Actually, I worked in an office this summer, where one of my main duties was helping with the conversion from the token ring network that they were currently using to Cisco ATM switches.
The fleet bank downstairs was kinda flaky, and their ATM was often out of money. It wasn’t uncommon to hear someone ask “What’s the status of the ATM?” In this context, it WAS difficult to tell whether they were referring to the ATM project, or the cash machine.
dons asbestos BVDs Well, what ELSE would Unix be good for?
Yeah, it really could use a good updating. Someone has an html version floating around out there, but I lost my link. It’s still really outdated, though.
OK, I’ll accept that there is ambiguity, but those aren’t even a significant minority of the situations where the redundant “machine” is inserted.
I was referring to old radio commercials that said “ADAP - discount auto parts”.
Oh, and Unix would be good for times when you want a stable and reliable operating system. I’m also surprised that the site you linked to is there. The person who’s site that’s on is a fried of mine (I’m even listed on her “friends” page), and graduated over a year ago. Usually RPI eliminates accounts for people six months after they leave.
Here’s a link to my favorite reference’s info on recursive acronyms. Technically, a recursive acronym is one in which the acronym itself appears in its own expansion. I think it’s more of a hacker thing than specifically Unix–it’s just that the hacker-types who find this sort of thing amusing tend to gravitate toward Unix (or, more recently, Linux) because it gives them more control over their machines.
People often find acronyms awkward; turning them into adjectives seems to make acronymophobes more comfortable for some unfathomable reason.
"Achilles: Oh, thank you so very much, Genie. But my curiousity is provoked. Before I make my wish, would you mind telling me who–or what–GOD is?
Genie: Not at all. “GOD” is an acronym which stands for “GOD Over Djinn”. The word “Djinn” is used to designate Genies, Meta-Genies, Meta-Meta-Genies, etc. It is a Typless word.
Achilles: But–but–how can “GOD” be a word in its own acronym? That doesn’t make any sense!
Genie: Oh, aren’t you acquainted with recursive acronyms? I thought everybody knew about them. You see, “GOD” stands for “GOD Over Djinn”–which can be expanded as “GOD Over Djinn, Over Djinn”–and that can, in turn, be expanded to “GOD Over Djinn, Over Djinn, Over Djinn”–which can, it its turn, be further expanded. . . You can go as far as you like.
Achilles: But I’ll never finish!
Genie: Of course not. You can never totally expand on GOD."
-Douglas R. Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
My friend had two fish. She named one GOAG, for Grumpy Old Asian Guy (which is what the fish resembled), and she decided on another acronym for the second fish when she acquired it, thus it became TING, for Ting Is Not Goag.
