How to Beat a Speeding Ticket: A Guide for Motorists

[Jonathan Scott]

The "huff" and "puff" I have in mind are opposite actions. "Puff" is somewhat obsolete - we usually say "unhuff" instead now.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Hmmm. That should have made it easy to Google.

"Huff" is an abbreviation of a name related to the process which the verb describes.

 

[collinsmark]

Hmmm. Wild guess here.

There's Huffman coding -- an algorithm for lossless data compression.

I suppose that some programmer might make a comment in the source code,

/* here we "huff" the object to save space in the nonvolatile memory (or hard drive). */
huff(&object);​

or something like that. Then later, "unhuff()" might be used in the act of decompressing an object.

[Edit: here I'm just treating "huff()" and "unhuff()" as custom methods/functions that involve Huffman coding. I'm not necessarily referring to any standard library implementation, if one exists.]

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Yes, originally HUFF was a program used in the 1970s on IBM mainframes which compressed a file using a Huffman coding scheme, and PUFF was the aptly-named reverse program which inflated it back to the original size.

Now we use various other tools to compress data, but they still support the old formats using the HUFF and UNHUFF options, and we still use the term "huff" to mean to compress a file using that method.

See the "IBM Jargon Dictionary" (find it using Google) for these terms and an interesting and entertaining summary of various other bits of jargon used within IBM up to around 1990, such as "outside awareness" (window). It was compiled by Mike Cowlishaw, author of the REXX language and expert on decimal arithmetic, who worked at IBM Hursley (where I still work) until a few years ago, and his wife Kitt used to play viola in string trios with myself and my wife.

OK, collinsmark, it's your turn.

 

[collinsmark]

The new word of jargon is: bend

In this context:

• It is a noun.
• It's not a synonym for curve such as a "bend in a road," or that use of the word bend. Although there are multiple types of bends in this context, it doesn't mean curve in this context. (It also refers to something quite a bit more specific.)
• It lies right on the boundary of being tangible (real) or intangible (abstract). My opinion has gone full circle on whether a bend is tangible or intangible. Can you hold a bend in your hand? Yes, certainly. Or can you? Well, let's just assume you can hold a bend in your hand. When you wrap your fingers around the bend, are you physically touching the bend itself or are you physically touching some other material? I guess you're not physically touching the bend itself per se. Or are you? These are questions that one could ponder for ages. [Edit: if forced to specify one way or another whether a bend is tangible or intangible, I would have to say it is intangible. Probably.]
• It's not technological. Bends have been around for centuries (maybe longer).
• A bend is part of (or at least closely related to) a larger class of object who's usefulness not only depends on how easy it is to create, but also on how easy it is to "destroy." For maximum usefulness, not only should it serve its purpose, but also be easy to create and easy to destroy (when desired).

 

[collinsmark]

Maybe I should give one hint to get things going.

Although a bend itself is arguably not a tangible thing, it always involves a pair of tangible things -- definitely real, tangible things. These "things" can be two, separate objects; or they can be two different, distinctive parts of the same object. But one thing is for sure, a bend always involves two, separate, tangible things. A bend always involves a pair.

When a bend exists with these two objects, they won't quite function the same way as they would without the bend. They might "work" differently.

When a bend is removed/destroyed, it is simply gone. It vanishes without a trace.

The two other things continue to exist pretty much as they did before the bend was there. Yet without the bend they are each at their respective ends too, in a way. When the bend is gone/removed/destroyed, they -- each being at their respective (previously functional) working end, in a place very likely to have received a whipping -- are usually considered bitter (so to speak).

 

[flatmaster]

A bend is a class of knots where two ropes are tied together. Different rope diameters and materials call for different bends.

 

[collinsmark]

A bend is a class of knots where two ropes are tied together. Different rope diameters and materials call for different bends.

Yes, a bend is like a knot except it is used to tie two, rope ends together. Although in the case of a bend, there is nothing keeping it from working on both ends of the same rope. But whatever the case there are always two, rope ends involved.

A "hitch" attaches a rope to something altogether different such as a rigid post.

A "bend" is used to tie two, separate, rope ends together.

A "knot," technically speaking, works with only one end of a rope. (This depends on who you talk to. Some might say a bend and a hitch are really just different types of knots. But at this point, it's all a matter of semantics.)

To clarify my hint, The "bitter end" of a rope -- the same thing as the "working end" -- is the free end of a rope. Both are the same thing. It's the opposite of the "standing end" of a rope.

The bitter end of a rope is commonly tied up with a "whipping" to inhibit fraying (although with a modern nylon rope, the end might just be melted -- one couldn't do this with an old style rope though).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipping_knot
Here are a couple of images of a whipping applied to the bitter end of a rope.

------------------------------------------------

My favorite type of bend is a sheet bend.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_bend]

When I've found myself out on the water getting around only by the power of the wind, and I'm a bit shorthanded (or I'm singlehanding), this "knot," if you will (technically a "bend"), is extremely useful.

Okay flatmaster, you're up.

 

[flatmaster]

My word is "pull bouy".

Hint: Not to be confused with "pool boy"

 

[Jonathan Scott]

My word is "pull bouy".

Hint: Not to be confused with "pool boy"

Do you mean "pull buoy"?

 

[flatmaster]

Do you mean "pull buoy"?

Yes i did

 

[flatmaster]

From the clarification above, I think it's no supprise that a pull buoy is used in the water.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

From the clarification above, I think it's no supprise that a pull buoy is used in the water.

As I noticed when checking your original implausible spelling, there's a Wikipedia page for "Pull buoy":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull_buoy

If that's what you were thinking of, I think it's too obvious and you should choose some other term.

If not, feel free to keep going ...

 

[flatmaster]

You are correct. I don't have a new word, so your up Scott

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Sorry, but I've run out of jargon for now.

Anyone else want a go?

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

I'll toss one out.

Park and Bark

Hint:
It has nothing to do with dogs at all.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Is it an opera thing about singing instead of acting?

 

[lisab]

Does it relate to policing or crowd control?

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

Well dnag I thought that this one would be a bit more of a stumper.

Office_Shredder got it.

It is an opera term in where a singer enters the stage, parks in a spot and belts out his/her part, then leaves with no acting or movment invloved.

 

[Office_Shredder]

The word is flourish.

It is typically a fairly difficult maneuver to do using cards, but most observers would be bored watching you do it (in particular it is not related to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_flourish)

 

[Office_Shredder]

A hint: It's something you can only do using a deck of cards, or occasionally several decks of cards. It's something anyone can do on their own but you typically do not do with somebody else

 

[flatmaster]

Fairly difficult, yet boring to watch... Is a flourish the ordered set of cards you achieve after winning a game of solitaire?

 

[Office_Shredder]

That's not quite right, but close enough. When playing a solitaire game where you have to uncover low cards and move them to special cells a flourish is when you avoid putting many (or any) cards into the cells until the very end of the game, when all of them can be moved at once. Depending on the game (for example freecell) it's quite difficult to achieve

Your turn flatmaster

 

[flatmaster]

Weenie roaster.

Hint: It's not actually for cooking hotdogs, but it is a tool with a specific function.

 

[Danger]

Does it have anything to do with a tanning bed in a nudist colony?

 

[flatmaster]

No. That would be a muffin oven. I'm looking for a weenie roaster

 

[Danger]

Ah... my mistake.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Muffin oven? I cannot find anything about nudist colony tanning beds and muffin ovens, I need to know what you guys are talking about.

Is a weenie roaster some sort of EM emitting weapon for the military (I would guess microwave length solely on the basis of that's what's in call of duty IIRC )

 

[turbo]

Anybody know what a swamp donkey is?

 

[Danger]

Anybody know what a swamp donkey is?

I believe that I briefly dated one.

 

[flatmaster]

Muffin oven? I cannot find anything about nudist colony tanning beds and muffin ovens, I need to know what you guys are talking about.

Is a weenie roaster some sort of EM emitting weapon for the military (I would guess microwave length solely on the basis of that's what's in call of duty IIRC )

Muffin oven was just off the top of my head.

A weenie roaster is not a weapon, but it does emit EMF in the Infra Red range rather than the microwave range.

 

[collinsmark]

Is a weenie roaster a jet engine in this context?

Sometimes drag racing cars (dragsters) are equipped with jet engines, and if I'm not mistaken, these are called weenie roasters. Depending on who you talk to, the "weenie roaster" might refer to the jet engine on the car; or might refer to the entire dragster, jet engine, chassis and all.

[Edit: Another example might be a jet powered car used to break land-speed records.]

I also found a reference to a jet engine used for melting snow/ice, and it was called a "weenie roaster."

 

[flatmaster]

Nope, but you are correct that a weenie roaster is used to heat something up. However, it is done in a more controlled manner.

 

[flatmaster]

A weenie roaster heats something up, but does not actually melt it.

 

[Danger]

A weenie roaster heats something up, but does not actually melt it.

Well, that rules out the ex-. (No, never mind... that was the swamp thing...)