·spays`/ , n. 1. Notional ‘information-space...

cycle cycle 1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker wants more of ...

cycle of reincarnation cycle of reincarnation : n. See wheel of reincarnation .

cycle server cycle server : n. A powerful machine that exists primarily for running larg...

cypherpunk cypherpunk : n. [from cyberpunk ] Someone interested in the uses of encrypt...

daemon daemon : /day´mn/ , /dee´mn/ , n. [from Maxwell_s Demon, later incorrectl...

daemon book daemon book : n. The Design and Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX Operating...

dahmum dahmum : /dah´mum/ , n. [Usenet] The material of which protracted flame wa...

dancing frog dancing frog : n. [Vancouver area] A problem that occurs on a computer that...

dangling pointer dangling pointer : n. [common] A reference that doesn_t actually lead anywh...

dark-side hacker dark-side hacker : n. A criminal or malicious hacker; a cracker . From Geor...

day mode day mode : n. See phase (sense 1). Used of people only.

dd dd : /dee·dee/ , vt. [Unix: from IBM JCL ] Equivalent to cat or BLT . Orig...

de-rezz de-rezz : /dee·rez´/ [from ‘de-resolve’ via the movie Tron ] ...

dead-tree version dead-tree version [common] A paper version of an on-line document; one prin...

dead dead : adj. 1. Non-functional; down ; crash ed. Especially used of hardware...

dead beef attack dead beef attack : n. [cypherpunks list, 1996] An attack on a public-key cr...

dead code dead code : n. Routines that can never be accessed because all calls to the...

deadlock deadlock : n. 1. [techspeak] A situation wherein two or more processes are ...

deadly embrace deadly embrace : n. Same as deadlock , though usually used only when exactl...

death code death code : n. A routine whose job is to set everything in the computer &#...

decay decay : n.,vi [from nuclear physics] An automatic conversion which is appli...

deckle deckle : /dek´l/ , n. [from dec- and nybble ; the original spelling seems ...

deep hack mode deep hack mode : n. See hack mode .

deep magic deep magic : n. [poss. from C. S. Lewis_s Narnia books] An awesomely arcane...

deep space deep space : n. 1. Describes the notional location of any program that has ...

defenestration defenestration : n. [mythically from a traditional Bohemian assassination m...

defined as defined as : adj. In the role of, usually in an organization-chart sense. &...

deflicted deflicted [portmanteau of “ defective ” and “ afflicted &...

dehose dehose : /dee·hohz/ , vt. To clear a hosed condition.

deletia deletia : n. , /d@·lee´sha/ [USENET; common] In an email reply, material ...

deliminator deliminator : /de·lim_·in·ay·t@r/ , n. [portmanteau, delimiter + elimin...

delint delint : /dee·lint/ , v. obs. To modify code to remove problems detected w...

delta delta : n. 1. [techspeak] A quantitative change, especially a small or incr...

demented demented : adj. Yet another term of disgust used to describe a malfunctioni...

demigod demigod : n. A hacker with years of experience, a world-wide reputation, an...

demo demo : /de´moh/ [short for ‘demonstration’] 1. v. To demonstra...

demo mode demo mode : n. 1. [Sun] The state of being heads down in order to finish co...

demoeffect demoeffect : n. [ demoscene ] 1. What among hackers is called a display hac...

demogroup demogroup : n. [ demoscene ] A group of demo (sense 4) composers. Job title...

demon demon : n. 1. Often used equivalently to daemon — especially in the U...

demon dialer demon dialer : n. A program which repeatedly calls the same telephone numbe...

demoparty demoparty : n. [ demoscene ] Aboveground descendant of the copyparty , with...

demoscene demoscene : /dem´oh·seen/ [also ‘demo scene’] A culture of mu...

dentro dentro : /den´troh/ [ demoscene ] Combination of demo (sense 4) and intro ...

depeditate depeditate : /dee·ped_@·tayt/ , n. [by (faulty) analogy with decapitate ]...

deprecated deprecated : adj. Said of a program or feature that is considered obsolesce...

derf derf : /derf/ [PLATO] 1. v. The act of exploiting a terminal which someone ...

deserves to lose deserves to lose : adj. [common] Said of someone who willfully does the Wro...

despew despew : /d@·spyoo´/ , v. [Usenet] To automatically generate a large amou...

dickless workstation dickless workstation : n. Extremely pejorative hackerism for ‘diskles...

dictionary flame dictionary flame : n. [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from i...

diddle diddle 1. vt. To work with or modify in a not-particularly-serious manner. ...

die die : v. Syn. crash . Unlike crash , which is used primarily of hardware, t...

die horribly die horribly : v. The software equivalent of crash and burn , and the prefe...

diff diff : /dif/ , n. 1. A change listing, especially giving differences betwee...

dike dike : vt. To remove or disable a portion of something, as a wire from a co...

ding ding : n.,vi. 1. Synonym for feep . Usage: rare among hackers, but more com...

dink dink : /dink/ , adj. Said of a machine that has the bitty box nature; a mac...

dinosaur dinosaur : n. 1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special power. ...

dinosaur pen dinosaur pen : n. A traditional mainframe computer room complete with raise...

dinosaurs mating dinosaurs mating : n. Said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy...

dirtball dirtball : n. [XEROX PARC] A small, perhaps struggling outsider; not in the...

dirty power dirty power : n. Electrical mains voltage that is unfriendly to the delicat...

disclaimer disclaimer : n. [Usenet] Statement ritually appended to many Usenet posting...

disemvowel disemvowel : v. [USENET: play on ‘disembowel’] Less common syno...

disk farm disk farm : n. A large room or rooms filled with disk drives (esp. washing ...

display hack display hack : n. A program with the same approximate purpose as a kaleidos...

dispress dispress : vt. [contraction of ‘Dissociated Press’ due to eight...

distribution distribution : n. 1. A software source tree packaged for distribution; but ...

distro distro : n. Synonym for distribution , sense 1.

disusered disusered : adj. [Usenet] Said of a person whose account on a computer has ...

do protocol do protocol : vi. [from network protocol programming] To perform an interac...

doc doc : /dok/ , n. Common spoken and written shorthand for ‘documentati...

documentation documentation : n. The multiple kilograms of macerated, pounded, steamed, b...

dodgy dodgy : adj. Syn. with flaky . Preferred outside the U.S.

dogcow dogcow : /dog´kow/ , n. See Moof . The dogcow is a semi-legendary creature...

dogfood dogfood : n. [Microsoft, Netscape] Interim software used internally for tes...

dogpile dogpile : v. [Usenet: prob. fr. mainstream “ puppy pile ”] When...

dogwash dogwash : /dog´wosh/ [From a quip in the ‘urgency’ field of a ...

dongle-disk dongle-disk : /don´gl disk/ , n. A special floppy disk that is required in...

dongle dongle : /dong´gl/ , n. 1. [now obs.] A security or copy protection device...

doorstop doorstop : n. Used to describe equipment that is non-functional and halfway...

dot file dot file : n. A file that is not visible by default to normal directory-bro...

double bucky double bucky : adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys. “ The command ...

doubled sig doubled sig : n. A sig block that has been included twice in a Usenet artic...

down down 1. adj. Not operating. “ The up escalator is down ” is con...

download download : vt. To transfer data or (esp.) code from a far-away system (espe...

dragon dragon : n. [MIT] A program similar to a daemon , except that it is not inv...

drain drain : v. [IBM] Syn. for flush (sense 2). Has a connotation of finality ab...

dread high-bit disease dread high-bit disease : n. A condition endemic to some now-obsolete comput...

dread questionmark disease dread questionmark disease n. The result of saving HTML from Microsoft Word...

driver driver : n. 1. The main loop of an event-processing program; the code that ...

droid droid : n. [from android , SF terminology for a humanoid robot of essential...

drone drone : n. Ignorant sales or customer service personnel in computer or elec...

drool-proof paper drool-proof paper : n. Documentation that has been obsessively dumbed down ...

drop-ins drop-ins : n. [prob.: by analogy with drop-outs ] Spurious characters appea...

drop-outs drop-outs : n. 1. A variety of power glitch (see glitch ); momentary 0 volt...

drop on the floor drop on the floor : vt. To react to an error condition by silently discardi...

drugged drugged : adj. (also on drugs ) 1. Conspicuously stupid, heading toward bra...

drum drum : n. Ancient techspeak term referring to slow, cylindrical magnetic me...

drunk mouse syndrome drunk mouse syndrome : n. (also mouse on drugs ) A malady exhibited by the ...

dub dub dub dub dub dub [common] Spoken-only shorthand for the “ www ” (dou...

dumb terminal dumb terminal : n. A terminal that is one step above a glass tty , having a...

dumbass attack dumbass attack : /duhm´as @·tak´/ , n. [Purdue] Notional cause of a novi...

dumbed down dumbed down : adj. Simplified, with a strong connotation of over simplified...

dump dump : n. 1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information about a probl...

dumpster diving dumpster diving : /dump_·ster di:´·ving/ , n. 1. The practice of sifting...

dusty deck dusty deck : n. Old software (especially applications) which one is obliged...

dynner dynner : /din´r/ , n. 32 bits, by analogy with nybble and byte . Usage: ra...

eat flaming death eat flaming death : imp. A construction popularized among hackers by the in...

ed ed : n. “ ed is the standard text editor. ” Line taken from the...

egg egg : n. The binary code that is the payload for buffer overflow and format...

egosurf egosurf : vi. To search the net for your name or links to your web pages. P...

eighty-column mind eighty-column mind : n. [IBM] The sort said to be possessed by persons for ...

elder days elder days : n. The heroic age of hackerdom (roughly, pre-1980); the era of...

elegant elegant : adj. [common; from mathematical usage] Combining simplicity, powe...

elephantine elephantine : adj. Used of programs or systems that are both conspicuous ho...

elevator controller elevator controller : n. An archetypal dumb embedded-systems application, l...

elite elite : adj. Clueful. Plugged-in. One of the cognoscenti. Also used as a ge...

elvish elvish : n. 1. The Tengwar of Feanor, a table of letterforms resembling the...

email email : /ee´mayl/ (also written ‘e-mail’ and ‘E-mailR...

emoticon emoticon : /ee·moh´ti·kon/ , n. [common] An ASCII glyph used to indicate...

empire empire : n. Any of a family of military simulations derived from a game wri...

engine engine : n. 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can_...

enhancement enhancement : n. Common marketroid -speak for a bug fix . This abuse of lan...

epoch epoch : n. [Unix: prob.: from astronomical timekeeping] The time and date c...

epsilon epsilon [see delta ] 1. n. A small quantity of anything. “ The cost i...

epsilon squared epsilon squared : n. A quantity even smaller than epsilon , as small in com...

era era : n. Syn. epoch . Webster_s Unabridged makes these words almost synonym...

erotics erotics : /ee·ro´tiks/ , n. [Helsinki University of Technology, Finland] ...

error 33 error 33 : n. 1. [XEROX PARC] Predicating one research effort upon the succ...

eurodemo eurodemo : /yoor´o·dem`·o/ a demo , sense 4

evil evil : adj. As used by hackers, implies that some system, program, person, ...

evil and rude evil and rude : adj. Both evil and rude , but with the additional connotati...

exa- exa- : /ek´s@/ , pref. [SI] See quantifiers .

examining the entrails examining the entrails : n. The process of grovel ling through a core dump ...

excl excl : /eks´kl/ , n. Abbreviation for ‘exclamation point’. See...

exec exec : /eg·zek´/ , /eks´ek/ , n. 1. [Unix: from execute ] Synonym for ch...

exercise_ left as an exercise, left as an : adj. [from technical books] Used to complete a proof...

exploit exploit : n. [originally cracker slang] 1. A vulnerability in software that...

external memory external memory : n. A memo pad, palmtop computer, or written notes. “...

eye candy eye candy : /i:´ kand`ee/ , n. [from mainstream slang “ ear candy &#...

eyeball search eyeball search : n.,v. To look for something in a mass of code or data with...

face time face time : n. [common] Time spent interacting with somebody face-to-face (...

factor factor : n. See coefficient of X .

fairings fairings : n. , /fer´ingz/ [FreeBSD; orig. a typo for fairness ] A term th...

fall over fall over : vi. [IBM] Yet another synonym for crash or lose . ‘Fall o...

fall through fall through : v. (n. fallthrough , var.: fall-through ) 1. To exit a loop ...

fan fan : n. Without qualification, indicates a fan of science fiction, especia...

fandango on core fandango on core : n. [Unix/C hackers, from the Iberian dance] In C, a wild...

faradize faradize : /far_@·di:z/ , v. [US Geological Survey] To start any hyper-add...

farkled farkled : /far´kld/ , adj. [DeVry Institute of Technology, Atlanta] Syn. h...

farm farm : n. A group of machines, especially a large group of near-identical m...

fascist fascist : adj. 1. [common] Said of a computer system with excessive or anno...

fat-finger fat-finger : vt. 1. To introduce a typo while editing in such a way that th...

fat electrons fat electrons : n. Old-time hacker David Cargill_s theory on the causation ...

fat pipe fat pipe A high-bandwidth connection to the Internet. When the term gained ...

faulty faulty : adj. Non-functional; buggy. Same denotation as bletcherous , losin...

fear and loathing fear and loathing : n. [from Hunter S. Thompson] A state inspired by the pr...

feature feature : n. 1. [common] A good property or behavior (as of a program). Whe...

feature creature feature creature : n. [poss. fr. slang ‘creature feature’ for a...

feature creep feature creep : n. [common] The result of creeping featurism , as in “...

feature key feature key : n. [common] The Macintosh key with the cloverleaf graphic on ...

feature shock feature shock : n. [from Alvin Toffler_s book title Future Shock ] A user_s...

featurectomy featurectomy : /fee`ch@r·ek´t@·mee/ , n. The act of removing a feature f...

feep feep : /feep/ 1. n. The soft electronic ‘bell’ sound of a displ...

feeper feeper : /fee´pr/ , n. The device in a terminal or workstation (usually a ...

feeping creature feeping creature : n. [from feeping creaturism ] An unnecessary feature; a ...

feeping creaturism feeping creaturism : /fee´ping kree`ch@r·izm/ , n. A deliberate spooneris...

feetch feetch feetch feetch : /feech feech/ , interj. If someone tells you about some new...

fence fence n. 1. A sequence of one or more distinguished ( out-of-band ) charact...

fencepost error fencepost error : n. 1. [common] A problem with the discrete equivalent of ...

fiber-seeking backhoe fiber-seeking backhoe [common among backbone ISP personnel] Any of a genus ...

field circus field circus : n. [a derogatory pun on ‘field service’] The fie...

field servoid field servoid : /fee´ld ser´voyd/ , n. [play on ‘android’] Re...

file signature file signature : n. A magic number , sense 3.

filk filk : /filk/ , n.,v. [from SF fandom, where a typo for ‘folk’ ...

film at 11 film at 11 [MIT: in parody of TV newscasters] 1. Used in conversation to an...

filter filter : n. [very common; orig. Unix ] A program that processes an input da...

fine fine : adj. [WPI] Good, but not good enough to be cuspy . The word fine is ...

finger-pointing syndrome finger-pointing syndrome : n. All-too-frequent result of bugs, esp. in new ...

finger finger [WAITS, via BSD Unix] 1. n. A program that displays information abou...

finger trouble finger trouble : n. Mistyping, typos, or generalized keyboard incompetence ...

finn finn : v. [IRC] To pull rank on somebody based on the amount of time one ha...

firebottle firebottle : n.obs. A large, primitive, power-hungry active electrical devi...

firefighting firefighting : n. 1. What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden operationa...

firehose syndrome firehose syndrome : n. In mainstream folklore it is observed that trying to...

firewall code firewall code : n. 1. The code you put in a system (say, a telephone switch...

firewall machine firewall machine : n. A dedicated gateway machine with special security pre...

fireworks mode fireworks mode : n. 1. The mode a machine is sometimes said to be in when i...

firmware firmware : /ferm´weir/ , n. Embedded software contained in EPROM or flash ...

fish fish : n. [Adelaide University, Australia] 1. Another metasyntactic variabl...

fisking fisking : n. [blogosphere; very common] A point-by-point refutation of a bl...

fix fix : n.,v. What one does when a problem has been reported too many times t...

flag flag : n. [very common] A variable or quantity that can take on one of two ...

flag day flag day : n. A software change that is neither forward- nor backward-compa...

flaky flaky : adj. (var sp. flakey ) Subject to frequent lossage . This use is of...

flamage flamage : /flay_m@j/ , n. [very common] Flaming verbiage, esp. high-noise, ...

flame flame [at MIT, orig. from the phrase flaming asshole ] 1. vi. To post an em...

flame bait flame bait : n. [common] A posting intended to trigger a flame war , or one...

flame on flame on : interj. 1. To begin to flame . The punning reference to Marvel C...

flame war flame war : n. [common] (var.: flamewar ) An acrimonious dispute, especiall...

flamer flamer : n. [common] One who habitually flame s. Said esp. of obnoxious Use...

flap flap : vt. 1. [obs.] To unload a DECtape (so it goes flap, flap, flap...). ...

flarp flarp : /flarp/ , n. [Rutgers University] Yet another metasyntactic variabl...

flash crowd flash crowd Larry Niven_s 1973 SF short story Flash Crowd predicted that on...

flat-ASCII flat-ASCII : adj. [common] Said of a text file that contains only 7-bit ASC...

flat-file flat-file : adj. A flatten ed representation of some database or tree or ne...

flat flat : adj. 1. [common] Lacking any complex internal structure. “ Tha...

flatten flatten : vt. [common] To remove structural information, esp. to filter som...

flavor flavor : n. 1. [common] Variety, type, kind. “ DDT commands come in t...

flavorful flavorful : adj. Full of flavor (sense 2); esthetically pleasing. See rando...

flippy flippy : /flip´ee/ , n. A single-sided floppy disk altered for double-side...

flood flood : v. [common] 1. To overwhelm a network channel with mechanically-gen...

flowchart flowchart : n. [techspeak] An archaic form of visual control-flow specifica...

flower key flower key : n. [Mac users] See feature key .

flush flush : v. 1. [common] To delete something, usually superfluous, or to abor...

flypage flypage : /fli:´payj/ , n. (alt.: fly page ) A banner , sense 1.

flytrap flytrap : n. [rare] See firewall machine .

fnord fnord : n. [from the Illuminatus Trilogy ] 1. A word used in email and news...

fold case fold case : v. See smash case . This term tends to be used more by people w...

followup followup : n. [common] On Usenet, a posting generated in response to anothe...

fontology fontology : n. [XEROX PARC] The body of knowledge dealing with the construc...

foo foo : /foo/ 1. interj. Term of disgust. 2. [very common] Used very generall...

foobar foobar : n. [very common] Another widely used metasyntactic variable ; see ...

fool fool : n. As used by hackers, specifically describes a person who habituall...

fool file fool file : n. [Usenet] A notional repository of all the most dramatically ...

footprint footprint : n. 1. The floor or desk area taken up by a piece of hardware. 2...

for free for free : adj. [common] Said of a capability of a programming language or ...

for the rest of us for the rest of us : adj. [from the Mac slogan “ The computer for the...

for values of for values of [MIT] A common rhetorical maneuver at MIT is to use any of th...

fora fora : pl.n. Plural of forum .

foreground foreground : vt. [Unix; common] To bring a task to the top of one_s stack f...

fork fork In the open-source community, a fork is what occurs when two (or more)...

fork bomb fork bomb : n. [Unix] A particular species of wabbit that can be written in...

forked forked : adj.,vi. 1. [common after 1997, esp. in the Linux community] An op...

fortune cookie fortune cookie : n. [WAITS, via Unix; common] A random quote, item of trivi...

forum forum : n. [Usenet, GEnie, CI$; pl. fora or forums ] Any discussion group a...

fossil fossil : n. 1. In software, a misfeature that becomes understandable only i...

four-color glossies four-color glossies : n. 1. Literature created by marketroid s that alleged...

frag frag : n.,v. [from Vietnam-era U.S. military slang via the games Doom and Q...

fragile fragile : adj. Syn brittle .

fred fred : n. 1. The personal name most frequently used as a metasyntactic vari...

frednet frednet : /fred´net/ , n. Used to refer to some random and uncommon protoc...

free software free software : n. As defined by Richard M. Stallman and used by the Free S...

freeware freeware : n. [common] Freely-redistributable software, often written by en...

freeze freeze : v. To lock an evolving software distribution or document against c...

fried fried : adj. 1. [common] Non-working due to hardware failure; burnt out. Es...

frink frink : /frink/ , v. The unknown ur-verb, fill in your own meaning. Found e...

friode friode : /fri:´ohd/ , n. [TMRC] A reversible (that is, fused or blown) dio...

fritterware fritterware : n. An excess of capability that serves no productive end. The...

frob frob : /frob/ 1. n. [MIT; very common] The TMRC definition was “ FROB...

frobnicate frobnicate : /frob´ni·kayt/ , vt. [Poss. derived from frobnitz , and usua...

frobnitz frobnitz : /frob´nits/ , pl. , frobnitzem , /frob´nit·zm/ , frob­ni , /...

frog frog : phrog 1. interj. Term of disgust (we seem to have a lot of them). 2....

frogging frogging : v. 1. Partial corruption of a text file or input stream by some ...

front end front end : n. 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up and filtering f...

frotz frotz : /frots/ 1. n. See frobnitz . 2. mumble frotz : An interjection of m...

frotzed frotzed : /frotst/ , adj. To be down because of hardware problems. Compare ...

frowney frowney : n. (alt.: frowney face ) See emoticon .

fry fry 1. vi. To fail. Said especially of smoke-producing hardware failures. M...

fscking fscking : /fus_·king/ , /eff_·seek·ing/ , adj. [Usenet; very common] Fuc...

fuck me harder fuck me harder : excl. Sometimes uttered in response to egregious misbehavi...

fudge fudge 1. vt. To perform in an incomplete but marginally acceptable way, par...

fudge factor fudge factor : n. [common] A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc...

fuel up fuel up : vi. To eat or drink hurriedly in order to get back to hacking. &#...

fum fum : n. [XEROX PARC] At PARC, often the third of the standard metasyntacti...

functino functino : n. [uncommon, U.K.; originally a serendipitous typo in 1994] A p...

funky funky : adj. Said of something that functions, but in a slightly strange, k...

funny money funny money : n. 1. Notional ‘dollar’ units of computing time a...

furrfu furrfu : excl. [Usenet; written, only rarely spoken] Written-only equivalen...

gang bang gang bang : n. The use of large numbers of loosely coupled programmers in a...

garbage collect garbage collect : vi. (also garbage collection , n.) See GC .

garply garply : /gar´plee/ , n. [Stanford] Another metasyntactic variable (see fo...

gas gas [as in ‘gas chamber’] 1. interj. A term of disgust and hatr...

gawble gawble : /gaw´bl/ , n. See chawmp .

gedanken gedanken : /g@·dahn´kn/ , adj. Ungrounded; impractical; not well-thought-...

geef geef : v. [ostensibly from ‘gefingerpoken’] vt. Syn. mung . See...

geek geek : n. A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one...

geek code geek code : n. (also “ Code of the Geeks ”). A set of codes com...

geek out geek out : vi. To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a non-hackish...

geekasm geekasm Originally from a quote on the PBS show Scientific American Frontie...

gen gen : /jen/ , n.,v. Short for generate , used frequently in both spoken and...

gender mender gender mender : n. [common] A cable connector shell with either two male or...

generate generate : vt. To produce something according to an algorithm or program or...

gensym gensym : /jen´sim/ [from MacLISP for generated symbol ] 1. v. To invent a ...

gib gib : /jib/ 1. vi. To destroy utterly. Like frag , but much more violent an...

gig gig : /jig/ , /gig/ , n. [SI] See quantifiers .

giga- giga- : /ji´ga/ , /gi´ga/ , pref. [SI] See quantifiers .

gilley gilley : n. [Usenet] The unit of analogical bogosity . According to its ori...

gillion gillion : /gil´y@n/ , /jil´y@n/ , n. [formed from giga- by analogy with m...

ginger ginger : n. See saga .

glark glark : /glark/ , vt. To figure something out from context. “ The Sys...

glass glass : n. [IBM] Synonym for silicon .

glass tty glass tty : /glas T·T·Y/ , /glas ti´tee/ , n. [obs.] A terminal that has...

glassfet glassfet : /glas´fet/ , n. [by analogy with MOSFET, the acronym for Metal-...

glitch glitch : /glich/ [very common; from German ‘glitschig’ slippery...

glob glob : /glob/ , not , /glohb/ , v.,n. [Unix; common] To expand special char...

glork glork : /glork/ 1. interj. Term of mild surprise, usually tinged with outra...

glue glue : n. Generic term for any interface logic or protocol that connects tw...

gnarly gnarly : /nar´lee/ , adj. Both obscure and hairy (sense 1). “ Yow! &...

gnubie gnubie : /noo´bee/ , n. Written-only variant of newbie in common use on IR...

go-faster stripes go-faster stripes : n. [UK] Syn. chrome . Mainstream in some parts of UK.

go flatline go flatline : v. [from cyberpunk SF, refers to flattening of EEG traces upo...

go gold go gold : v. [common] See golden .

go root go root : vi. [Unix; common] To temporarily enter root mode in order to per...

goat file goat file A sacrificial file used to test a computer virus, i.e. a dummy ex...

gobble gobble : vt. 1. To consume, usu.: used with ‘up’. “ The o...

golden golden : adj. [prob.: from folklore_s ‘golden egg’] When used t...

golf-ball printer golf-ball printer : n. obs. The IBM 2741, a slow but letter-quality printin...

gonk gonk : /gonk/ , vi.,n. 1. [prob. back-formed from gonkulator .] To prevaric...

gonkulator gonkulator : /gon´kyoo·lay·tr/ , n. [common; from the 1960s Hogan_s Hero...

gonzo gonzo : /gon´zoh/ , adj. [from Hunter S. Thompson] 1. With total commitmen...

google google : v. [common] To search the Web using the Google search engine, http...

google juice google juice : n. A hypothetical substance which attracts the index bots of...

gopher gopher : n. [obs.] A type of Internet service first floated around 1991 and...

gopher hole gopher hole : n. 1. Any access to a gopher . 2. [Amateur Packet Radio] The ...

gorets gorets : /gor´ets/ , n. The unknown ur-noun, fill in your own meaning. Fou...

gorilla arm gorilla arm : n. The side-effect that destroyed touch-screens as a mainstre...

gorp gorp : /gorp/ , n. [CMU: perhaps from the canonical hiker_s food, Good Old ...

gotcha gotcha : n. A misfeature of a system, especially a programming language or ...

gray goo gray goo : n. A hypothetical substance composed of sagan s of sub-micron-si...

gray hat gray hat See black hat .

great-wall great-wall : vi.,n. [from SF fandom] A mass expedition to an oriental resta...

green bytes green bytes : n. (also green words ) 1. Meta-information embedded in a file...

green card green card : n. [after the IBM System/360 Reference Data card] A summary of...

green lightning green lightning : n. [IBM] 1. Apparently random flashing streaks on the fac...

green machine green machine : n. A computer or peripheral device that has been designed a...

greenbar greenbar : n. A style of fanfolded continuous-feed paper with alternating g...

grep grep : /grep/ , vi. [from the qed/ed editor idiom g/ re /p, where re stands...

gribble gribble : n. Random binary data rendered as unreadable text. Noise characte...

grilf grilf : // , n. Girlfriend. Like newsfroup and filk , a typo reincarnated a...

grind grind : vt. 1. [MIT and Berkeley; now rare] To prettify hardcopy of code, e...

grind crank grind crank : n. , // A mythical accessory to a terminal. A crank on the si...

gritch gritch : /grich/ [MIT] 1. n. A complaint (often caused by a glitch ). 2. vi...

grok grok : /grok/ , /grohk/ , vt. [common; from the novel Stranger in a Strange...

gronk gronk : /gronk/ , vt. [popularized by Johnny Hart_s comic strip B.C.: but t...

gronk out gronk out : vi. To cease functioning. Of people, to go home and go to sleep...

gronked gronked : adj. 1. Broken. “ The teletype scanner was gronked, so we t...

grovel grovel : vi. 1. To work interminably and without apparent progress. Often u...

grue grue : n. [from archaic English verb for shudder , as with fear] The grue w...

grunge grunge : /gruhnj/ , n. 1. That which is grungy, or that which makes it so. ...

gubbish gubbish : /guhb_@sh/ , n. [a portmanteau of ‘garbage’ and ̵...

guiltware guiltware : /gilt´weir/ , n. 1. A piece of freeware decorated with a messa...

gumby gumby : /guhm´bee/ , n. [from a class of Monty Python characters, poss. wi...

gunch gunch : /guhnch/ , vt. [TMRC] To push, prod, or poke at a device that has a...

gunpowder chicken gunpowder chicken : n. Same as laser chicken .

guru guru : n. [Unix] An expert. Implies not only wizard skill but also a histor...

guru meditation guru meditation : n. Amiga equivalent of panic in Unix (sometimes just call...

gweep gweep : /gweep/ [WPI] 1. v. To hack , usually at night. At WPI, from 1975 o...

h h [from SF fandom] A method of ‘marking’ common words, i.e., ca...

ha ha only serious ha ha only serious [from SF fandom, orig. as mutation of HHOK, ‘Ha Ha...

hack hack [very common] 1. n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is need...

hack attack hack attack : n. [poss. by analogy with ‘Big Mac Attack’ from a...

hack mode hack mode : n. 1. What one is in when hacking, of course. 2. More specifica...

hack on hack on : vt. [very common] To hack ; implies that the subject is some pre-...

hack together hack together : vt. [common] To throw something together so it will work. U...

hack up hack up : vt. To hack , but generally implies that the result is a hack in ...

hack value hack value : n. Often adduced as the reason or motivation for expending eff...

hacked off hacked off : adj. [analogous to ‘pissed off’] Said of system ad...

hacked up hacked up : adj. Sufficiently patched, kluged, and tweaked that the surgica...

hacker hacker : n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A pers...

hacker ethic hacker ethic : n. 1. The belief that information-sharing is a powerful posi...

hacker humor hacker humor A distinctive style of shared intellectual humor found among h...

hacking run hacking run : n. [analogy with ‘bombing run’ or ‘speed ru...

hackish hackish : /hak´ish/ , adj. (also hackishness n.) 1. Said of something that...

hackishness hackishness : n. The quality of being or involving a hack. This term is con...

hackitude hackitude : n. Syn. hackishness ; this word is considered sillier.

hair hair : n. [back-formation from hairy ] The complications that make somethin...

hairball hairball : n. 1. [Fidonet] A large batch of messages that a store-and-forwa...

hairy hairy : adj. 1. Annoyingly complicated. “ DWIM is incredibly hairy. &...

hakspek hakspek : /hak´speek/ , n. A shorthand method of spelling found on many Br...

ham ham The opposite of spam , sense 3; that is, incoming mail that the user ac...

hammer hammer : vt. Commonwealth hackish syn. for bang on .

hamster hamster : n. 1. [Fairchild] A particularly slick little piece of code that ...

hand-hacking hand-hacking : n. 1. [rare] The practice of translating hot spot s from an ...

hand-roll hand-roll : v. [from obs. mainstream slang hand-rolled in opposition to rea...

hand cruft hand cruft : vt. [pun on ‘hand craft’] See cruft , sense 3.

handle handle : n. 1. [from CB slang] An electronic pseudonym; a nom de guerre int...

handshaking handshaking : n. [very common] Hardware or software activity designed to st...

handwave handwave : /hand´wayv/ [poss. from gestures characteristic of stage magici...

hang hang : v. 1. [very common] To wait for an event that will never occur. R...

happily happily : adv. Of software, used to emphasize that a program is unaware of ...

hard boot hard boot : n. See boot .

hardcoded hardcoded : adj. 1. [common] Said of data inserted directly into a program,...

hardwarily hardwarily : /hard·weir_@·lee/ , adv. In a way pertaining to hardware. &#...

hardwired hardwired : adj. 1. In software, syn. for hardcoded . 2. By extension, anyt...

has the X nature has the X nature [seems to derive from Zen Buddhist koans of the form ̶...

hash bucket hash bucket : n. A notional receptacle, a set of which might be used to app...

hash collision hash collision : n. [from the techspeak] (var.: hash clash ) When used of p...

hat hat : n. Common (spoken) name for the circumflex (‘^’, ASCII 10...

heads down heads down : adj. Concentrating, usually so heavily and for so long that ev...

heartbeat heartbeat : n. 1. The signal emitted by a Level 2 Ethernet transceiver at t...

heatseeker heatseeker : n. [IBM] A customer who can be relied upon to buy, without fai...

heavy metal heavy metal : n. [Cambridge] Syn. big iron .

heavy wizardry heavy wizardry : n. Code or designs that trade on a particularly intimate k...

heavyweight heavyweight : adj. [common] High-overhead; baroque ; code-intensive; featur...

heisenbug heisenbug : /hi:´zen·buhg/ , n. [from Heisenberg_s Uncertainty Principle ...

hell desk hell desk Common mispronunciation of ‘help desk’, especially am...

hello_ wall! hello, wall! : excl. See wall .

hello sailor! hello sailor! : interj. Occasional West Coast equivalent of hello world ; s...

hello world hello world : interj. 1. The canonical minimal test message in the C/Unix u...

hex hex : n. 1. Short for hexadecimal , base 16. 2. A 6-pack of anything (compa...

hexadecimal hexadecimal : n. Base 16. Coined in the early 1950s to replace earlier sexa...

hexit hexit : /hek´sit/ , n. A hexadecimal digit (0-9, and A-F or a-f). Used by ...

hidden flag hidden flag : n. [scientific computation] An extra option added to a routin...

high bit high bit : n. [from high-order bit ] 1. The most significant bit in a byte....

high moby high moby : /hi:´ mohb´ee/ , n. The high half of a 512K PDP-10 _s physica...

highly highly : adv. [scientific computation] The preferred modifier for overstati...

hing hing : // , n. [IRC] Fortuitous typo for ‘hint’, now in wide in...

hired gun hired gun : n. A contract programmer, as opposed to a full-time staff membe...

hirsute hirsute : adj. Occasionally used humorously as a synonym for hairy .

hoarding hoarding : n. See software hoarding .

hog hog : n.,vt. 1. Favored term to describe programs or hardware that seem to ...

hole hole : n. A region in an otherwise flat entity which is not actually presen...

hollised hollised : /hol´ist/ , adj. [Usenet: sci.space ] To be hollised is to have...

holy penguin pee holy penguin pee : n. [Linux] Notional substance said to be sprinkled by Li...

holy wars holy wars : n. [from Usenet , but may predate it; common] n. flame war s ov...

home box home box : n. A hacker_s personal machine, especially one he or she owns. &...

home machine home machine : n. 1. Syn. home box . 2. The machine that receives your emai...

home page home page : n. 1. One_s personal billboard on the World Wide Web. The term ...

honey pot honey pot : n. 1. A box designed to attract cracker s so that they can be o...

hook hook : n. A software or hardware feature included in order to simplify late...

hop hop 1. n. [common] One file transmission in a series required to get a file...

horked horked : adj. Broken. Confused. Trashed. Now common; seems to be post-1995....

hose hose 1. vt. [common] To make non-functional or greatly degraded in performa...

hosed hosed : adj. Same as down . Used primarily by Unix hackers. Humorous: also ...

hot chat hot chat : n. Sexually explicit one-on-one chat. See teledildonics .

hot spot hot spot : n. 1. [primarily used by C/Unix programmers, but spreading] It i...

hotlink hotlink : /hot´link/ , n. A hot spot on a World Wide Web page; an area, wh...

house wizard house wizard : n. [prob.: from ad-agency tradetalk, ‘house freak̵...

huff huff : v. To compress data using a Huffman code. Various programs that use ...

hung hung : adj. [from ‘hung up’; common] Equivalent to wedged , but...

hungry puppy hungry puppy : n. Syn. slopsucker .

hungus hungus : /huhng´g@s/ , adj. [perhaps related to slang ‘humongousR...

hyperspace hyperspace : /hi:´per·spays/ , n. A memory location that is far away from...

hysterical reasons hysterical reasons : n. (also hysterical raisins ) A variant on the stock p...

ice ice : n. [coined by Usenetter Tom Maddox, popularized by William Gibson_s c...

idempotent idempotent : adj. [from mathematical techspeak] Acting as if used only once...

ifdef out ifdef out : /if´def owt/ , v. Syn. for condition out , specific to C .

ill-behaved ill-behaved : adj. 1. [numerical analysis] Said of an algorithm or computat...

in the extreme in the extreme : adj. A preferred superlative suffix for many hackish terms...

incantation incantation : n. Any particularly arbitrary or obscure command that one mus...

include include : vt. [Usenet] 1. To duplicate a portion (or whole) of another_s me...

include war include war : n. Excessive multi-leveled inclusion within a discussion thre...

indent style indent style : n. [C, C++, and Java programmers] The rules one uses to inde...

index of X index of X : n. See coefficient of X .

infant mortality infant mortality : n. It is common lore among hackers (and in the electroni...

infinite infinite : adj. [common] Consisting of a large number of objects; extreme. ...

infinite loop infinite loop : n. One that never terminates (that is, the machine spin s o...

infinity infinity : n. 1. The largest value that can be represented in a particular ...

inflate inflate : vt. To decompress or puff a file. Rare among Internet hackers, us...

initgame initgame : /in·it´gaym/ , n. [IRC] An IRC version of the trivia game R...

insanely great insanely great : adj. [Mac community, from Steve Jobs; also BSD Unix people...

installfest installfest [Linux community since c.1998] Common portmanteau word for R...

interesting interesting : adj. In hacker parlance, this word has strong connotations of...

interrupt interrupt 1. [techspeak] n. On a computer, an event that interrupts normal ...

interrupts locked out interrupts locked out : adj. When someone is ignoring you. In a restaurant,...

intertwingled intertwingled adj. [Invented by Theodor Holm Nelson, prob. a blend of ̶...

intro intro : n. [ demoscene ] Introductory screen of some production. 2. A short...

iron iron : n. Hardware, especially older and larger hardware of mainframe class...

iron box iron box : n. [Unix/Internet] A special environment set up to trap a cracke...

ironmonger ironmonger : n. [IBM] A hardware specialist (derogatory). Compare sandbende...

jack in jack in : v. To log on to a machine or connect to a network or BBS , esp. f...

jaggies jaggies : /jag´eez/ , n. The ‘stairstep’ effect observable whe...

jello jello : n. [Usenet: by analogy with spam ] A message that is both excessive...

jibble jibble [UK] Unspecified stuff. An unspecified action. A deliberately blank ...

jiffy jiffy : n. 1. The duration of one tick of the system clock on your computer...

job security job security : n. When some piece of code is written in a particularly obsc...

jock jock : n. 1. A programmer who is characterized by large and somewhat brute-...

joe-job joe-job : n., vt. A spam run forged to appear as though it came from an inn...

joe code joe code : /joh´ kohd`/ , n. 1. Code that is overly tense and unmaintainab...

juggling eggs juggling eggs : vi. Keeping a lot of state in your head while modifying a p...

juice juice : n. The weight of a given node in some sort of graph (like a web of ...

jump off into never-never land jump off into never-never land : v. [from J. M. Barrie_s Peter Pan ] An une...

jupiter jupiter : vt. [IRC] To kill an IRC bot or user and then take its place by a...

k- k- : pref. [rare; poss fr. kilo- prefix] Extremely. Rare among hackers, but...

kahuna kahuna : /k@·hoo´n@/ , n. [IBM: from the Hawaiian title for a shaman] Syn...

kamikaze packet kamikaze packet : n. The ‘official’ jargon for what is more com...

kangaroo code kangaroo code : n. Syn. spaghetti code .

ken ken : /ken/ , n. 1. [Unix] Ken Thompson, principal inventor of Unix. In the...

kernel-of-the-week club kernel-of-the-week club The fictional society that BSD bigot s claim Linux ...

kgbvax kgbvax : /K·G·B´vaks/ , n. See kremvax .

kiboze kiboze : v. [Usenet] To grep the Usenet news for a string, especially with ...

kibozo kibozo : /ki:·boh´zoh/ , n. [Usenet] One who kiboze s but is not Kibo (se...

kick kick : v. 1. [IRC] To cause somebody to be removed from a IRC channel, an o...

kill file kill file : n. [Usenet; very common] (alt.: KILL file ) Per-user file(s) us...

killer app killer app The application that actually makes a sustaining market for a pr...

killer micro killer micro : n. [popularized by Eugene Brooks c.1990] A microprocessor-ba...

killer poke killer poke : n. A recipe for inducing hardware damage on a machine via ins...

kilo- kilo- : pref. [SI] See quantifiers .

kilogoogle kilogoogle : n. The standard unit of measurement for Web search hits: a tho...

kit kit : n. [Usenet; poss.: fr.: DEC slang for a full software distribution, a...

klone klone : /klohn/ , n. See clone , sense 4.

kludge kludge 1. /kluhj/ n. Incorrect (though regrettably common) spelling of klug...

kluge kluge : /klooj/ [from the German ‘klug’, clever; poss. related ...

kluge around kluge around : vt. To avoid a bug or difficult condition by inserting a klu...

kluge up kluge up : vt. To lash together a quick hack to perform a task; this is mil...

knobs knobs : pl.n. Configurable options, even in software and even those you can...

koan koan : /koh´an/ , n. A Zen teaching riddle. Classically, koans are attract...

kook kook [Usenet; originally and more formally, net.kook ] Term used to describ...

kremvax kremvax : /krem·vaks/ , n. [from the then-large number of Usenet VAXen wit...

kyrka kyrka : /chur´ka/ , n. [Swedish] See feature key .

lag lag : n. [MUD, IRC; very common] When used without qualification this is sy...

lamer lamer : n. [originally among Amiga fans] 1. Synonym for luser , not used mu...

language lawyer language lawyer : n. A person, usually an experienced or senior software en...

languages of choice languages of choice : n. C , Perl , Python , Java and LISP — the domi...

larval stage larval stage : n. Describes a period of monomaniacal concentration on codin...

lase lase : /layz/ , vt. To print a given document via a laser printer. “ ...

laser chicken laser chicken : n. Kung Pao Chicken, a standard Chinese dish containing chi...

leaf site leaf site : n. [obs.] Before pervasive TCP/IP, this term was used of a mach...

leak leak : n. With qualifier, one of a class of resource-management bugs that o...

leaky heap leaky heap : n. [Cambridge] An arena with a memory leak .

leapfrog attack leapfrog attack : n. Use of userid and password information obtained illici...

leech leech 1. n. (Also leecher .) Among BBS types, crackers and warez d00dz , on...

leech mode leech mode : n. [warez d00dz] “ Leech mode ” or “ leech a...

legal legal : adj. Loosely used to mean ‘in accordance with all the relevan...

legalese legalese : n. Dense, pedantic verbiage in a language description, product s...

lenna lenna The Internet_s first poster girl, a standard test load used in the im...

let the smoke out let the smoke out : v. To fry hardware (see fried ). See magic smoke for a ...

letterbomb letterbomb 1. n. A piece of email containing live data intended to do nefar...

lexer lexer : /lek´sr/ , n. Common hacker shorthand for lexical analyzer , the i...

life life : n. 1. A cellular-automata game invented by John Horton Conway and fi...

light pipe light pipe : n. Fiber optic cable. Oppose copper .

lightweight lightweight : adj. Opposite of heavyweight ; usually found in combining for...

like kicking dead whales down the beach like kicking dead whales down the beach : adj. Describes a slow, difficult,...

like nailing jelly to a tree like nailing jelly to a tree : adj. Used to describe a task thought to be i...

line 666 line 666 [from Christian eschatological myth] n. The notional line of sourc...

line eater_ the line eater, the : n. obs. 1. [Usenet] A bug in some now-obsolete versions o...

line noise line noise : n. 1. [techspeak] Spurious characters due to electrical noise ...

linearithmic linearithmic : adj. Of an algorithm, having running time that is O(N log N)...

link-dead link-dead : adj. [MUD] The state a player is in when they kill their connec...

link farm link farm : n. [Unix] A directory tree that contains many links to files in...

link rot link rot : n. The natural decay of web links as the sites they_re connected...

lint lint [from Unix_s lint (1) , named for the bits of fluff it supposedly pick...

lion food lion food : n. [IBM] Middle management or HQ staff (or, by extension, admin...

list-bomb list-bomb : v. To mailbomb someone by forging messages causing the victim t...

lithium lick lithium lick : n. [NeXT] Steve Jobs. Employees who have gotten too much att...

little-endian little-endian : adj. Describes a computer architecture in which, within a g...

live live : /li:v/ , adj.,adv. [common] Opposite of ‘test’. Refers t...

live data live data : n. 1. Data that is written to be interpreted and takes over pro...

livelock livelock : /li:v´lok/ , n. A situation in which some critical stage of a t...

liveware liveware : /li:v´weir/ , n. 1. Synonym for wetware . Less common. 2. [Camb...

lobotomy lobotomy : n. 1. What a hacker subjected to formal management training is s...

locals_ the locals, the : pl.n. The users on one_s local network (as opposed, say, to p...

locked and loaded locked and loaded : adj.,obs. [from military slang for an M-16 rifle with m...

locked up locked up : adj. Syn. for hung , wedged .

logic bomb logic bomb : n. Code surreptitiously inserted into an application or OS tha...

logical logical : adj. [from the technical term logical device , wherein a physical...

loop through loop through : vt. To process each element of a list of things. “ Hol...

loose bytes loose bytes : n. Commonwealth hackish term for the padding bytes or shim s ...

lord high fixer lord high fixer : n. [primarily British, from Gilbert & Sullivan_s R...

lose lose : vi. 1. [very common] To fail. A program loses when it encounters an ...

lose lose lose lose : interj. A reply to or comment on an undesirable situation. R...

loser loser : n. An unexpectedly bad situation, program, programmer, or person. S...

losing losing : adj. Said of anything that is or causes a lose or lossage . “...

loss loss : n. Something (not a person) that loses; a situation in which somethi...

lossage lossage : /los_@j/ , n. [very common] The result of a bug or malfunction. T...

lossy lossy : adj. [Usenet] 1. Said of people, this indicates a poor memory, usua...

lost in the noise lost in the noise : adj. Syn. lost in the underflow . This term is from sig...

lost in the underflow lost in the underflow : adj. Too small to be worth considering; more specif...

lots of MIPS but no I/O lots of MIPS but no I/O : adj. Used to describe a person who is technically...

low-bandwidth low-bandwidth : adj. [from communication theory] Used to indicate a talk th...

lunatic fringe lunatic fringe : n. [IBM] Customers who can be relied upon to accept releas...

lurker lurker : n. One of the ‘silent majority’ in an electronic forum...

luser luser : /loo´zr/ , n. [common] A user ; esp. one who is also a loser . ( l...

macdink macdink : /mak´dink/ , vt. [from the Apple Macintosh, which is said to enc...

machoflops machoflops : /mach´oh·flops/ , n. [pun on megaflops , a coinage for ̵...

macro- macro- : pref. Large. Opposite of micro- . In the mainstream and among othe...

macro macro : /mak´roh/ , n. [techspeak] A name (possibly followed by a formal a...

macrology macrology : /mak·rol_@·jee/ , n. 1. Set of usually complex or crufty macr...

maggotbox maggotbox : /mag_@t·boks/ , n. See Macintrash . This is even more derogatory.

magic magic 1. adj. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain; compare au...

magic cookie magic cookie : n. [Unix; common] 1. Something passed between routines or pr...

magic number magic number : n. [Unix/C; common] 1. In source code, some non-obvious cons...

magic smoke magic smoke : n. A substance trapped inside IC packages that enables them t...

mail storm mail storm : n. [from broadcast storm , influenced by maelstrom ] What ofte...

mailbomb mailbomb (also mail bomb ) [Usenet] 1. v. To send, or urge others to send, ...

mailing list mailing list : n. (often shortened in context to list ) 1. An email address...

main loop main loop : n. The top-level control flow construct in an input- or event-d...

mainframe mainframe : n. Term originally referring to the cabinet containing the cent...

mainsleaze mainsleaze : n. 1. Spam emitted by a reputable, mainstream company (as oppo...

malware malware : n. [Common] Malicious software. Software intended to cause conseq...

man page man page : n. A page from the Unix Programmer_s Manual, documenting one of ...

management management : n. 1. Corporate power elites distinguished primarily by their ...

mandelbug mandelbug : /man´del·buhg/ , n. [from the Mandelbrot set] A bug whose und...

manged manged : /mahnjd/ , n. [probably from the French ‘manger’ or It...

mangle mangle : vt. 1. Used similarly to mung or scribble , but more violent in it...

mangled name mangled name : n. A name, appearing in a C++ object file, that is a coded r...

mangler mangler : n. [DEC] A manager. Compare management . Note that system mangler...

manularity manularity : /man`yoo·la´ri·tee/ , n. [prob. fr. techspeak manual + gran...

marbles marbles : pl.n. [from mainstream “ lost all his/her marbles ”] ...

marching ants marching ants The animated dotted-line marquee that indicates a rectangle o...

marginal marginal : adj. [common] 1. [techspeak] An extremely small change. “ ...

marginally marginally : adv. Slightly. “ The ravs here are only marginally bette...

marketroid marketroid : /mar´k@·troyd/ , n. alt.: marketing slime , marketeer , marÂ...

martian martian : n. A packet sent on a TCP/IP network with a source address of the...

massage massage : vt. [common] Vague term used to describe ‘smooth’ tra...

math-out math-out : n. [poss. from ‘white-out’ (the blizzard variety)] A...

maximum Maytag mode maximum Maytag mode : n. What a washing machine or, by extension, any disk ...

meatspace meatspace : /meet´spays/ , n. The physical world, where the meat lives ...

meatware meatware : n. Synonym for wetware . Less common.

meeces meeces : /mees_@z/ , n. [TMRC] Occasional furry visitors who are not urchin...

meg meg : /meg/ , n. See quantifiers .

mega- mega- : /me´g@/ , pref. [SI] See quantifiers .

megapenny megapenny : /meg_@·pen`ee/ , n. $10,000 (1 cent * 10 6 ). Used semi-humoro...

meltdown_ network meltdown, network : n. See network meltdown .

meme meme : /meem/ , n. [coined by analogy with ‘gene’, by Richard D...

meme plague meme plague : n. The spread of a successful but pernicious meme , esp. one ...

memetics memetics : /me·met´iks/ , n. [from meme ] The study of memes. As of early...

memory farts memory farts : n. The flatulent sounds that some DOS box BIOSes (most notab...

memory leak memory leak : n. An error in a program_s dynamic-store allocation logic tha...

memory smash memory smash : n. [XEROX PARC] Writing through a pointer that doesn_t point...

menuitis menuitis : /men`yoo·i:´tis/ , n. Notional disease suffered by software wi...

mess-dos mess-dos : /mes·dos/ , n. [semi-obsolescent now that DOS is] Derisory term...

meta meta : /me´t@/ , /may´t@/ , /mee´t@/ , pref. [from analytic philosophy] ...

meta bit meta bit : n. The top bit of an 8-bit character, which is on in character v...

metasyntactic variable metasyntactic variable : n. A name used in examples and understood to stand...

mickey mickey : n. The resolution unit of mouse movement. It has been suggested th...

mickey mouse program mickey mouse program : n. North American equivalent of a noddy (that is, tr...

micro- micro- : pref. 1. Very small; this is the root of its use as a quantifier p...

microLenat microLenat : /mi:`·kroh·len_·@t/ , n. The unit of bogosity . Abbreviated...

microReid microReid : /mi:´kroh·reed/ , n. See microLenat .

microfortnight microfortnight : n. 1/1000000 of the fundamental unit of time in the Furlon...

micros~1 micros~1 An abbreviation of the full name Microsoft resembling the rather b...

microserf microserf : /mi:´kro·s@rf/ [popularized, though not originated, by Dougla...

middle-endian middle-endian : adj. Not big-endian or little-endian . Used of perverse byt...

middle-out implementation middle-out implementation See bottom-up implementation .

milliLampson milliLampson : /mil_@·lamp`sn/ , n. A unit of talking speed, abbreviated m...

minor detail minor detail Often used in an ironic sense about brokenness or problems tha...

misbug misbug : /mis·buhg/ , n. [MIT; rare (like its referent)] An unintended pro...

misfeature misfeature : /mis·fee´chr/ , /mis´fee`chr/ , n. [common] A feature that ...

missile address missile address : n. See ICBM address .

miswart miswart : /mis·wort/ , n. [from wart by analogy with misbug ] A feature th...

mobo mobo : /moh´bo/ Written and (rarely) spoken contraction of “ motherb...

moby moby : /moh´bee/ [MIT: seems to have been in use among model railroad fans...

mockingbird mockingbird : n. Software that intercepts communications (especially login ...

mod mod : vt.,n. [very common] 1. Short for ‘modify’ or ‘modi...

mode mode : n. [common] A general state, usually used with an adjective describi...

mode bit mode bit : n. [common] A flag , usually in hardware, that selects between t...

modulo modulo : /mod´yu·loh/ , prep. Except for. An overgeneralization of mathem...

mojibake mojibake : n. , /mo´jee·ba·ke/ Japanese for “ ghost characters ...

molly-guard molly-guard : /mol´ee·gard/ , n. [University of Illinois] A shield to pre...

monkey_ scratch monkey, scratch : n. See scratch monkey .

monkey up monkey up : vt. To hack together hardware for a particular task, especially...

monstrosity monstrosity 1. n. A ridiculously elephantine program or system, esp. one th...

monty monty : /mon´tee/ , n. 1. [US Geological Survey] A program with a ludicrou...

moria moria : /mor´ee·@/ , n. Like nethack and rogue , one of the large PD Dung...

mouse ahead mouse ahead : vi. Point-and-click analog of type ahead . To manipulate a co...

mouse belt mouse belt : n. See rat belt .

mouse droppings mouse droppings : n. [MS-DOS] Pixels (usually single) that are not properly...

mouse elbow mouse elbow : n. A tennis-elbow-like fatigue syndrome resulting from excess...

mouse pusher mouse pusher [common] A person that prefers a mouse over a keyboard; origin...

mouso mouso : /mow´soh/ , n. [by analogy with ‘typo’] An error in mo...

mu mu : /moo/ The correct answer to the classic trick question “ Have yo...

muddie muddie : n. Syn. mudhead . More common in Great Britain, possibly because s...

mudhead mudhead : n. Commonly used to refer to a MUD player who eats, sleeps, and b...

muggle muggle [from J.K. Rowling_s Harry Potter books, 1998] A non- wizard . Not a...

multitask multitask : n. Often used of humans in the same meaning it has for computer...

mumblage mumblage : /muhm´bl@j/ , n. The topic of one_s mumbling (see mumble ). ...

mumble mumble : interj. 1. Said when the correct response is too complicated to en...

munch munch : vt. [often confused with mung , q.v.] To transform information in a...

munching munching : n. Exploration of security holes of someone else_s computer for ...

munching squares munching squares : n. A display hack dating back to the PDP-1 (ca. 1962, re...

munchkin munchkin : /muhnch´kin/ , n. [from the squeaky-voiced little people in L. ...

mundane mundane : n. [from SF fandom] 1. A person who is not in science fiction fan...

mung mung : /muhng/ , vt. [in 1960 at MIT, “ Mash Until No Good ”; s...

munge munge : /muhnj/ , vt. 1. [derogatory] To imperfectly transform information....

music music : n. A common extracurricular interest of hackers (compare science-fi...

mutter mutter : vt. To quietly enter a command not meant for the ears, eyes, or fi...

nadger nadger : /nad´jr/ , v. [UK, from rude slang noun nadgers for testicles; co...

nagware nagware : /nag´weir/ , n. [Usenet] The variety of shareware that displays ...

nailed to the wall nailed to the wall : adj. [like a trophy] Said of a bug finally eliminated ...

nailing jelly nailing jelly : vi. See like nailing jelly to a tree .

naive naive : adj. 1. Untutored in the perversities of some particular program or...

naive user naive user : n. A luser . Tends to imply someone who is ignorant mainly owi...

nano- nano- : pref. [SI: the next quantifier below micro- ; meaning × 10 -9 ] Sm...

nano nano : /nan´oh/ , n. [CMU: from nanosecond ] A brief period of time. ̶...

nanoacre nanoacre : /nan´oh·ay`kr/ , n. A unit (about 2 mm square) of real estate ...

nanobot nanobot : /nan´oh·bot/ , n. A robot of microscopic proportions, presumabl...

nanocomputer nanocomputer : /nan´oh·k@m·pyoo´tr/ , n. A computer with mo­lec­u­la...

nanofortnight nanofortnight : n. [Adelaide University] 1 fortnight × 10 -9 , or about 1....

nanotechnology nanotechnology : /nan_·oh·tek·no`l@·jee/ , n. A hypothetical fabricatio...

narg narg [Cambridge] Short for “ Not A Real Gentleman ”, i.e. one w...

nasal demons nasal demons : n. Recognized shorthand on the Usenet group comp.std.c for a...

nastygram nastygram : /nas´tee·gram/ , n. 1. A protocol packet or item of email (th...

nature nature : n. See has the X nature .

neat hack neat hack : n. [very common] 1. A clever technique. 2. A brilliant practica...

neats vs. scruffies neats vs. scruffies : n. The label used to refer to one of the continuing h...

neep-neep neep-neep : /neep neep/ , n. [onomatopoeic, widely spread through SF fandom...

neophilia neophilia : /nee`oh·fil_·ee·@/ , n. The trait of being excited and pleas...

nerd nerd : n. 1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-...

nerd knob nerd knob : n. [Cisco] A command in a complex piece of software which is mo...

net.- net.- : /net dot/ , pref. [Usenet] Prefix used to describe people and event...

net.god net.god : /net god/ , n. Accolade referring to anyone who satisfies some co...

net.personality net.personality : /net per`sn·al_·@·tee/ , n. Someone who has made a nam...

net.police net.police : /net·p@·lees_/ , n. (var.: net.cops ) Those Usenet readers w...

netburp netburp : n. [IRC] When netlag gets really bad, and delays between servers ...

netdead netdead : n. [IRC] The state of someone who signs off IRC , perhaps during ...

nethack nethack : /net´hak/ , n. [Unix] A dungeon game similar to rogue but more e...

netiquette netiquette : /net´ee·ket/ , /net´i·ket/ , n. [Coined by Chuq von Rospac...

netlag netlag : n. [IRC, MUD] A condition that occurs when the delays in the IRC n...

netnews netnews : /net´n[y]ooz/ , n. 1. The software that makes Usenet run. 2. The...

netsplit netsplit : n. Syn. netburp .

netter netter : n. 1. Loosely, anyone with a network address . 2. More specificall...

network address network address : n. (also net address ) As used by hackers, means an addre...

network meltdown network meltdown : n. A state of complete network overload; the network equ...

newbie newbie : /n[y]oo´bee/ , n. [very common; orig. from British public-school ...

newgroup wars newgroup wars : /n[y]oo´groop worz/ , n. [Usenet] The salvos of dueling ne...

newline newline : /n[y]oo´li:n/ , n. 1. [techspeak, primarily Unix] The ASCII LF c...

newsfroup newsfroup : // , n. [Usenet] Silly synonym for newsgroup , originally a typ...

newsgroup newsgroup : n. [Usenet] One of Usenet _s huge collection of topic groups or...

nick nick : n. [IRC; very common] Short for nickname. On IRC , every user must p...

nickle nickle : /ni´kl/ , n. [from ‘nickel’, common name for the U.S....

night mode night mode : n. See phase (of people).

nipple mouse nipple mouse : n. Var. clit mouse, clitoris Common term for the pointing de...

no-op no-op : /noh´op/ , n.,v. alt.: NOP /nop/ [no operation] 1. A machine instr...

noddy noddy : /nod´ee/ , adj. [UK: from the children_s books] 1. Small and un-us...

non-optimal solution non-optimal solution : n. (also sub-optimal solution ) An astoundingly stup...

nonlinear nonlinear : adj. [scientific computation] 1. Behaving in an erratic and unp...

nontrivial nontrivial : adj. Requiring real thought or significant computing power. Of...

not entirely unlike X not entirely unlike X Used ironically of things which are in fact almost en...

not ready for prime time not ready for prime time : adj. Usable, but only just so; not very robust; ...

notwork notwork : /not´werk/ , n. A network, when it is acting flaky or is down . ...

nude nude : adj. Said of machines delivered without an operating system (compare...

nugry nugry : /n[y]oo´gree/ [Usenet, ‘newbie’ + ‘-gry’] ...

nuke nuke : /n[y]ook/ , vt. [common] 1. To intentionally delete the entire conte...

number-crunching number-crunching : n. [common] Computations of a numerical nature, esp. tho...

numbers numbers : n. [scientific computation] Output of a computation that may not ...

nybble nybble : /nib´l/ , nibble , n. [from v. nibble by analogy with ‘bite...

nyetwork nyetwork : /nyet´werk/ , n. [from Russian ‘nyet’ = no] A netwo...

obi-wan error obi-wan error : /oh´bee·won` er_@r/ , n. [RPI, from off-by-one and the Ob...

obscure obscure : adj. Used in an exaggeration of its normal meaning, to imply tota...

octal forty octal forty : /ok´tl for´tee/ , n. Hackish way of saying “ I_m draw...

off-by-one error off-by-one error : n. [common] Exceedingly common error induced in many way...

off the trolley off the trolley : adj. Describes the behavior of a program that malfunction...

offline offline : adv. Not now or not here. “ Let_s take this discussion offl...

ogg ogg : /og/ , v. [CMU] 1. In the multi-player space combat game Netrek, to e...

old fart old fart : n. Tribal elder. A title self-assumed with remarkable frequency ...

on the gripping hand on the gripping hand In the progression that starts “ On the one hand...

one-banana problem one-banana problem : n. At mainframe shops, where the computers have operat...

one-line fix one-line fix : n. Used (often sarcastically) of a change to a program that ...

one-liner wars one-liner wars : n. A game popular among hackers who code in the language A...

ooblick ooblick : /oo´blik/ , n. [from the Dr. Seuss title Bartholomew and the Oob...

op op : /op/ , n. 1. In England and Ireland, common verbal abbreviation for &#...

open open : n. Abbreviation for ‘open (or left) parenthesis’ —...

open source open source : n. [common; also adj. open-source ] Term coined in March 1998...

open switch open switch : n. [IBM: prob.: from railroading] An unresolved question, iss...

operating system operating system : n. [techspeak] (Often abbreviated ‘OS’) The ...

operator headspace operator headspace [common] More fully, “ operator headspace error &#...

optical diff optical diff : n. See vdiff .

optical grep optical grep : n. See vgrep .

optimism optimism : n. What a programmer is full of after fixing the last bug and be...

oriental food oriental food : n. Hackers display an intense tropism towards oriental cuis...

orphan orphan : n. [Unix] A process whose parent has died; one inherited by init (...

orphaned i-node orphaned i-node : /or´f@nd i:´nohd/ , n. [Unix] 1. [techspeak] A file tha...

orthogonal orthogonal : adj. [from mathematics] Mutually independent; well separated; ...

out-of-band out-of-band : adj. [from telecommunications and network theory] 1. In softw...

overclock overclock : /oh´vr·klok´/ , vt. To operate a CPU or other digital logic ...

overflow bit overflow bit : n. 1. [techspeak] A flag on some processors indicating an at...

overrun overrun : n. 1. [techspeak] Term for a frequent consequence of data arrivin...

overrun screw overrun screw : n. [C programming] A variety of fandango on core produced b...

owned owned 1. [cracker slang; often written “ 0wned ”] Your conditio...

packet over air packet over air [common among backbone ISPs] The protocol notionally being ...

padded cell padded cell : n. Where you put luser s so they can_t hurt anything. A progr...

page in page in : v. [MIT] 1. To become aware of one_s surroundings again after hav...

page out page out : vi. [MIT] 1. To become unaware of one_s surroundings temporarily...

pain in the net pain in the net : n. A flamer .

paper-net paper-net : n. Hackish way of referring to the postal service, analogizing ...

param param : /p@·ram´/ , n. [common] Shorthand for parameter . See also parm ;...

parent message parent message : n. What a followup follows up.

parity errors parity errors : pl.n. Little lapses of attention or (in more severe cases) ...

parm parm : /parm/ , n. Further-compressed form of param . This term is an IBMis...

parse parse : vt. 1. To determine the syntactic structure of a sentence or other ...

pastie pastie : /pay´stee/ , n. An adhesive-backed label designed to be attached ...

patch patch 1. n. A temporary addition to a piece of code, usually as a quick-and...

patch pumpkin patch pumpkin : n. [Perl hackers] A notional token passed around among the ...

patch space patch space : n. An unused block of bits left in a binary so that it can la...

path path : n. 1. A bang path or explicitly routed Internet address; a node-by-n...

pathological pathological : adj. 1. [scientific computation] Used of a data set that is ...

payware payware : /pay´weir/ , n. Commercial software. Oppose shareware or freeware .

peek peek : n.,vt. (and poke ) The commands in most microcomputer BASICs for dir...

pencil and paper pencil and paper : n. An archaic information storage and transmission devic...

peon peon : n. A person with no special ( root or wheel ) privileges on a comput...

percent-S percent-S : /per·sent´ es´/ , n. [From the code in C_s printf (3) librar...

perf perf : /perf/ , n. Syn. chad (sense 1). The term perfory /per´f@-ree/ is a...

perfect programmer syndrome perfect programmer syndrome : n. Arrogance; the egotistical conviction that...

person of no account person of no account : n. [University of California at Santa Cruz] Used whe...

pessimal pessimal : /pes´im·l/ , adj. [Latin-based antonym for optimal ] Maximally...

pessimizing compiler pessimizing compiler : /pes_@·mi:z`ing k@m·pi:l´r/ , n. [antonym of tech...

peta- peta- : /pe´t@/ [SI] See quantifiers .

pffft pffft : interj. [IRC] A metamorphic expletive which can be used to convey e...

phage phage : n. A program that modifies other programs or databases in unauthori...

phase-wrapping phase-wrapping : n. [MIT] Syn. wrap around , sense 2.

phase phase 1. n. The offset of one_s waking-sleeping schedule with respect to th...

phase of the moon phase of the moon : n. Used humorously as a random parameter on which somet...

phreaker phreaker : /freek´r/ , n. One who engages in phreaking . See also blue box .

phreaking phreaking : /freek´ing/ , n. [from ‘phone phreak’] 1. The art ...

pico- pico- : pref. [SI: a quantifier meaning × 10 -12 ] Smaller than nano- ; us...

pig-tail pig-tail [radio hams] A short piece of cable with two connectors on each en...

pilot error pilot error : n. [Sun: from aviation] A user_s misconfiguration or misuse o...

ping ping [from the submariners_ term for a sonar pulse] 1. n. Slang term for a ...

ping storm ping storm : n. A form of DoS attack consisting of a flood of ping requests...

pink contract pink contract [spamfighters: from the color of the tinned meat] A contract ...

pink wire pink wire : n. [from the pink PTFE wire used in military equipment] As blue...

pipe pipe : n. [common] Idiomatically, one_s connection to the Internet; in cont...

pistol pistol : n. [IBM] A tool that makes it all too easy for you to shoot yourse...

pixel sort pixel sort : n. [Commodore users] Any compression routine which irretrievab...

pizza box pizza box : n. [Sun] The largish thin box housing the electronics in (espec...

plaid screen plaid screen : n. [XEROX PARC] A ‘special effect’ that occurs w...

plain-ASCII plain-ASCII : /playn·as´kee/ Syn. flat-ASCII .

plan file plan file : n. [Unix] On systems that support finger , the .plan file in a ...

platinum-iridium platinum-iridium : adj. Standard, against which all others of the same cate...

playpen playpen : n. [IBM] A room where programmers work. Compare salt mines .

playte playte : /playt/ 16 bits, by analogy with nybble and byte . Usage: rare and...

plokta plokta : /plok´t@/ , v. [acronym: Press Lots Of Keys To Abort] To press ra...

plonk plonk : excl.,vt. [Usenet: possibly influenced by British slang ‘plon...

plug-and-pray plug-and-pray : adj.,vi. Parody of the techspeak term plug-and-play , descr...

plugh plugh : /ploogh/ , v. [from the ADVENT game] See xyzzy .

plumbing plumbing : n. [Unix] Term used for shell code, so called because of the pre...

point-and-drool interface point-and-drool interface : n. Parody of the techspeak term point-and-click...

point release point release : n. [common] A minor release of a software project, especial...

pointy-haired pointy-haired : adj. [after the character in the Dilbert comic strip] Descr...

pointy hat pointy hat : n. See wizard hat . This synonym specifically refers to the wi...

poke poke : n.,vt. See peek .

poll poll : v.,n. 1. [techspeak] The action of checking the status of an input l...

polygon pusher polygon pusher : n. A chip designer who spends most of his or her time at t...

ponytail ponytail : n. 1. A hairstyle in which long hair is held back so as to hang ...

pop pop : /pop/ [from the operation that removes the top of a stack, and the fa...

poser poser : n. [from French poseur ] A wannabee ; not hacker slang, but used am...

post post : v. To send a message to a mailing list or newsgroup . Distinguished ...

postcardware postcardware : n. A kind of shareware that borders on freeware , in that th...

posting posting : n. Noun corresp. to v.: post (but note that post can be nouned). ...

postmaster postmaster : n. The email contact and maintenance person at a site connecte...

pound on pound on : vt. Syn. bang on .

power cycle power cycle : vt. (also, cycle power or just cycle ) To power off a machine...

power hit power hit : n. A spike or drop-out in the electricity supplying your machin...

pr0n pr0n : // [Usenet, IRC] Pornography. Originally this referred only to Inter...

precedence lossage precedence lossage : /pre´s@·dens los_@j/ , n. [C programmers] Coding err...

pred pred : // [Usenet; orig. fr. the Island MUD via Oxford University] Abbrevia...

prepend prepend : /pree`pend´/ , vt. [by analogy with ‘append’] To pre...

prestidigitization prestidigitization : /pres`t@·di`j@·ti:·zay´sh@n/ , n. 1. The act of pu...

pretty pictures pretty pictures : n. [scientific computation] The next step up from numbers...

prettyprint prettyprint : /prit´ee·print/ , v. (alt.: pretty-print ) 1. To generate &...

pretzel key pretzel key : n. [Mac users] See feature key .

priesthood priesthood : n. [TMRC; obs.] The select group of system managers responsibl...

prime time prime time : n. [from TV programming] Normal high-usage hours on a system o...

print print : v. To output, even if to a screen. If a hacker says that a program ...

printing discussion printing discussion : n. [XEROX PARC] A protracted, low-level, time-consumi...

priority interrupt priority interrupt : n. [from the hardware term] Describes any stimulus com...

profile profile : n. 1. A control file for a program, esp. a text file automaticall...

progasm progasm : /proh´gaz·m/ , n. [University of Wisconsin] The euphoria experi...

proggy proggy : n. 1. Any computer program that is considered a full application. ...

proglet proglet : /prog´let/ , n. [UK] A short extempore program written to meet a...

program program : n. 1. A magic spell cast over a computer allowing it to turn one_...

programming programming : n. 1. The art of debugging a blank sheet of paper (or, in the...

programming fluid programming fluid : n. 1. Coffee. 2. Cola. 3. Any caffeinacious stimulant. ...

propeller head propeller head : n. Used by hackers, this is syn. with geek . Non-hackers s...

propeller key propeller key : n. [Mac users] See feature key .

proprietary proprietary : adj. 1. In marketroid -speak, superior; implies a product imb...

protocol protocol : n. As used by hackers, this never refers to niceties about the p...

provocative maintenance provocative maintenance : n. [common ironic mutation of preventive maintena...

prowler prowler : n. [Unix] A daemon that is run periodically (typically once a wee...

pseudo pseudo : /soo´doh/ , n. [Usenet: truncation of ‘pseudonym’] 1....

pseudoprime pseudoprime : n. A backgammon prime (six consecutive occupied points) with ...

pseudosuit pseudosuit : /soo´doh·s[y]oot`/ , n. A suit wannabee; a hacker who has de...

psychedelicware psychedelicware : /si:`k@·del_·ik·weir/ , n. [UK] Syn. display hack . Se...

psyton psyton : /si:´ton/ , n. [TMRC] The elementary particle carrying the sinist...

pubic directory pubic directory : /pyoob´ik d@·rek´t@·ree/ , n. [NYU] (also pube direct...

puff puff : vt. To decompress data that has been crunched by Huffman coding. At ...

pumpkin holder pumpkin holder : n. See patch pumpkin .

pumpking pumpking : n. Syn. for pumpkin holder ; see patch pumpkin .

punched card punched card : [techspeak] (alt.: punch card ) The signature medium of comp...

punt punt : v. [from the punch line of an old joke referring to American footbal...

purple wire purple wire : n. [IBM] Wire installed by Field Engineers to work around pro...

push push [from the operation that puts the current information on a stack, and ...

quad quad : n. 1. Two bits; syn. for quarter , crumb , tayste . 2. A four-pack o...

quadruple bucky quadruple bucky : n. obs. 1. On an MIT space-cadet keyboard , use of all fo...

quantifiers quantifiers In techspeak and jargon, the standard metric prefixes used in t...

quantum bogodynamics quantum bogodynamics : /kwon´tm boh`goh·di:·nam´iks/ , n. A theory that...

quarter quarter : n. Two bits. This in turn comes from the ‘pieces of eight&#...

ques ques : /kwes/ 1. n. The question mark character ( ? , ASCII 0111111). 2. in...

quick-and-dirty quick-and-dirty : adj. [common] Describes a crock put together under time o...

quine quine : /kwi:n/ , n. [from the name of the logician Willard van Orman Quine...

quote chapter and verse quote chapter and verse : v. [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cit...

quotient quotient : n. See coefficient of X .

quux quux : /kwuhks/ , n. [Mythically, from the Latin semi-deponent verb quuxo, ...

qux qux : /kwuhks/ The fourth of the standard metasyntactic variable , after ba...

rabbit job rabbit job : n. [Cambridge] A batch job that does little, if any, real work...

rain dance rain dance : n. 1. Any ceremonial action taken to correct a hardware proble...

rainbow series rainbow series : n. Any of several series of technical manuals distinguishe...

random random : adj. 1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical definition); weird....

random numbers random numbers : n. When one wishes to specify a large but random number of...

randomness randomness : n. 1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance. 2. A ...

rape rape : vt. 1. To screw someone or something, violently; in particular, to d...

rare mode rare mode : adj. [Unix] CBREAK mode (character-by-character with interrupts...

raster blaster raster blaster : n. [Cambridge] Specialized hardware for bitblt operations ...

raster burn raster burn : n. Eyestrain brought on by too many hours of looking at low-r...

rasterbation rasterbation : n. [portmanteau: raster + masturbation] The gratuitous use o...

rat belt rat belt : n. A cable tie, esp. the sawtoothed, self-locking plastic kind t...

rat dance rat dance : n. [From the Dilbert comic strip of November 14, 1995] A hackin...

rathole rathole [from the English idiom “ down a rathole ” for a waste ...

ratio site ratio site [warez d00dz] An FTP site storing pirated files where one must f...

rave rave : vi. [WPI] 1. To persist in discussing a specific subject. 2. To spea...

rave on! rave on! : imp. Sarcastic invitation to continue a rave , often by someone ...

ravs ravs : /ravz/ , Chinese ravs , n. [primarily MIT/Boston usage] Jiao-zi (ste...

raw mode raw mode : n. A mode that allows a program to transfer bits directly to or ...

rc file rc file : /R·C fi:l/ , n. [Unix: from runcom files on the CTSS system 1962...

read-only user read-only user : n. Describes a luser who uses computers almost exclusively...

real real : adj. Not simulated. Often used as a specific antonym to virtual in a...

real estate real estate : n. May be used for any critical resource measured in units of...

real hack real hack : n. A crock . This is sometimes used affectionately; see hack .

real operating system real operating system : n. The sort the speaker is used to. People from the...

real time real time 1. [techspeak] adj. Describes an application which requires a pro...

real user real user : n. 1. A commercial user. One who is paying real money for his c...

reality-distortion field reality-distortion field : n. An expression used to describe the persuasive...

reality check reality check : n. 1. The simplest kind of test of software or hardware; do...

reaper reaper : n. A prowler that removes files. A file removed in this way is sai...

recompile the world recompile the world The surprisingly large amount of work that needs to be ...

rectangle slinger rectangle slinger : n. See polygon pusher .

recursion recursion : n. See recursion . See also tail recursion .

recursive acronym recursive acronym : n. A hackish (and especially MIT) tradition is to choos...

red wire red wire : n. [IBM] Patch wires installed by programmers who have no busine...

regexp regexp : /reg´eksp/ , n. [Unix] (alt.: regex or reg-ex ) 1. Common written...

register dancing register dancing : n. Many older processor architectures suffer from a seri...

rehi rehi [IRC, MUD] “ Hello again. ” Very commonly used to greet pe...

reincarnation_ cycle of reincarnation, cycle of : n. See cycle of reincarnation .

reinvent the wheel reinvent the wheel : v. To design or implement a tool equivalent to an exis...

relay rape relay rape : n. The hijacking of a third party_s unsecured mail server to d...

religion of CHI religion of CHI : /ki:/ , n. [Case Western Reserve University] Yet another ...

religious issues religious issues : n. Questions which seemingly cannot be raised without to...

replicator replicator : n. Any construct that acts to produce copies of itself; this c...

reply reply : n. See followup .

restriction restriction : n. A bug or design error that limits a program_s capabilities...

retcon retcon : /ret´kon/ [short for ‘retroactive continuity’, from t...

retrocomputing retrocomputing : /ret_·roh·k@m·pyoo´ting/ , n. Refers to emulations of ...

return from the dead return from the dead : v. To regain access to the net after a long absence....

rip rip : v. 1. To extract the digital representation of a piece of music from ...

ripoff ripoff : n. Synonym for chad , sense 1.

roach roach : vt. [Bell Labs] To destroy, esp. of a data structure. Hardware gets...

robocanceller robocanceller : /roh·boh·kan´sel·@r/ A program that monitors Usenet fee...

robot robot : n. See bot .

robust robust : adj. Said of a system that has demonstrated an ability to recover ...

rococo rococo : adj. Terminally baroque . Used to imply that a program has become ...

rogue rogue 1. [Unix] n. A Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game using character graphic...

room-temperature IQ room-temperature IQ : quant. [IBM] 80 or below (nominal room temperature is...

root root : n. 1. [Unix] The superuser account (with user name ‘root’...

root mode root mode : n. Syn. with wizard mode or wheel mode . Like these, it is ofte...

rootkit rootkit : /root´kit/ , n. [very common] A kit for maintaining root ; an au...

rot13 rot13 : /rot ther´teen/ , n.,v. [Usenet: from ‘rotate alphabet 13 pl...

rotary debugger rotary debugger : n. [Commodore] Essential equipment for those late-night o...

rubber-hose cryptanalysis rubber-hose cryptanalysis : n. [sci.crypt newsgroup] The technique of break...

rude rude : adj. 1. (of a program) Badly written. 2. Functionally poor, e.g., a ...

runes runes : pl.n. 1. Anything that requires heavy wizardry or black art to pars...

runic runic : adj. Syn. obscure . VMS fans sometimes refer to Unix as ‘Runi...

rusty iron rusty iron : n. Syn. tired iron . It has been claimed that this is the inev...

rusty wire rusty wire : n. [Amateur Packet Radio] Any very noisy network medium, in wh...

sacred sacred : adj. Reserved for the exclusive use of something (an extension of ...

saga saga : n. [WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N random broken people...

sagan sagan : /say´gn/ , n. [from Carl Sagan_s TV series Cosmos ; think “ ...

salescritter salescritter : /sayls´kri`tr/ , n. Pejorative hackerism for a computer sal...

salt salt : n. A tiny bit of near-random data inserted where too much regularity...

salt mines salt mines : n. Dense quarters housing large numbers of programmers working...

salt substrate salt substrate : n. [MIT] Collective noun used to refer to potato chips, pr...

same-day service same-day service : n. Ironic term used to describe long response time, part...

samizdat samizdat : /sahm·iz·daht/ , n. [Russian, literally “ self publishin...

samurai samurai : n. A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, snooping for f...

sandbender sandbender : n. [IBM] A person involved with silicon lithography and the ph...

sandbox sandbox : n. (also ‘sandbox, the’) 1. Common term for the R&...

sanity check sanity check : n. [very common] 1. The act of checking a piece of code (or ...

say say : vt. 1. To type to a terminal. “ To list a directory verbosely, ...

scag scag : vt. To destroy the data on a disk, either by corrupting the filesyst...

scanno scanno : /skan´oh/ , n. An error in a document caused by a scanner glitch,...

scary devil monastery scary devil monastery : n. Anagram frequently used to refer to the newsgrou...

schroedinbug schroedinbug : /shroh´din·buhg/ , n. [MIT: from the Schroedinger_s Cat th...

science-fiction fandom science-fiction fandom : n. Another voluntary subculture having a very heav...

scram switch scram switch : n. [from the nuclear power industry] An emergency-power-off ...

scratch scratch 1. [from scratchpad ] adj. Describes a data structure or recording ...

scratch monkey scratch monkey : n. As in “ Before testing or reconfiguring, always m...

scream and die scream and die : v. Syn. cough and die , but connotes that an error message...

screaming tty screaming tty : n. [Unix] A terminal line which spews an infinite number of...

screen screen : n. [Atari ST demoscene ] One demoeffect or one screenful of them. ...

screen name screen name : n. A handle sense 1. This term has been common among users of...

screen scraping screen scraping : v. The act of capturing data from a system or program by ...

screw screw : n. [MIT] A lose , usually in software. Especially used for user-vis...

screwage screwage : /skroo_@j/ , n. Like lossage but connotes that the failure is du...

scribble scribble : n. To modify a data structure in a random and unintentionally de...

script kiddies script kiddies : pl.n. 1. [very common] The lowest form of cracker ; script...

scrog scrog : /skrog/ , vt. [Bell Labs] To damage, trash, or corrupt a data struc...

scrool scrool : /skrool/ , n. [from the pioneering Roundtable chat system in Houst...

scrozzle scrozzle : /skroz´l/ , vt. Used when a self-modifying code segment runs in...

scruffies scruffies : n. See neats vs. scruffies .

search-and-destroy mode search-and-destroy mode : n. Hackerism for a noninteractive search-and-repl...

second-system effect second-system effect : n. (sometimes, more euphoniously, second-system synd...

secondary damage secondary damage : n. When a fatal error occurs (esp. a segfault ) the imme...

security through obscurity security through obscurity (alt.: security by obscurity ) A term applied by...

segfault segfault : n.,vi. Syn. segment , segmentation fault .

seggie seggie : /seg´ee/ , n. [Unix] Shorthand for segmentation fault reported fr...

segment segment : /seg´ment/ , vi. To experience a segmentation fault . Confusingl...

segmentation fault segmentation fault : n. [Unix] 1. [techspeak] An error in which a running p...

segv segv : /seg´vee/ , n.,vi. Yet another synonym for segmentation fault (actu...

self-reference self-reference : n. See self-reference .

selvage selvage : /sel´v@j/ , n. [from sewing and weaving] See chad (sense 1).

semi-automated semi-automated : adj. [US Geological Survey] A procedure that has yet to be...

semi-infinite semi-infinite : n. See infinite .

semi semi : /se´mee/ , /se´mi:/ 1. n. Abbreviation for ‘semicolon’...

senior bit senior bit : n. [IBM; rare] Syn. meta bit .

server server : n. A kind of daemon that performs a service for the requester and ...

sex changer sex changer : n. Syn. gender mender .

shambolic link shambolic link : /sham·bol´ik link/ , n. A Unix symbolic link, particular...

shar file shar file : /shar´ fi:l/ , n. Syn. sharchive .

sharchive sharchive : /shar´ki:v/ , n. [Unix and Usenet; from /bin/sh archive] A fla...

shareware shareware : /sheir´weir/ , n. A kind of freeware for which the author requ...

sharing violation sharing violation [From a file error common to several OS es] A response to...

shebang shebang : /sh@·bang/ , n. [possibly a portmanteau of “ sharp bang &#...

shelfware shelfware : /shelf´weir/ , n. Software purchased on a whim (by an individu...

shell shell : n. [orig. Multics techspeak, widely propagated via Unix] 1. [techsp...

shell out shell out : vi. [Unix] To spawn an interactive subshell from within a progr...

shift left (or right) logical shift left (or right) logical [from any of various machines_ instruction se...

shim shim : n. 1. A small piece of data inserted in order to achieve a desired m...

shitogram shitogram : /shit´oh·gram/ , n. A really nasty piece of email. Compare na...

shotgun debugging shotgun debugging : n. The software equivalent of Easter egging ; the makin...

shovelware shovelware : /shuh´v@l·weir`/ , n. 1. Extra software dumped onto a CD-ROM...

showstopper showstopper : n. A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes an impl...

shriek shriek : n. See excl . Occasional CMU usage, also in common use among APL f...

sig block sig block : /sig blok/ , n. [Internet and Usenet; often written ‘.sig...

sig quote sig quote : /sig kwoht/ , n. [Usenet] A maxim, quote, proverb, joke, or slo...

sig virus sig virus : n. A parasitic meme embedded in a sig block . There was a meme ...

sigmonster sigmonster : n. [common] A beast that randomly chooses one of a selection o...

signal-to-noise ratio signal-to-noise ratio : n. [from analog electronics] Used by hackers in a g...

silicon silicon : n. Hardware, esp. ICs or microprocessor-based computer systems (c...

silly walk silly walk : vi. [from Monty Python_s Flying Circus] 1. A ridiculous proced...

silo silo : n. The FIFO input-character buffer in an RS-232 line card. So called...

since time T equals minus infinity since time T equals minus infinity : adv. A long time ago; for as long as a...

sitename sitename : /si:t´naym/ , n. [Unix/Internet] The unique electronic name of ...

skrog skrog : v. Syn. scrog .

skulker skulker : n. Syn. prowler .

slab slab : 1. n. A continuous horizontal line of pixels, all with the same colo...

slack slack : n. 1. Space allocated to a disk file but not actually used to store...

slash slash : n. Common name for the slant (‘/’, ASCII 0101111) chara...

slashdot effect slashdot effect : n. 1. Also spelled “ /. effect ”; what is sai...

sleep sleep : vi. 1. [techspeak] To relinquish a claim (of a process on a multita...

slim slim : n. A small, derivative change (e.g., to code).

slop slop : n. 1. A one-sided fudge factor , that is, an allowance for error but...

slopsucker slopsucker : /slop´suhk·r/ , n. A lowest-priority task that waits around ...

slurp slurp : vt. To read a large data file entirely into core before working on ...

slurp the robot slurp the robot See STR .

smart smart : adj. Said of a program that does the Right Thing in a wide variety ...

smart terminal smart terminal : n. 1. A terminal that has enough computing capability to r...

smash case smash case : vi. To lose or obliterate the uppercase/lowercase distinction ...

smash the stack smash the stack : n. [C programming] To corrupt the execution stack by writ...

smiley smiley : n. See emoticon .

smoke smoke : vi. 1. To crash or blow up, usually spectacularly. “ The new ...

smoke and mirrors smoke and mirrors : n. Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this...

smoke test smoke test : n. 1. A rudimentary form of testing applied to electronic equi...

smoking clover smoking clover : n. [ITS] A display hack originally due to Bill Gosper. Man...

smoot smoot : /smoot/ , n. [MIT] A unit of length equal five feet seven inches. T...

smurf smurf : /smerf/ , n. 1. [from the soc.motss newsgroup on Usenet, after some...

snail-mail snail-mail : n. Paper mail, as opposed to electronic. Sometimes written as ...

snail snail : vt. To snail-mail something. “ Snail me a copy of those graph...

snap snap : v. To replace a pointer to a pointer with a direct pointer; to repla...

snarf snarf : /snarf/ , vt. 1. To grab, esp. to grab a large document or file for...

snarf &_ barf snarf & barf : /snarf´n·barf`/ , n. Under a WIMP environment , the ac...

snarf down snarf down : v. To snarf , with the connotation of absorbing, processing, o...

snark snark : n. [Lewis Carroll, via the Michigan Terminal System] 1. A system fa...

sneaker sneaker : n. An individual hired to break into places in order to test thei...

sneakernet sneakernet : /snee´ker·net/ , n. Term used (generally with ironic intent)...

sniff sniff : v.,n. 1. To watch packets traversing a network. Most often in the p...

snippage snippage : n. Synonym for deletia ; the fact that something has been snippe...

social engineering social engineering : n. Term used among cracker s and samurai for cracking ...

social science number social science number : n. , // [IBM] A statistic that is content-free , or...

sock puppet sock puppet : n. [Usenet: from the act of placing a sock over your hand and...

sodium substrate sodium substrate : n. Syn salt substrate .

soft boot soft boot : n. See boot .

softcopy softcopy : /soft´kop·ee/ , n. [by analogy with hardcopy ] A machine-reada...

software bloat software bloat : n. The results of second-system effect or creeping featuri...

software hoarding software hoarding : n. Pejorative term employed by members and adherents of...

software laser software laser : n. An optical laser works by bouncing photons back and for...

software rot software rot : n. Term used to describe the tendency of software that has n...

softwarily softwarily : /soft·weir´i·lee/ , adv. In a way pertaining to software. &...

softy softy : n. [IBM] Hardware hackers_ term for a software expert who is largel...

some random X some random X : adj. Used to indicate a member of class X, with the implica...

sorcerer's apprentice mode sorcerer_s apprentice mode : n. [from Goethe_s Der Zauberlehrling via Paul ...

source source : n. [very common] In reference to software, source is invariably sh...

source of all good bits source of all good bits : n. A person from whom (or a place from which) use...

space-cadet keyboard space-cadet keyboard : n. A now-legendary device used on MIT LISP machines,...

spaceship operator spaceship operator : n. The glyph <=> , so-called apparently because ...

spaghetti code spaghetti code : n. Code with a complex and tangled control structure, esp....

spaghetti inheritance spaghetti inheritance : n. [encountered among users of object-oriented lang...

spam spam : vt.,vi.,n. [from Monty Python_s Flying Circus ] 1. To crash a progra...

spam bait spam bait : n. Email addresses included in, or comprising the entirety of, ...

spamblock spamblock : /spam´blok/ , n. [poss. by analogy to sunblock] Text inserted ...

spamhaus spamhaus : spam´hows , n. Pejorative term for an internet service provider...

spamvertize spamvertize : v. To advertise using spam . Pejorative.

spangle spangle : n. [UK] The singular of bells and whistles . See also spungle .

spawn spawn : n.,vi. 1. [techspeak] In Unix parlance, to create a child process f...

special-case special-case : vt. To write unique code to handle input to or situations ar...

speed of light speed of light The absolutely fastest a particular algorithm or application...

speedometer speedometer : n. A pattern of lights displayed on a linear set of LEDs (tod...

spell spell : n. Syn. incantation .

spelling flame spelling flame : n. [Usenet] A posting ostentatiously correcting a previous...

spider spider The Web-walking part of a search engine that collects pages for inde...

spider food spider food : n. Keywords embedded (usually invisibly) into a web page to a...

spiffy spiffy : /spi´fee/ , adj. 1. Said of programs having a pretty, clever, or ...

spike spike : v. 1. To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes t...

spin spin : vi. Equivalent to buzz . More common among C and Unix programmers. S...

spl spl : /S·P·L/ [abbrev, from Set Priority Level] The way traditional Unix ...

splash screen splash screen : n. [Mac users] Syn. banner , sense 3.

splat splat : n. 1. Name used in many places (DEC, IBM, and others) for the aster...

splat out splat out : v. [Usenet; syn. disemvowel ] To partially obscure a potentiall...

splork! splork! [Usenet; common] The sound of coffee (or other beverage) hitting th...

spod spod : n. [UK] 1. A lower form of life found on talker system s and MUD s. ...

spoiler spoiler : n. [Usenet] 1. A remark which reveals important plot elements fro...

spoiler space spoiler space [also spoiler spoo or spoiler protection ] A screenful of bla...

sponge sponge : n. [Unix] A special case of a filter that reads its entire input b...

spoof spoof : vi. To capture, alter, and retransmit a communication stream in a w...

spool spool : vi. [from early IBM ‘Simultaneous Peripheral Operation On-Lin...

spool file spool file : n. Any file to which data is spool ed to await the next stage ...

sporgery sporgery [portmanteau of ‘spam’ or ‘spew’ and ̵...

sport death sport death : n. [MIT] The masochistic extreme of hacking, where the body a...

spungle spungle : n. [Durham, UK; portmanteau, spangle + bungle] A spangle of no ac...

spyware spyware : n. 1. Software which, when installed by a user insufficiently enl...

squirrelcide squirrelcide : n. [common on Usenet_s comp.risks newsgroup.] (alt.: squirre...

stack stack : n. The set of things a person has to do in the future. One speaks o...

stack puke stack puke : n. Some processor architectures are said to ‘puke their ...

stale pointer bug stale pointer bug : n. Synonym for aliasing bug used esp. among microcomput...

star out star out : v. [University of York, England] To replace a user_s encrypted p...

state state : n. 1. Condition, situation. “ What_s the state of your latest...

stealth manager stealth manager : n. [Corporate DP] A manager that appears out of nowhere, ...

steam-powered steam-powered : adj. Old-fashioned or underpowered; archaic. This term does...

steved steved : adj.,v. , /steevd/ [Apple employees and users] Terminated, said of...

stir-fried random stir-fried random : n. (alt.: stir-fried mumble ) Term used for the best di...

stomp on stomp on : vt. To inadvertently overwrite something important, usually auto...

stone knives and bearskins stone knives and bearskins : n. [from the Star Trek Classic episode The Cit...

stoppage stoppage : /sto´p@j/ , n. Extreme lossage that renders something (usually ...

store store : n. [prob.: from techspeak main store ] In some varieties of Commonw...

strided strided : /stri:´d@d/ , adj. [scientific computing] Said of a sequence of ...

stroke stroke : n. Common name for the slant (‘/’, ASCII 0101111) char...

strudel strudel : n. Common (spoken) name for the at-sign (‘@’, ASCII 1...

stubroutine stubroutine : /stuhb´roo·teen/ , n. [contraction of stub subroutine ] Tin...

studly studly : adj. Impressive; powerful. Said of code and designs which exhibit ...

studlycaps studlycaps : /stuhd´lee·kaps/ , n. A hackish form of silliness similar to...

stunning stunning : adj. Mind-bogglingly stupid. Usually used in sarcasm. “ Yo...

stupid-sort stupid-sort : n. Syn. bogo-sort .

sucking mud sucking mud : adj. [Applied Data Research] (also pumping mud ) Crashed or w...

sufficiently small sufficiently small : adj. Syn. suitably small .

suit suit : n. 1. Ugly and uncomfortable ‘business clothing’ often w...

suitable win suitable win : n. See win .

suitably small suitably small : adj. [perverted from mathematical jargon] An expression us...

sun-stools sun-stools : n. Unflattering hackerism for SunTools, a pre-X windowing envi...

sun lounge sun lounge : n. [UK] The room where all the Sun workstations live. The humo...

sunspots sunspots : n. 1. Notional cause of an odd error. “ Why did the progra...

super source quench super source quench : n. A special packet designed to shut up an Internet h...

superloser superloser : n. [Unix] A superuser with no clue — someone with root p...

superprogrammer superprogrammer : n. A prolific programmer; one who can code exceedingly we...

superuser superuser : n. [Unix] Syn. root , avatar . This usage has spread to non-Uni...

support support : n. After-sale handholding; something many software vendors promis...

surf surf : v. [from the ‘surf’ idiom for rapidly flipping TV channe...

swab swab : /swob/ [From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 ‘SWAp Byte’ ins...

swap swap : vt. 1. [techspeak] To move information from a fast-access memory to ...

swap space swap space : n. Storage space, especially temporary storage space used duri...

swapped in swapped in : n. See swap . See also page in .

swapped out swapped out : n. See swap . See also page out .

swizzle swizzle : v. To convert external names, array indices, or references within...

sync sync : /sink/ , vi. (var.: synch ) 1. To synchronize, to bring into synchro...

syntactic salt syntactic salt : n. The opposite of syntactic sugar , a feature designed to...

syntactic sugar syntactic sugar : n. [coined by Peter Landin] Features added to a language ...

sys-frog sys-frog : /sis´frog/ , n. [the PLATO system] Playful variant of sysprog ,...

sysadmin sysadmin : /sis´ad·min/ , n. Common contraction of ‘system admin...

sysape sysape : /sys´ayp/ , n. A rather derogatory term for a computer operator; ...

sysop sysop : /sis´op/ , n. [esp. in the BBS world] The operator (and usually th...

system system : n. 1. The supervisor program or OS on a computer. 2. The entire co...

system mangler system mangler : n. Humorous synonym for ‘system manager’, poss...

systems jock systems jock : n. See jock , sense 2.

tail recursion tail recursion : n. If you aren_t sick of it already, see tail recursion .

talk mode talk mode : n. A feature supported by Unix and some other OSes that allows ...

talker system talker system : n. British hackerism for software that enables real-time ch...

tanked tanked : adj. Same as down , used primarily by Unix hackers. See also hosed...

tape monkey tape monkey : n. A junior system administrator, one who might plausibly be ...

tar and feather tar and feather : vi. [from Unix tar (1) ] To create a transportable archiv...

tarball tarball : n. [very common; prob. based on the “ tar baby ” in t...

tardegy tardegy : tar´d­jee , n. [deliberate mangling of tragedy ] An incident in...

taste taste : n. 1. The quality in a program that tends to be inversely proportio...

tayste tayste : /tayst/ n. Two bits; also as taste . Syn. crumb , quarter . See ny...

tee tee : n.,vt. [Purdue] A carbon copy of an electronic transmission. “ ...

teergrube teergrube : /teer´groob·@/ , n. [German for tar pit ] A trap set to punis...

teledildonics teledildonics : /tel`@·dil·do_·niks/ , n. Sex in a computer simulated vi...

ten-finger interface ten-finger interface : n. The interface between two networks that cannot be...

tense tense : adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece of code ...

tentacle tentacle : n. A covert pseudo , sense 1. An artificial identity created in ...

tenured graduate student tenured graduate student : n. One who has been in graduate school for 10 ye...

tera- tera- : /te´r@/ , pref. [SI] See quantifiers .

teraflop club teraflop club : /te´r@·flop kluhb/ , n. [FLOP = Floating Point Operation]...

terminak terminak : /ter´mi·nak`/ , n. [Caltech, ca. 1979] Any malfunctioning comp...

terminal brain death terminal brain death : n. The extreme form of terminal illness (sense 1). W...

terminal illness terminal illness : n. 1. Syn. raster burn . 2. The ‘burn-in’ co...

terminal junkie terminal junkie : n. [UK] A wannabee or early larval stage hacker who spend...

test test : n. 1. Real users bashing on a prototype long enough to get thoroughl...

text text : n. 1. [techspeak] Executable code, esp. a pure code portion shared b...

thanks in advance thanks in advance [Usenet] Conventional net.politeness ending a posted requ...

the X that can be Y is not the true X the X that can be Y is not the true X Yet another instance of hackerdom_s p...

the literature the literature : n. Computer-science journals and other publications, vague...

the network the network : n. 1. Historically, the union of all the major noncommercial,...

theology theology : n. 1. Ironically or humorously used to refer to religious issues...

theory theory : n. The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that is curre...

thinko thinko : /thing´koh/ , n. [by analogy with ‘typo’] A momentary...

thrash thrash : vi. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything us...

thread thread : n. [Usenet, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of topic thread...

three-finger salute three-finger salute : n. Syn. Vulcan nerve pinch .

throwaway account throwaway account : n. 1. An inexpensive Internet account purchased on a le...

thud thud : n. 1. Yet another metasyntactic variable (see foo ). It is reported ...

thumb thumb : n. The slider on a window-system scrollbar. So called because movin...

thundering herd problem thundering herd problem Scheduler thrashing. This can happen under Unix whe...

thunk thunk : /thuhnk/ , n. 1. [obs.]“ A piece of coding which provides an ...

tick-list features tick-list features : n. [Acorn Computers] Features in software or hardware ...

tick tick : n. 1. A jiffy (sense 1). 2. In simulations, the discrete unit of tim...

tickle a bug tickle a bug : vt. To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest itself throug...

tiger team tiger team : n. [U.S. military jargon] 1. Originally, a team (of sneaker s)...

time T time T : /ti:m T/ , n. 1. An unspecified but usually well-understood time, ...

time bomb time bomb : n. A subspecies of logic bomb that is triggered by reaching som...

time sink time sink : n. [poss.: by analogy with heat sink or current sink ] A projec...

times-or-divided-by times-or-divided-by : quant. [by analogy with ‘plus-or-minus’] ...

timesharing timesharing [now primarily historical] Timesharing is the technique of sche...

tip of the ice-cube tip of the ice-cube : n. , // [IBM] The visible part of something small and...

tired iron tired iron : n. [IBM] Hardware that is perfectly functional but far enough ...

tits on a keyboard tits on a keyboard : n. Small bumps on certain keycaps to keep touch-typist...

to a first approximation to a first approximation : adj. 1. [techspeak] When one is doing certain nu...

to a zeroth approximation to a zeroth approximation [from to a first approximation ] A really sloppy ...

toad toad : vt. 1. Notionally, to change a MUD player into a toad. 2. To permane...

toast toast 1. n. Any completely inoperable system or component, esp. one that ha...

toaster toaster : n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded mi...

toeprint toeprint : n. A footprint of especially small size.

toggle toggle : vt. To change a bit from whatever state it is in to the other stat...

tool tool 1. n. A program used primarily to create, manipulate, modify, or analy...

toolchain toolchain A collection of tools used to develop for a particular hardware t...

toolsmith toolsmith : n. The software equivalent of a tool-and-die specialist; one wh...

toor toor : n. The Bourne-Again Super-user. An alternate account with UID of 0, ...

top-post top-post : n. , v. [common] To put the newly-added portion of an email or U...

topic drift topic drift : n. Term used on GEnie, Usenet and other electronic fora to de...

topic group topic group : n. Syn. forum .

tourist tourist : n. 1. [ITS] A guest on the system, especially one who generally l...

tourist information tourist information : n. Information in an on-line display that is not imme...

touristic touristic : adj. Having the quality of a tourist . Often used as a pejorati...

toy toy : n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers. 1. nice toy : One ...

toy language toy language : n. A language useful for instructional purposes or as a proo...

toy problem toy problem : n. [AI] A deliberately oversimplified case of a challenging p...

toy program toy program : n. 1. One that can be readily comprehended; hence, a trivial ...

trampoline trampoline : n. An incredibly hairy technique, found in some HLL and progra...

trap trap 1. n. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by some excepti...

trap door trap door : n. (alt.: trapdoor ) 1. Syn. back door — a Bad Thing . 2....

trash trash : vt. To destroy the contents of (said of a data structure). The most...

trawl trawl : v. To sift through large volumes of data (e.g., Usenet postings, FT...

tree-killer tree-killer : n. [Sun] 1. A printer. 2. A person who wastes paper. This epi...

treeware treeware : /tree´weir/ , n. Printouts, books, and other information media ...

trit trit : /trit/ , n. [by analogy with bit ] One base-3 digit; the amount of i...

trivial trivial : adj. 1. Too simple to bother detailing. 2. Not worth the speaker_...

troff troff : /T´rof/ , /trof/ , n. [Unix] The gray eminence of Unix text proces...

troglodyte troglodyte : n. [Commodore] 1. A hacker who never leaves his cubicle. The t...

troglodyte mode troglodyte mode : n. [Rice University] Programming with the lights turned o...

troll troll 1. v.,n. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban ] To utter a posti...

tron tron : v. [NRL, CMU; prob. fr. the movie Tron ] To become inaccessible exce...

troughie troughie : /traw´fee/ , n. [British BBS scene] Synonym for leech , sense 1...

true-hacker true-hacker : n. [analogy with ‘trufan’ from SF fandom] One who...

tty tty : /T·T·Y/ , /tit´ee/ , n. The latter pronunciation was primarily ITS...

tube tube 1. n. A CRT terminal. Never used in the mainstream sense of TV; real h...

tube time tube time : n. Time spent at a terminal or console. More inclusive than hac...

tunafish tunafish : n. In hackish lore, refers to the mutated punchline of an age-ol...

tune tune : vt. [from automotive or musical usage] To optimize a program or syst...

turbo nerd turbo nerd : n. See geek .

turist turist : /too´rist/ , n. Var. sp. of tourist , q.v. Also in adjectival for...

tweak tweak : vt. 1. To change slightly, usually in reference to a value. Also us...

twiddle twiddle : n. 1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, ~ ). Also called squiggle , sqiggle (...

twilight zone twilight zone : n. , // [IRC] Notionally, the area of cyberspace where IRC ...

twink twink : /twink/ , n. 1. [Berkeley] A clue-repellant user; the next step bey...

twirling baton twirling baton : n. [PLATO] The overstrike sequence -/|\-/|\- which produce...

two-to-the-N two-to-the-N : quant. An amount much larger than N but smaller than infinit...

two pi two pi : quant. The number of years it takes to finish one_s thesis. Occurs...

tyop tyop : n. [USENET] A deliberate typo for ‘typo’. Used in satiri...

u- u- : pref. Written shorthand for micro- ; techspeak when applied to metric ...

ubergeek ubergeek : n. , /oo´ber·geek/ [common; often spelled with initial ü; fro...

undefined external reference undefined external reference : excl. [Unix] A message from Unix_s linker. U...

under the hood under the hood : adj. [hot-rodder talk] 1. Used to introduce the underlying...

undocumented feature undocumented feature : n. See feature .

uninteresting uninteresting : adj. 1. Said of a problem that, although nontrivial , can b...

unixism unixism : n. A piece of code or a coding technique that depends on the prot...

unswizzle unswizzle : v. See swizzle .

unwind-protect unwind-protect : n. [MIT: from the name of a LISP operator] A task you must...

unwind the stack unwind the stack : vi. 1. [techspeak] During the execution of a procedural ...

up up : adj. 1. Working, in order. “ The down escalator is up. ” O...

upload upload : /uhp´lohd/ , v. 1. [techspeak] To transfer programs or data over ...

upstream upstream : adj. [common] Towards the original author(s) or maintainer(s) of...

upthread upthread : adv. Earlier in the discussion (see thread ), i.e., ‘above...

uptime uptime : n. Technically, a machine_s time since last reboot; jargonically, ...

urchin urchin : n. See munchkin .

user-friendly user-friendly : adj. Programmer-hostile. Generally used by hackers in a cri...

user-obsequious user-obsequious : adj. Emphatic form of user-friendly . Connotes a system s...

user user : n. 1. Someone doing ‘real work’ with the computer, using...

userland userland : n. Anywhere outside the kernel. “ That code belongs in use...

vadding vadding : /vad´ing/ , n. [from VAD, a permutation of ADV (i.e., ADVENT ), ...

vanilla vanilla : adj. [from the default flavor of ice cream in the U.S.] Ordinary ...

vanity domain vanity domain : n. [common; from ‘vanity plate’ as in car licen...

vannevar vannevar : /van_@·var/ , n. A bogus technological prediction or a foredoom...

vaporware vaporware : /vay´pr·weir/ , n. Products announced far in advance of any r...

var var : /veir/ , /var/ , n. Short for variable . Compare arg , param .

vaston vaston : n. [Durham, UK] The unit of ‘load average’. A measure ...

vaxocentrism vaxocentrism : /vak`soh·sen´trizm/ , n. [analogy with ‘ethnocentris...

vdiff vdiff : /vee´dif/ , v.,n. Visual diff. The operation of finding difference...

veeblefester veeblefester : /vee´b@l·fes`tr/ , n. [from the Born Loser comix via Commo...

velveeta velveeta : n. [Usenet: by analogy with spam . The trade name Velveeta is at...

verbage verbage : /ver´b@j/ , n. A deliberate misspelling and mispronunciation of ...

verbiage verbiage : n. When the context involves a software or hardware system, this...

vgrep vgrep : /vee´grep/ , v.,n. Visual grep. The operation of finding patterns ...

vi vi : /V·I/ , not , /vi:/ , never , /siks/ , n. [from ‘Visual Interfa...

video toaster video toaster : n. Historically, an Amiga fitted with a particular line of ...

videotex videotex : n. obs. An electronic service offering people the privilege of p...

virgin virgin : adj. Unused; pristine; in a known initial state. “ Let_s bri...

virtual virtual : adj. [via the technical term virtual memory , prob.: from the ter...

virtual Friday virtual Friday : n. (also logical Friday ) The last day before an extended ...

virtual beer virtual beer : n. Praise or thanks. Used universally in the Linux community...

virtual reality virtual reality : n. 1. Computer simulations that use 3-D graphics and devi...

virtual shredder virtual shredder : n. The jargonic equivalent of the bit bucket at shops us...

virus virus : n. [from the obvious analogy with biological viruses, via SF] A cra...

visionary visionary : n. 1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intel...

voice-net voice-net : n. Hackish way of referring to the telephone system, analogizin...

voice voice : vt. To phone someone, as opposed to emailing them or connecting in ...

voodoo programming voodoo programming : n. [from George Bush Sr._s “ voodoo economics &#...

vulture capitalist vulture capitalist : n. Pejorative hackerism for ‘venture capitalist&...

w00t w00t An interjection similar to “ Yay! ”, as in: “ w00t!!...

wabbit wabbit : /wab´it/ , n. [almost certainly from Elmer Fudd_s immortal line &...

waldo waldo : /wol´doh/ , n. [From Robert A. Heinlein_s story Waldo ] 1. A mecha...

walk walk : n.,vt. Traversal of a data structure, especially an array or linked-...

walk off the end of walk off the end of : vt. To run past the end of an array, list, or medium ...

walking drives walking drives : n. An occasional failure mode of magnetic-disk drives back...

wall wall : interj. [WPI] 1. An indication of confusion, usually spoken with a q...

wall follower wall follower : n. A person or algorithm that compensates for lack of sophi...

wall time wall time : n. (also wall clock time ) 1. ‘Real world’ time (wh...

wall wart wall wart : n. A small power-supply brick with integral male plug, designed...

wallhack wallhack A form of game cheat especially associated with first-person shoot...

wango wango : /wang´goh/ , n. Random bit-level grovel ling going on in a system ...

wank wank : /wangk/ , n.,v.,adj. [Columbia University: prob.: by mutation from C...

wannabee wannabee : /won_@·bee/ , n. (also, more plausibly, spelled wannabe ) [from...

war-chalking war-chalking [play on war-driving ; the first syllable has since been reint...

war-driving war-driving [play on war dialer ; also as single word wardriving ] Driving ...

war dialer war dialer : n. [originally from ‘wargames dialer’, a reference...

warez warez : /weirz/ , n. Widely used in cracker subcultures to denote cracked v...

warez d00dz warez d00dz : /weirz doodz/ , n. A substantial subculture of cracker s refe...

warez kiddies warez kiddies : n. Even more derogatory way of referring to warez d00dz ; r...

warlording warlording : v. [from the Usenet group alt.fan.warlord ] The act of excoria...

warm boot warm boot : n. See boot .

wart wart : n. A small, crock y feature that sticks out of an otherwise clean de...

washing machine washing machine : n. 1. Old-style 14-inch hard disks in floor-standing cabi...

washing software washing software : n. The process of recompiling a software distribution (u...

water MIPS water MIPS : n. (see MIPS , sense 2) Large, water-cooled machines of either...

wave a dead chicken wave a dead chicken : v. To perform a ritual in the direction of crashed so...

weasel weasel : n. [Cambridge] A naive user, one who deliberately or accidentally ...

web pointer web pointer : n. A World Wide Web URL . See also hotlink , which has slight...

web ring web ring : n. Two or more web sites connected by prominent links between si...

web toaster web toaster : n. A small specialized computer, shipped with no monitor or k...

webify webify : n. To put a piece of (possibly already existing) material on the W...

webmaster webmaster : n. [WWW: from postmaster ] The person at a site providing World...

wedged wedged : adj. 1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without help. This is...

wedgie wedgie : n. [Fairchild] A bug. Prob. related to wedged .

wedgitude wedgitude : /wedj´i·t[y]ood/ , n. The quality or state of being wedged .

weeble weeble : /weeb´l/ , interj. [Cambridge] Used to denote frustration, usuall...

weeds weeds : n. 1. Refers to development projects or algorithms that have no pos...

weenie weenie : n. 1. [on BBSes] Any of a species of luser resembling a less amusi...

well-behaved well-behaved : adj. 1. Software that does its job quietly and without count...

well-connected well-connected : adj. Said of a computer installation, asserts that it has ...

wetware wetware : /wet´weir/ , n. [prob.: from the novels of Rudy Rucker] 1. The h...

whack-a-mole whack-a-mole : n. [from the carnival game which involves quickly and repeat...

whack whack : v. According to arch-hacker James Gosling (designer of NeWS , GOSMA...

whacker whacker : n. [University of Maryland: from hacker ] 1. A person, similar to...

whales whales : n. See like kicking dead whales down the beach .

wheel wheel : n. [from slang ‘big wheel’ for a powerful person] A per...

wheel bit wheel bit : n. A privilege bit that allows the possessor to perform some re...

wheel of reincarnation wheel of reincarnation [coined in a paper by T.H. Myer and I.E. Sutherland ...

wheel wars wheel wars : n. [Stanford University] A period in larval stage during which...

white hat white hat See black hat .

whitelist whitelist : n. The opposite of a blacklist. That is, instead of being an ex...

whizzy whizzy : adj. (alt.: wizzy ) [Sun] Describes a cuspy program; one that is f...

wibble wibble [UK, perh. originally from the first Roger Irrelevant strip in VIZ c...

widget widget : n. 1. A meta-thing. Used to stand for a real object in didactic ex...

wiggles wiggles : n. [scientific computation] In solving partial differential equat...

wild side wild side The public or uncontrolled side of a firewall machine .

win win [MIT; now common everywhere] 1. vi. To succeed. A program wins if no un...

win big win big : vi. To experience serendipity. “ I went shopping and won bi...

win win win win : excl. Expresses pleasure at a win .

windoid windoid : n. In the Macintosh world, a style of window with much less adorn...

window shopping window shopping : n. [US Geological Survey] Among users of WIMP environment...

winged comments winged comments : n. Comments set on the same line as code, as opposed to b...

winkey winkey : n. (alt.: winkey face ) See emoticon .

winnage winnage : /win_@j/ , n. The situation when a lossage is corrected, or when ...

winner winner 1. n. An unexpectedly good situation, program, programmer, or person...

winnitude winnitude : /win_@·t[y]ood/ , n. The quality of winning (as opposed to win...

wired wired : n. See hardwired .

wirehead wirehead : /wi:r´hed/ , n. [prob.: from SF slang for an electrical-brain-s...

wirewater wirewater : n. Syn. programming fluid . This melds the mainstream slang adj...

wish list wish list : n. A list of desired features or bug fixes that probably won_t ...

within delta of within delta of : adj. See delta .

within epsilon of within epsilon of : adj. See epsilon .

wizard wizard : n. 1. Transitively, a person who knows how a complex piece of soft...

wizard hat wizard hat : n. [also, after Terry Pratchett, pointy hat ] Notional headgea...

wizard mode wizard mode : n. [from rogue ] A special access mode of a program or system...

wizardly wizardly : adj. Pertaining to wizards. A wizardly feature is one that only ...

wok-on-the-wall wok-on-the-wall : n. A small microwave dish antenna used for cross-campus p...

womb box womb box : n. 1. [TMRC] Storage space for equipment. 2. [proposed] A variet...

womble womble : n. [Unisys UK: from British puppet-show characters] A user who has...

wonky wonky : /wong´kee/ , adj. [from Australian slang] Yet another approximate ...

workaround workaround : n. 1. A temporary kluge used to bypass, mask, or otherwise avo...

working as designed working as designed : adj. [IBM] 1. In conformance to a wrong or inappropri...

worm worm : n. [from tapeworm in John Brunner_s novel The Shockwave Rider , via ...

wormhole wormhole : /werm´hohl/ , n. [from the wormhole singularities hypothesized ...

wound around the axle wound around the axle : adj. In an infinite loop. Often used by older compu...

wrap around wrap around : vi. (also n. wraparound and v. shorthand wrap ) 1. [techspeak...

write-only code write-only code : n. [a play on read-only memory ] Code so arcane, complex,...

write-only language write-only language : n. A language with syntax (or semantics) sufficiently...

write-only memory write-only memory : n. The obvious antonym to read-only memory . Out of fru...

wugga wugga wugga wugga : /wuh´g@ wuh´g@/ , n. Imaginary sound that a computer progra...

wumpus wumpus : /wuhm´p@s/ , n. The central monster (and, in many versions, the n...

xor xor : /X´or/ , /kzor/ , conj. Exclusive or. ‘A xor B’ means &#...

xref xref : /X´ref/ , v.,n. Hackish standard abbreviation for cross-reference .

xyzzy xyzzy : /X·Y·Z·Z·Y/ , /X·Y·ziz´ee/ , /ziz´ee/ , /ik·ziz´ee/ , adj...

yak shaving yak shaving [MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy...

yellow card yellow card : n. See green card .

yellow wire yellow wire : n. [IBM] Repair wires used when connectors (especially ribbon...

yoyo mode yoyo mode : n. The state in which the system is said to be when it rapidly ...

zap zap 1. n. Spiciness. 2. vt. To make food spicy. 3. vt. To make someone R...

zapped zapped : adj. Spicy. This term is used to distinguish between food that is ...

zbeba zbeba : n. [USENET] The word ‘moron’ in rot13 . Used to describ...

zen zen : vt. To figure out something by meditation or by a sudden flash of enl...

zero-content zero-content : adj. Syn. content-free .

zero zero : vt. 1. To set to 0. Usually said of small pieces of data, such as bi...

zeroth zeroth : /zee´rohth/ , adj. First. Among software designers, comes from C_...

zigamorph zigamorph : /zig_@·morf/ , n. 1. Hex FF (11111111) when used as a delimite...

zip zip : vt. [primarily MS-DOS/Windows] To create a compressed archive from a ...

zipperhead zipperhead : n. [IBM] A person with a closed mind.

zombie zombie : n. 1. [Unix] A process that has died but has not yet relinquished ...

zorch zorch : /zorch/ 1. [TMRC] v. To attack with an inverse heat sink. 2. [TMRC]...

zorkmid zorkmid : /zork´mid/ , n. The canonical unit of currency in hacker-written...