The letter M

• M [SI] pref. (on units) suff. (on numbers) See quantifiers.
• macdink /mak'dink/ [from the Apple Macintosh, which is said to
• machinable adj. Machine-readable. Having the softcopy nature.
• machoflops /mach'oh-flops/ [pun on `megaflops', a coinage for
• Macintoy /mak'in-toy/ n. The Apple Macintosh, considered as a
• Macintrash /mak'in-trash`/ n. The Apple Macintosh, as described
• macro /mak'roh/ [techspeak] n. A name (possibly followed by a
• macro- pref. Large. Opposite of micro-. In the mainstream
• macrology /mak-rol'*-jee/ n. 1. Set of usually complex or crufty
• macrotape /mak'roh-tayp/ n. An industry-standard reel of tape, as
• maggotbox /mag'*t-boks/ n. See Macintrash. This is even
• magic adj. 1. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain;
• magic cookie [UNIX] n. 1. Something passed between routines or
• magic number [UNIX/C] n. 1. In source code, some non-obvious
• magic smoke n. A substance trapped inside IC packages that enables
• mailbomb (also mail bomb) [USENET] 1. v. To send, or urge
• mailing list n. (often shortened in context to `list') 1. An
• main loop n. The top-level control flow construct in an input- or
• mainframe n. Term originally referring to the cabinet
• management n. 1. Corporate power elites distinguished primarily by
• mandelbug /man'del-buhg/ [from the Mandelbrot set] n. A bug
• manged /mahnjd/ [probably from the French `manger' or Italian
• mangle vt. Used similarly to mung or scribble, but more violent
• mangler [DEC] n. A manager. Compare mango; see also
• mango /mang'go/ [orig. in-house jargon at Symbolics] n. A manager.
• manularity /man`yoo-la'ri-tee/ [prob. fr. techspeak `manual'
• marbles [from mainstream "lost all his/her marbles"] pl.n. The
• marginal adj. 1. Extremely small. "A marginal increase in
• Marginal Hacks n. Margaret Jacks Hall, a building into which the
• marginally adv. Slightly. "The ravs here are only marginally
• marketroid /mar'k*-troyd/ alt. `marketing slime',
• Mars n. A legendary tragic failure, the archetypal Hacker Dream
• martian n. A packet sent on a TCP/IP network with a source
• massage vt. Vague term used to describe `smooth' transformations of
• math-out [poss. from `white-out' (the blizzard variety)] n. A
• Matrix [FidoNet] n. 1. What the Opus BBS software and sysops call
• maximum Maytag mode What a washing machine or, by extension,
• Mbogo, Dr. Fred /*m-boh'goh, dok'tr fred/ [Stanford] n. The
• meatware n. Synonym for wetware. Less common.
• meeces /mees'*z/ [TMRC] n. Occasional furry visitors who are
• meg /meg/ n. See quantifiers.
• mega- /me'g*/ [SI] pref. See quantifiers.
• megapenny /meg'*-pen`ee/ n. $10,000 (1 cent * 10^6).
• MEGO /me'goh/ or /mee'goh/ [`My Eyes Glaze Over', often `Mine
• meltdown, network n. See network meltdown.
• meme /meem/ [coined by analogy with `gene', by Richard
• meme plague n. The spread of a successful but pernicious
• memetics /me-met'iks/ [from meme] The study of memes. As of
• memory farts n. The flatulent sounds that some DOS box BIOSes
• memory leak n. An error in a program's dynamic-store allocation
• memory smash [XEROX PARC] n. Writing through a pointer that
• menuitis /men`yoo-i'tis/ n. Notional disease suffered by software
• mess-dos /mes-dos/ n. Derisory term for MS-DOS. Often followed
• meta /me't*/ or /may't*/ or (Commonwealth) /mee't*/ [from
• meta bit n. The top bit of an 8-bit character, which is on in
• metasyntactic variable n. A name used in examples and understood
• MFTL /M-F-T-L/ [abbreviation `My Favorite Toy Language'] 1. adj.
• mickey n. The resolution unit of mouse movement. It has been
• mickey mouse program n. North American equivalent of a noddy
• micro- pref. 1. Very small; this is the root of its use as a
• MicroDroid [USENET] n. A Microsoft employee, esp. one who posts
• microfloppies n. 3.5-inch floppies, as opposed to 5.25-inch
• microfortnight n. 1/1000000 of the fundamental unit of time in
• microLenat /mi`-kroh-len'-*t/ n. The unit of bogosity,
• microReid /mi'kroh-reed/ n. See bogosity.
• Microsloth Windows /mi'kroh-sloth` win'dohz/ n. Hackerism for
• microtape /mi'kroh-tayp/ n. Occasionally used to mean a
• middle-endian adj. Not big-endian or little-endian.
• milliLampson /mil'*-lamp`sn/ n. A unit of talking speed,
• minifloppies n. 5.25-inch vanilla floppy disks, as opposed to
• MIPS /mips/ [abbreviation] n. 1. A measure of computing speed;
• misbug /mis-buhg/ [MIT] n. An unintended property of a program
• misfeature /mis-fee'chr/ or /mis'fee`chr/ n. A feature that
• Missed'em-five n. Pejorative hackerism for AT&T System V UNIX,
• missile address n. See ICBM address.
• miswart /mis-wort/ [from wart by analogy with misbug] n.
• moby /moh'bee/ [MIT seems to have been in use among model
• mockingbird n. Software that intercepts communications
• mod vt.,n. 1. Short for `modify' or `modification'. Very
• mode n. A general state, usually used with an adjective
• mode bit n. A flag, usually in hardware, that selects between
• modulo /mod'yu-loh/ prep. Except for. An overgeneralization of
• molly-guard /mol'ee-gard/ [University of Illinois] n. A shield
• Mongolian Hordes technique [poss. from the Sixties counterculture
• monkey up vt. To hack together hardware for a particular task,
• monkey, scratch n. See scratch monkey.
• monstrosity 1. n. A ridiculously elephantine program or
• monty /mon'tee/ [US Geological Survey] n. A program with a
• Moof /moof/ [MAC users] 1. n. A semi-legendary creature, also
• Moore's Law /morz law/ prov. The observation that the logic
• moose call n. See whalesong.
• moria /mor'ee-*/ n. Like nethack and rogue, one of
• MOTAS /moh-tahz/ [USENET Member Of The Appropriate Sex, after
• MOTOS /moh-tohs/ [acronym from the 1970 U.S. census forms via
• MOTSS /mots/ or /M-O-T-S-S/ [from the 1970 U.S. census forms
• mouse ahead vi. Point-and-click analog of `type ahead'. To
• mouse around vi. To explore public portions of a large system, esp.
• mouse belt n. See rat belt.
• mouse droppings [MS-DOS] n. Pixels (usually single) that are not
• mouse elbow n. A tennis-elbow-like fatigue syndrome resulting from
• mouso /mow'soh/ n. [by analogy with `typo'] An error in mouse usage
• MS-DOS /M-S-dos/ [MicroSoft Disk Operating System] n. A
• mu /moo/ The correct answer to the classic trick question
• MUD /muhd/ [acronym, Multi-User Dungeon; alt. Multi-User
• muddie n. Syn. mudhead. More common in Great Britain, possibly
• mudhead n. Commonly used to refer to a MUD player who eats,
• multician /muhl-ti'shn/ [coined at Honeywell, ca. 1970] n.
• Multics /muhl'tiks/ n. [from "MULTiplexed Information and
• multitask n. Often used of humans in the same meaning it has for
• mumblage /muhm'bl*j/ n. The topic of one's mumbling (see
• mumble interj. 1. Said when the correct response is too
• munch [often confused with mung, q.v.] vt. To transform
• munching n. Exploration of security holes of someone else's
• munching squares n. A display hack dating back to the PDP-1
• munchkin /muhnch'kin/ [from the squeaky-voiced little people in
• mundane [from SF fandom] n. 1. A person who is not in science
• mung /muhng/ [in 1960 at MIT, `Mash Until No Good'; sometime
• munge /muhnj/ vt. 1. [derogatory] To imperfectly transform
• Murphy's Law prov. The correct, *original* Murphy's Law
• music n. A common extracurricular interest of hackers (compare
• mutter vt. To quietly enter a command not meant for the ears, eyes,

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The letter N