Auftragstaktik, from Auftrag and Taktik; a command concept in which even the most junior officers were required to make far reaching decisions; also known as Mission Command in the US and UK. During a war game critique Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke decreed that "as a rule an order should contain only what the subordinate for the achievement of his goals cannot determine on his own." Everything else was to be left to the commander on the spot.
An expected anomaly where an open source file system is deployed to a production system without sufficient testing, a socialized knowledge base, or back-up resources.
As used in software estimating, a Petta, or Petta Unit, is a period of 3-months in which to complete an entire application. Freely adopted from the Friedman unit, a neologism coined by Duncan Black to describe journalist Thomas Friedman's repeated use of "the next six months" as the period in which, according to Friedman, "we're going to find out...whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq War.
When a trademarked name becomes so closely identified with a material that most consumers cannot express a desire for the material without using, or at least thinking, about that name. See former trademarks Cellophane and Linoleum. Genericide is to be avoided for those who are trying to create a brand name that can be a protectable trademark.
AKA Charlie Foxtrot for the military phonetic initials, a cluster fuck is disastrous situation originating from above, at least several pay grades, with the 'cluster' in this use the oak cluster worn by officers at the Major and Colonel level. Lack of communication and common sense, as well as a rigid hierarchy are usually involved. A close relative to FUBAR.
Finnish word for a encircled enemy force, aka a kessel in German. From mottius the innovative Finnish tactic in the Winter and Continuation wars to break up Soviet forces into pockets by the use of light and highly mobile forces that then allowed the isolated pocket, sometimes composed of stronger forces, to 'cook' until it ran out of supplies.
Panic ensuing when a military force is surrounded, i.e. contained within a kessel or pocket, with little chance of escape. The Germans at Stalingrad in WWII is a prime example.
Alternating action of coordinated units to advance upon an objective, where one unit provides overwatch and suppressing fire while the other unit advances - also known as leapfrogging. Essential small unit tactic in urban and close quarters combat.
Ancient astronauts is nice but hard to slip into conversations. Not so paleocontact! It begs to be dropped at the earliest lull or the least expected moment.
Another name for 18th century coffee houses. Those attending (after paying a penny) had access to coffee and conversation and the resultant climate favored agitation. Lloyd's of London sprung from this milieu.
Leaves no option to retreat or back out of a course of action once committed. Simply put, no going back. This expression dates to Hernando Cortez and the Spanish conquest of Mexico (1519) where upon landing his forces he ordered his ships burned to present no option for escape to his troops.
Mitznefet is a Hebrew word. Slate offers the following:
"One common translation is "clown hat," but the term has some more dignified connotations. The biblical Book of Exodus uses mitznefet to describe the ancient headgear of the Jewish high priests. As such, the word has been translated as "mitre" or "headdress." But some biblical scholars think mitznefet comes from the root "to wrap," and say that a better translation would be "turban."
Israeli camouflage helmet cover (2-sided, woodland green and desert brown) worn over the helmet to break up its outline into irregular forms and provide added protection from the sun and elements.
US Marine mocking slang for Fallujah, Iraq (a play on the stateside music festival Lollapalooza) which evolved a lashed-up psywar 'soundtrack' of hard rock, metal rap, horror film samples, and scatological insults designed to taunt and intimidate the insurgent enemy while priming the Marines for close quarter combat. Platoons in Lt. Colonel Brennan Bryne's 1/5 (1st Battalion/5th Marines) "competed to dream up the filthiest insults for the translators to scream over the louspeakers. When enraged Iraqis rushed from a mosque blindly firing their AKs, the Marines shot them down." Sonic exchanges played out day and night between the loudspeakers of Marines and Army psywar units and the mujahadeen mullahs.
Lt. Colonel Bryan McCoy would play "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by Drowning Pool at full blast to his assembled 3/4 Marines before battle. Other examples include "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses and "Hells Bells" by AC/DC.
Source: No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah by Bing West (2005)
Sisu, simply translated as 'guts' - strength of will and determination as an essential element of Finnish national character http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu
In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch, brennig or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through a range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bealach
British Royal Marines term for long march with full kit - made popular by the yomp from San Carlos to Stanley during the Falklands war of 1982. Wikipedia yomp
From Wikipedia: The term originated as an abstraction of the sequence: single, double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, n-tuple. A tuple of length n is usually described as an n-tuple. In mathematics, a tuple is a sequence (also known as an "ordered list") of values, called the components of the tuple. These components can be any kind of mathematical objects, where each component of a tuple is a value of a specified type
Comments by errguitar
errguitar commented on the word plenumasi
plenumasi - Those who have participated in plenums, specifically in the Bosnian "Spring" of 2014
December 27, 2014
errguitar commented on the word combat jack
Taking time out of a dangerous mission to jack off, masturbate, pet the bunny, shock the monkey, etc; also echoed in Generation Kill.
March 15, 2013
errguitar commented on the word auftragstaktik
Auftragstaktik, from Auftrag and Taktik; a command concept in which even the most junior officers were required to make far reaching decisions; also known as Mission Command in the US and UK. During a war game critique Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke decreed that "as a rule an order should contain only what the subordinate for the achievement of his goals cannot determine on his own." Everything else was to be left to the commander on the spot.
March 15, 2013
errguitar commented on the word lustre fluck
An expected anomaly where an open source file system is deployed to a production system without sufficient testing, a socialized knowledge base, or back-up resources.
March 27, 2009
errguitar commented on the word wong
As used in estimating software development, a 15-minute unit in which to develop an entire application.
March 27, 2009
errguitar commented on the word petta
As used in software estimating, a Petta, or Petta Unit, is a period of 3-months in which to complete an entire application. Freely adopted from the Friedman unit, a neologism coined by Duncan Black to describe journalist Thomas Friedman's repeated use of "the next six months" as the period in which, according to Friedman, "we're going to find out...whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq War.
Wikipedia: Friedman Unit
March 27, 2009
errguitar commented on the word genericide
When a trademarked name becomes so closely identified with a material that most consumers cannot express a desire for the material without using, or at least thinking, about that name. See former trademarks Cellophane and Linoleum. Genericide is to be avoided for those who are trying to create a brand name that can be a protectable trademark.
February 20, 2009
errguitar commented on the word cluster fuck
AKA Charlie Foxtrot for the military phonetic initials, a cluster fuck is disastrous situation originating from above, at least several pay grades, with the 'cluster' in this use the oak cluster worn by officers at the Major and Colonel level. Lack of communication and common sense, as well as a rigid hierarchy are usually involved. A close relative to FUBAR.
January 26, 2009
errguitar commented on the word spur
A subsidiary summit to a mountain. A lower summit than the parent peak but sharing the same ridgeline.
January 26, 2009
errguitar commented on the word motti
Finnish word for a encircled enemy force, aka a kessel in German. From mottius the innovative Finnish tactic in the Winter and Continuation wars to break up Soviet forces into pockets by the use of light and highly mobile forces that then allowed the isolated pocket, sometimes composed of stronger forces, to 'cook' until it ran out of supplies.
One of the most celebrated examples is the battle of Suomussalami
January 26, 2009
errguitar commented on the word kessel fever
Panic ensuing when a military force is surrounded, i.e. contained within a kessel or pocket, with little chance of escape. The Germans at Stalingrad in WWII is a prime example.
January 26, 2009
errguitar commented on the word bounding overwatch
Alternating action of coordinated units to advance upon an objective, where one unit provides overwatch and suppressing fire while the other unit advances - also known as leapfrogging. Essential small unit tactic in urban and close quarters combat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounding_Overwatch
January 26, 2009
errguitar commented on the word concupiscient
Strong desire, especially sexual desire - from concupiscience - to ardently desire
January 26, 2009
errguitar commented on the word paleocontact
Ancient astronauts is nice but hard to slip into conversations. Not so paleocontact! It begs to be dropped at the earliest lull or the least expected moment.
January 19, 2009
errguitar commented on the word penny university
Another name for 18th century coffee houses. Those attending (after paying a penny) had access to coffee and conversation and the resultant climate favored agitation. Lloyd's of London sprung from this milieu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_University
January 19, 2009
errguitar commented on the word volksmarch
Literally 'peoples' march' in German - non-competitive fitness walking
January 18, 2009
errguitar commented on the word burn the ships
Leaves no option to retreat or back out of a course of action once committed. Simply put, no going back. This expression dates to Hernando Cortez and the Spanish conquest of Mexico (1519) where upon landing his forces he ordered his ships burned to present no option for escape to his troops.
January 10, 2009
errguitar commented on the word traipsing
Walking aimlessly or idly or without finding or reaching one's goal. Perhaps a more animated form of drift.
January 5, 2009
errguitar commented on the word mitznefet
Mitznefet is a Hebrew word. Slate offers the following:
"One common translation is "clown hat," but the term has some more dignified connotations. The biblical Book of Exodus uses mitznefet to describe the ancient headgear of the Jewish high priests. As such, the word has been translated as "mitre" or "headdress." But some biblical scholars think mitznefet comes from the root "to wrap," and say that a better translation would be "turban."
Source: http://www.slate.com/id/2147495/
January 5, 2009
errguitar commented on the word mitznefet
Israeli camouflage helmet cover (2-sided, woodland green and desert brown) worn over the helmet to break up its outline into irregular forms and provide added protection from the sun and elements.
January 5, 2009
errguitar commented on the word lalafallujah
US Marine mocking slang for Fallujah, Iraq (a play on the stateside music festival Lollapalooza) which evolved a lashed-up psywar 'soundtrack' of hard rock, metal rap, horror film samples, and scatological insults designed to taunt and intimidate the insurgent enemy while priming the Marines for close quarter combat. Platoons in Lt. Colonel Brennan Bryne's 1/5 (1st Battalion/5th Marines) "competed to dream up the filthiest insults for the translators to scream over the louspeakers. When enraged Iraqis rushed from a mosque blindly firing their AKs, the Marines shot them down." Sonic exchanges played out day and night between the loudspeakers of Marines and Army psywar units and the mujahadeen mullahs.
Lt. Colonel Bryan McCoy would play "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by Drowning Pool at full blast to his assembled 3/4 Marines before battle. Other examples include "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses and "Hells Bells" by AC/DC.
Source: No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah by Bing West (2005)
January 4, 2009
errguitar commented on the word guts
Sisu, simply translated as 'guts' - strength of will and determination as an essential element of Finnish national character http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu
December 10, 2008
errguitar commented on the word dakota
Also the nickname of the workhorse aircraft the Douglas DC-3
July 18, 2008
errguitar commented on the word bealach
In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch, brennig or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through a range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bealach
June 26, 2008
errguitar commented on the word nullah
A gully or ravine as in Tularosa Nullah.
June 22, 2008
errguitar commented on the word hump
US Marine slang for extended march with full kit, equivalent to UK Royal Marines 'yomp"
June 13, 2008
errguitar commented on the word daikaiju
Japanese giant monster, variant of kaiju - see Wikipedia for more variants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiju
June 11, 2008
errguitar commented on the word yomp
British Royal Marines term for long march with full kit - made popular by the yomp from San Carlos to Stanley during the Falklands war of 1982. Wikipedia yomp
June 11, 2008
errguitar commented on the word in media res
Also medias in res - start the story in the middle of things Wikipedia
June 9, 2008
errguitar commented on the word permissive action links
Locks for nuclear weapons: http://tinyurl.com/5wna8m
June 6, 2008
errguitar commented on the word walk back
Take steps to reverse an earlier decision as in "it now appears the governments are trying to walk back their decisions"
June 1, 2008
errguitar commented on the word tuples
From Wikipedia: The term originated as an abstraction of the sequence: single, double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, n-tuple. A tuple of length n is usually described as an n-tuple. In mathematics, a tuple is a sequence (also known as an "ordered list") of values, called the components of the tuple. These components can be any kind of mathematical objects, where each component of a tuple is a value of a specified type
May 30, 2008
errguitar commented on the word ulu
Ulu: Jungle, Glossary of Words, "Green Beret, Red Star" by Anthony Crockett, London 1954, Eyre & Spottiswoode
May 19, 2008