WhatIs

/yet ə-nə-t͟hər/

adj. [From UNIX's yacc(1), Yet Another Compiler-Compiler, a LALR parser generator]

1. Of your own work: A humorous often used in titles to acknowledge that the topic is not original, though the content is. As in Yet Another AI Group or Yet Another Simulated Annealing Algorithm.

2. Of others' work: Describes something of which there are far too many.

See also YA-, YABA, YAUN.

/ye-lō bu̇k/

[proposed]

n. The print version of The New Hacker's Dictionary, forthcoming from MIT Press, 1991. Includes all the material in the File, plus a Foreword by Guy L. Steele and a Preface by Eric S. Raymond. Most importantly, the book version is nicely typeset and includes almost all of the infamous Crunchly cartoons by the Great Quux, each attached to an appropriate entry.

/yän/ or /Y-A-U-N/

[Acronym for Yet Another UNIX Nerd]

n. Reported from the San Diego Computer Society (predominantly a microcomputer users' group) as a good-natured punning insult aimed at UNIX zealots.

/yä-bə/ or /Y-A-B-A/

[Cambridge]

n. Yet Another Bloody Acronym. Whenever some program is being named, someone invariably suggests that it be given a name that is acronymic. The response from those with a trace of originality is to remark ironically that the proposed name would then be YABA-compatible. Also used in response to questions like "What is WYSIWYG?"

See also TLA.

/yet ə-nə-t͟hər/ or /Y-A/

[Yet Another]

abbrev. In hackish acronyms this almost invariably expands to Yet Another, following the precedent set by UNIX yacc(1).

See YABA.

/X-Y-Z-Z-Y/, /X-Y-ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/ or /ik-ziz'ee/

[from the ADVENT game]

adj. The canonical magic word. This comes from ADVENT, in which the idea is to explore an underground cave with many rooms and to collect the treasures you find there. If you type xyzzy at the appropriate time, you can move instantly between two otherwise distant points. If, therefore, you encounter some bit of magic, you might remark on this quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!"

/eks-eks-eks/

n. A marker that attention is needed. Commonly used in program comments to indicate areas that are kluged up or need to be. Some hackers liken XXX to the notional heavy-porn movie rating.

/eks-ref/

vt., n. Hackish standard abbreviation for cross-reference.

/eks-ər/ or /kzor/

conj. Exclusive or. 'A xor B' means 'A or B, but not both'. "I want to get cherry pie xor a banana split." This derives from the technical use of the term as a function on truth-values that is true if exactly one of its two arguments is true.

/eks-ȯf/

n. Syn. control-s.