The letter T

• T /T/ 1. [from LISP terminology for `true'] Yes. Used in
• tail recursion n. If you aren't sick of it already, see {tailrecursion}
• talk mode n. A feature supported by UNIX, ITS, and some other
• talker system n. British hackerism for software that enables
• tall card n. A PC/AT-size expansion card (these can be larger
• tanked adj. Same as down, used primarily by UNIX hackers. See
• TANSTAAFL /tan'stah-fl/ [acronym, from Robert Heinlein's
• tar and feather [from UNIX `tar(1)'] vt. To create a
• taste [primarily MIT] n. 1. The quality in a program that tends
• tayste /tayst/ n. Two bits; also as taste. Syn. crumb,
• TCB /T-C-B/ [IBM] n. 1. Trouble Came Back. An intermittent or
• tea, ISO standard cup of [South Africa] n. A cup of tea with milk
• TechRef /tek'ref/ [MS-DOS] n. The original "IBM PC
• TECO /tee'koh/ obs. 1. [originally an acronym for `[paper] Tape
• tee n.,vt. [Purdue] A carbon copy of an electronic transmission.
• teledildonics /tel`*-dil-do'-niks/ n. Sex in a computer
• Telerat /tel'*-rat/ n. Unflattering hackerism for `Teleray', a
• TELNET /tel'net/ vt. To communicate with another Internet host
• ten-finger interface n. The interface between two networks that
• tense adj. Of programs, very clever and efficient. A tense piece
• tenured graduate student n. One who has been in graduate school
• tera- /te'r*/ [SI] pref. See quantifiers.
• teraflop club /te'r*-flop kluhb/ [FLOP = Floating Point
• terminak /ter'mi-nak`/ [Caltech, ca. 1979] n. Any
• terminal brain death n. The extreme form of terminal illness
• terminal illness n. 1. Syn. raster burn. 2. The `burn-in'
• terminal junkie [UK] n. A wannabee or early {larvalstage}
• terpri /ter'pree/ [from LISP 1.5 (and later, MacLISP)] vi. To
• test n. 1. Real users bashing on a prototype long enough to get
• TeX /tekh/ n. An extremely powerful macro-based
• text n. 1. [techspeak] Executable code, esp. a `pure code'
• thanks in advance [USENET] Conventional net.politeness ending a
• That's not a bug, that's a feature! The canonical first
• the X that can be Y is not the true X Yet another instance of
• theology n. 1. Ironically or humorously used to refer to
• theory n. The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that
• thinko /thing'koh/ [by analogy with `typo'] n. A momentary,
• This can't happen Less clipped variant of can't happen.
• This time, for sure! excl. Ritual affirmation frequently uttered
• thrash vi. To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing
• thread n. [USENET, GEnie, CompuServe] Common abbreviation of
• three-finger salute n. Syn. Vulcan nerve pinch.
• thud n. 1. Yet another metasyntactic variable (see foo).
• thumb n. The slider on a window-system scrollbar. So called
• thunk /thuhnk/ n. 1. "A piece of coding which provides an
• tick n. 1. A jiffy (sense 1). 2. In simulations, the
• tick-list features [Acorn Computers] n. Features in software or
• tickle a bug vt. To cause a normally hidden bug to manifest
• tiger team [U.S. military jargon] n. 1. Originally, a team whose
• time bomb n. A subspecies of logic bomb that is triggered by
• time sink [poss. by analogy with `heat sink' or `current sink'] n.
• time T /tim T/ n. 1. An unspecified but usually well-understood
• times-or-divided-by [by analogy with `plus-or-minus'] quant.
• tip of the ice-cube [IBM] n. The visible part of something small and
• tired iron [IBM] n. Hardware that is perfectly functional but
• tits on a keyboard n. Small bumps on certain keycaps to keep
• TLA /T-L-A/ [Three-Letter Acronym] n. 1. Self-describing
• TMRC /tmerk'/ n. The Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT, one of
• TMRCie /tmerk'ee/, [MIT] n. A denizen of TMRC.
• to a first approximation 1. [techspeak] When one is doing certain
• to a zeroth approximation [from `to a first approximation'] A
• toast 1. n. Any completely inoperable system or component, esp.
• toaster n. 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an
• toeprint n. A footprint of especially small size.
• toggle vt. To change a bit from whatever state it is in to the
• tool 1. n. A program used primarily to create, manipulate,
• toolsmith n. The software equivalent of a tool-and-die
• topic drift n. Term used on GEnie, USENET and other electronic
• topic group n. Syn. forum.
• TOPS-10 /tops-ten/ n. DEC's proprietary OS for the fabled PDP-10
• TOPS-20 /tops-twen'tee/ n. See TWENEX.
• toto /toh-toh'/ n. Reportedy the default scratch file name
• tourist [ITS] n. A guest on the system, especially one who
• tourist information n. Information in an on-line display that is
• touristic adj. Having the quality of a tourist. Often used
• toy n. A computer system; always used with qualifiers.
• toy language n. A language useful for instructional purposes or
• toy problem [AI] n. A deliberately oversimplified case of a
• toy program n. 1. One that can be readily comprehended; hence, a
• trampoline n. An incredibly hairy technique, found in some
• trap 1. n. A program interrupt, usually an interrupt caused by
• trap door alt. `trapdoor' n. 1. Syn. back door --- a
• trash vt. To destroy the contents of (said of a data structure).
• trawl v. To sift through large volumes of data (e.g., USENET
• tree-killer [Sun] n. 1. A printer. 2. A person who wastes
• treeware /tree'weir/ n. Printouts, books, and other information
• trit /trit/ [by analogy with `bit'] n. One base-3 digit; the
• trivial adj. 1. Too simple to bother detailing. 2. Not worth the
• troff /T'rof/ or /trof/ [UNIX] n. The gray eminence of UNIX
• troglodyte [Commodore] n. 1. A hacker who never leaves his
• troglodyte mode [Rice University] n. Programming with the lights
• Trojan horse [coined by MIT-hacker-turned-NSA-spook Dan Edwards]
• tron [NRL, CMU; prob. fr. the movie "Tron"] v. To become
• true-hacker [analogy with `trufan' from SF fandom] n. One who
• tty /T-T-Y/ [UNIX], /tit'ee/ [ITS, but some UNIX people say it
• tube 1. n. A CRT terminal. Never used in the mainstream sense of
• tube time n. Time spent at a terminal or console. More inclusive
• tunafish n. In hackish lore, refers to the mutated punchline of
• tune [from automotive or musical usage] vt. To optimize a program
• turbo nerd n. See computer geek.
• Turing tar-pit n. 1. A place where anything is possible but
• turist /too'rist/ n. Var. sp. of tourist, q.v. Also in
• tweak vt. 1. To change slightly, usually in reference to a
• tweeter [University of Waterloo] n. Syn. perf, chad
• TWENEX /twe'neks/ n. The TOPS-20 operating system by DEC ---
• twiddle n. 1. Tilde (ASCII 1111110, `~'). Also
• twilight zone [IRC] n. Notionally, the area of cyberspace where IRC
• twink /twink/ [UCSC] n. Equivalent to read-only user.
• twirling baton [PLATO] n. The overstrike sequence -/|\-/|\- which
• two pi quant. The number of years it takes to finish one's
• two-to-the-N quant. An amount much larger than N but smaller
• twonkie /twon'kee/ n. The software equivalent of a Twinkie (a

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The letter U