The gon File, 4.0.0 | Page 3

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The preface has gotten so long an intertwined that we moved it to the
end for the Project Gutenberg Etext of the Jargon file. You can find it
by a search for the following line:

#======= THIS IS THE JARGON FILE, VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL
1996 =======#
The Jargon Lexicon ******************
= A = =====
:abbrev: /*-breev'/, /*-brev'/ /n./ Common abbreviation for
`abbreviation'.
:ABEND: /a'bend/, /*-bend'/ /n./ [ABnormal END] Abnormal
termination (of software); {crash}; {lossage}. Derives from an error
message on the IBM 360; used jokingly by hackers but seriously
mainly by {code grinder}s. Usually capitalized, but may appear as
`abend'. Hackers will try to persuade you that ABEND is called `abend'
because it is what system operators do to the machine late on Friday
when they want to call it a day, and hence is from the German `Abend'
= `Evening'.
:accumulator: /n. obs./ 1. Archaic term for a register. On-line use of it
as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable indication that the user
has been around for quite a while and/or that the architecture under
discussion is quite old. The term in full is almost never used of
microprocessor registers, for example, though symbolic names for
arithmetic registers beginning in `A' derive from historical use of the
term `accumulator' (and not, actually, from `arithmetic'). Confusingly,
though, an `A' register name prefix may also stand for `address', as for
example on the Motorola 680x0 family. 2. A register being used for
arithmetic or logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index),
especially one being used to accumulate a sum or count of many items.
This use is in context of a particular routine or stretch of code. "The
FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an accumulator." 3. One's in-basket (esp.
among old-timers who might use sense 1). "You want this reviewed?
Sure, just put it in the accumulator." (See {stack}.)
:ACK: /ak/ /interj./ 1. [from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110]
Acknowledge. Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream
*Yo!*). An appropriate response to {ping} or {ENQ}. 2. [from the
comic strip "Bloom County"] An exclamation of surprised disgust, esp.
in "Ack pffft!" Semi-humorous. Generally this sense is not spelled in
caps (ACK) and is distinguished by a following exclamation point. 3.
Used to politely interrupt someone to tell them you understand their

point (see {NAK}). Thus, for example, you might cut off an overly
long explanation with "Ack. Ack. Ack. I get it now".
There is also a usage "ACK?" (from sense 1) meaning "Are you there?",
often used in email when earlier mail has produced no reply, or during
a lull in {talk mode} to see if the person has gone away (the standard
humorous response is of course {NAK} (sense 2), i.e., "I'm not here").
:Acme: /n./ The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and
non-functional gadgetry -- where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson
shop. Describing some X as an "Acme X" either means "This is
{insanely great}", or, more likely, "This looks {insanely great} on
paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with
it." Compare {pistol}.
This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here
for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner
Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons. In these cartoons, the
famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap,
and eat the Roadrunner. His attempts usually involved one or more
high-technology Rube Goldberg devices -- rocket jetpacks, catapults,
magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were usually
delivered in large cardboard boxes, labeled prominently with the Acme
name. These devices