= Y =
=====

YA-: [Yet Another] abbrev. In hackish acronyms this almost
   invariably expands to {Yet Another}, following the precedent set
   by UNIX `yacc(1)'.  See {YABA}.

YABA: /ya'b*/ [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}.

YAUN: /yawn/ [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.

Yellow Book: [proposed] n. The print version of this Jargon File;
   `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.

Yet Another: adj. [From UNIX's `yacc(1)', `Yet Another Compiler-
   Compiler', a LALR parser generator]  1. Of your own work: A humorous
   allusion 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}.

You are not expected to understand this: cav. [UNIX] The canonical
   comment describing something {magic} or too complicated to
   bother explaining properly.  From an infamous comment in the
   context-switching code of the V6 UNIX kernel.

You know you've been hacking too long when...: The set-up line
   for a genre of one-liners told by hackers about themselves.  These
   include the following:

   * not only do you check your email more often than your paper
     mail, but you remember your {network address} faster than your
     postal one.
   * your {SO} kisses you on the neck and the first thing you
     think is "Uh, oh, {priority interrupt}."
   * you go to balance your checkbook and discover that you're
     doing it in octal.
   * your computers have a higher street value than your car.
   * in your universe, `round numbers' are powers of 2, not 10.
   * more than once, you have woken up recalling a dream in
     some programming language.
   * you realize you have never seen half of your best friends.

   [An early version of this entry said "All but one of these
   have been reliably reported as hacker traits (some of them quite
   often).  Even hackers may have trouble spotting the ringer."  The
   ringer was balancing one's checkbook in octal, which I made up out
   of whole cloth.  Although more respondents picked that one
   out as fiction than any of the others, I also received multiple
   independent reports of its actually happening. --- ESR]

Your mileage may vary: cav. [from the standard disclaimer attached
   to EPA mileage ratings by American car manufacturers] 1. A ritual
   warning often found in UNIX freeware distributions.  Translates
   roughly as "Hey, I tried to write this portably, but who
   *knows* what'll happen on your system?"  2. A qualifier more
   generally attached to advice.  "I find that sending flowers works
   well, but your mileage may vary."

Yow!: /yow/ [from "Zippy the Pinhead" comix] interj. A favored hacker
   expression of humorous surprise or emphasis.  "Yow!  Check out what
   happens when you twiddle the foo option on this display hack!"
   Compare {gurfle}.

yoyo mode: n. The state in which the system is said to be when it
   rapidly alternates several times between being up and being down.
   Interestingly (and perhaps not by coincidence), many hardware
   vendors give out free yoyos at Usenix exhibits.

   Sun Microsystems gave out logoized yoyos at SIGPLAN '88.  Tourists
   staying at one of Atlanta's most respectable hotels were
   subsequently treated to the sight of 200 of the country's top
   computer scientists testing yo-yo algorithms in the lobby.

Yu-Shiang Whole Fish: /yoo-shyang hohl fish/ n. obs. The
   character gamma (extended SAIL ASCII 0001001), which with a loop in
   its tail looks like a little fish swimming down the page.  The term
   is actually the name of a Chinese dish in which a fish is cooked
   whole (not {parse}d) and covered with Yu-Shiang (or Yu-Hsiang)
   sauce.  Usage: primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine, which
   could display this character on the screen.  Tends to elicit
   incredulity from people who hear about it second-hand.