Deciphering the jargon: troll, OT, TEOTWAWKI, etc.

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

There are likely a lot of newcomers in the past few days. It can be difficult to pick up some of the jargon that gets used around here as "shortcuts" to communication. As a service to newcomers, here are a few key definitions and decipherments...old timers can add any others I missed.

Doomer - n. anyone who believes Y2K could cause serious problems in society and acts on that belief.

Polly - n. from "Pollyanna", a fictional character who saw good in everything. In TB2000, someone who believes Y2K is mostly hype and not a serious problem.

Troll - n. a person whose posting is designed to incite a predictable response, like a fisher baiting a fish to get it to swallow a hook. In TB2000 the most predictable bait is to sound like a polly.

Flame - n. the sort of response most often drawn by trolls. An angry reply.

Some common abbreviations:

OT - Off-topic

TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it

BTW - by the way

AFAIK - as far as I know

YMMV - your mileage may vary

FAQ - frequently asked questions

Sysop - system operator (a TB2000 forum editor and maintainer)

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), November 23, 1999

Answers

Sysop - system operator (a TB2000 forum editor and maintainer)

Enjoyed the "pun" Brian!

-- CD (not@here.com), November 23, 1999.


......And its pronounced "SIS-OP", not "SIGH-SOP".

Its always been a peeve for me when people mispronounce it.

Kind of like "new-que-ler" for nuclear and "pis-getti" for spaghetti.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 23, 1999.


here's another recent thread with many more acronyms:

More Acronyms from this Forum



-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), November 23, 1999.


Some more:

BITR - bump in the road

LOL - laughing out loud

ROTFLMAO - rolling on the floor, laughing my *ss off

Infomagic - the handle of a doomer who wrote a series of articles hypothesizing that Y2K would cause society to devolve into chaos.

Kosky - a diminutive for John Koskinen, the government's Y2K "czar", the coodinator of public Y2K "education" or PR efforts. See also Ko-skin-em, and a host of other derogatory names.

NOTE: as for the sysops as "editors", I meant it only in terms of overseeing the content of the forum. And yes, they are empowered to do more than the rest of us. They own the keys to the forum, more or less. But I hope this thread doesn't degenerate into Yet Another Debate on that subject. Other threads are available for that.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), November 23, 1999.


CDC - century date change - the change from the 1900s to 2000s. An alternative way to refer to Y2K.

GI - n. a person who "gets it", someone who grasps how something as simple as a computer bug could affect all of us in unexpected ways, due to the interconnectedness of modern life.

DGI - n. a person who "doesn't get it".

DWGI - n. a person who "doesn't wanna get it", someone in denial, even when presented with facts on Y2K.

JAE - Jo Anne Effect, a hypothesis concerning computer programs that perform "look-ahead logic". An example would be many accounting programs that entered the fiscal year 2000 earlier in 1999. The JAE hypothesized that the failure of such programs would harm thousands of business enterprises long before January 1, 2000 and cause them to fail. Still may bite in December, 1999, but not as feared as it once was.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), November 23, 1999.



CYA - cover your *ss (protect yourself)

JQP - John Q. Public (an Everyman figure in the USA)

IIRC - if I recall correctly

csy2k - comp.software.year-2000, a discussion group on the Usenet

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), November 23, 1999.


IMO - in my opinion

IMHO - in my humble opinion

TPTB - the powers that be (those in high positions of influence and authority)

NWO - new world order (world government, usually invoked by conspiracy theorists)

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), November 23, 1999.


LIES...what Clinton has to say about anything.

-- JB (noway@jose.com), November 23, 1999.

WTSHTF - when the s*** hits the fan

BOB - "bug-out" bag (what you put your stuff in when you "bug out" or leave town in a hurry

-- (NoPangloss@candide.com), November 27, 1999.


From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Bugout Bag: pre-packed bag of life saving essentials geared to last for a certain length of time. One determines how much they can reasonably be expected to carry long distances, and a budget, then outfits the bag within those limits. Most people cannot pack enough food, water and bedding to last them more than about three days. If you may be away longer than that and don't expect any rescue, you might consider planning to miss a lot of meals, finding and treating your own water, and hunting/trapping/foraging.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), November 28, 1999.



JIT - just in time, a method of managing deliveries of goods to minimize inventory. When JIT deliveries are disrupted, inventories may run out within hours.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), December 13, 1999.

JIT - A method of *manufacturing* goods intended to reduce production runs, maximize inventory turns, and minimize turnaround times. A side- effect of JIT is minimum inventory sizes, meaning production problems will result in shortages very quickly.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), December 13, 1999.

Sorry to seem so uninformed, but what does FUD mean? Thanks!

-- Elmer FUD? (123@456.com), January 04, 2000.

Elmer, I believe FUD stands for "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt," three feelings often experienced with regard to Y2K and preparing for same.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), January 04, 2000.

TBWB = "the big white bus" (supposedly to be used by the government to haul us away when martial law is enforced)

-- No Polly (nopolly@hotmail.com), February 14, 2000.


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