a picture paints a thousand words »
A visualisation is a better description than a verbal description.1971, David Gates (of Bread), If, from Manna album:If a picture paints a thousand wordsThen why can't I paint you;The words will never showThe you I've come to know.1989, Alan Kay, quoted in K?o-tung Huang, Timothy D. Huang, Introduction to Chinese, Japanese and Korean Computing, World Scientific, ISBN 9971506645, p. 9:Most human beings, no matter how familiar they are with abstract symbols, respond to voice and images better than written language. In other words, A picture paints a thousand words.2006, Paul Shakespeare, Building a Dune Buggy: The Essential Manual, ISBN 1904788734, p. 52:See accompanying diagram: a picture paints a thousand words, and all that!
|
abstract nonsense »
Details which involve diagram chasing.
|
all nations »
A composition of all the different spirits sold in a dram-shop, collected in a vessel into which the drainings of the bottles and quartern pots are emptied.
|
bone up »
To study or cram, especially in order to refresh one's knowledge of a topic.
|
boot camp »
A short, intensive, quasi-military program generally aimed at young offenders as an alternative to a jail term.
|
charley horse »
A muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg.
|
cheek by jowl »
In close proximity; crammed uncomfortably close together.
|
chew the scenery »
To display excessive emotion or to act in an exaggerated manner while performing; to be melodramatic; to be flamboyant.
|
clay »
A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
|
correlation does not imply causation »
(statistics) The observed correlation between two parameters, say, the growth of a market and the growth of a neighbor's child may, in fact, have nothing to do with each other's causation.
|
cramp someone's style »
To restrict someone's free actions, or to give the impression of such.
|
deliver the message to Garcia »
Programmers are consistently dehumanized because so many do indeed deliver the message to Garcia only to be at best ignored.
|
drama queen »
Any exaggeratedly dramatic person.
|
drama queen »
Who behaves and speaks in an overly dramatic manner so as to garner attention.
|
drop a line »
A note or telegram.
|
eat one's own dog food »
To test the beta programs that are in the test phase on one's own computers; to dogfood.
|
fall on one's face »
To fail, especially in a dramatic or particularly decisive manner.
|
fall over »
Of a computer program, to crash.
|
feed a cold, starve a fever »
Eating more will cure the common cold, and eating less will cure a fever.1887, J. H. Whelan, "The Treatment of Colds.", The Practitioner, vol. 38, pg. 180:"Feed a cold, starve a fever." There is a deal of wisdom in the first part of this advice. A person with a catarrh should take an abundance of light nutritious food, and some light wine, but avoid spirits, and above all tobacco.1968, Katinka Loeser, The Archers at Home, publ. Atheneum, New York, pg. 60:I have a cold. 'Feed a cold, starve a fever.' You certainly know that.2009, Shelly Reuben, Tabula Rasa, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 015101079X, pg. 60:They say feed a cold, starve a fever, but they don't tell you what to do when you got both, so I figured scrambled eggs, tea, and toast.
|
fencepost problem »
In computer programming, a problem dealing with how to treat the initial or boundary values of a discrete problem.
|
get the chop »
To be eliminated from a competition in a reality television program.
|
go on the rampage »
To behave violently or to riot.
|
horse opera »
A theatrical production, film, or program on radio or television depicting adventures of characters in the American Old West; a western.
|
kitchen table software »
Especially in the early years of personal computers, a set of computer programs developed by an entrepreneurial advanced amateur or self-employed professional computer programmer in his or her own home; software developed by a small business using the services of such programmers.
|
less is more »
That which is less complicated is often better understood and more appreciated than what is more complicated; simplicity is preferable to complexity; brevity in communication is more effective than verbosity.1855, Robert Browning, "Men and Women":Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.1954, "'Less Is More'," Time, 14 Jun.:The essence of Mies's architectural philosophy is in his famous and sometimes derided phrase, "Less is more." This means, he says, having "the greatest effect with the least means."2007, Gia Kourlas, "Dance Review: An Ordered World Defined With Soothing Spareness," New York Times, 3 Mar. (retrieved 22 Oct. 2008):The program, which features two premieres
|
off the wagon »
No longer maintaining a program of self-improvement or abstinence from an undesirable habit, especially drinking alcohol.
|
on the wagon »
By extension, maintaining a program of self-improvement or abstinence from some other undesirable habit.
|
potter »
One who makes pots and other ceramic wares.
|
preprogram »
To predispose to certain thoughts or behaviours.
|
preprogram »
To program something in advance.
|
ramp up »
To increase rapidly to a new value.
|
ramp up »
To be in the process of learning a new ability.
|
ramp up »
Of a project or operation, to start up.
|
ride the short bus »
To have a need for a special education program, as because learning disabled.
|
ride the short bus »
To participate in a special education program, such as for those with learning disabilities.
|
run rampant »
To go unchecked or without control; to be wild or excessive.
|
screw the pooch »
To screw up; to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashion.
|
shell out »
To use a program's "shell escape" function to execute an unrelated command or to invoke a subsidiary, interactive shell.
|
shoot through like a Bondi tram »
To leave in haste.
|
sign in »
To take some action to access a secured program or web page on a computer; to log in.
|
sit back »
To recline while still in a seated position, with one's back on the frame of the seat.
|
so quiet one can hear a pin drop »
Said during a lull in a normally bustling place or scene, or as the result of a sudden dramatic or tense moment.
|
take a powder »
To leave in a hurry; run away; scram; depart without taking leave or notifying anyone, often with a connotation of avoiding something unpleasant or shirking responsibility.
|
tear up the pea patch »
To put on a notable performance, especially in sports; to go on a rampage.
|
that's the way life is »
That is the way things happenCertain things cannot be changed, helped or improved; struggle and objection are pointless.1935, Louis Bromfield, The Man Who Had Everything [1], page 279:That's the way life is, and there's no use trying to go against it.1979, Jay Edward Abrams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption [2], ISBN 0310511011, page 45:There are no standards, no values; that's the way life is. Learn to accept it and slide with it. Stop fighting it.2002, B. Eugene Ellison, Rings of the Templars, ISBN 059524050X, page 337:Shit happens; that's the way life is. In fact, I want you to take an additional thousand for your efforts.
|
throw one's toys out of the pram »
To lose one's temper; to throw a tantrum.
|
timeserver »
A device, node or program that distributes the correct time to clients in a network.
|
tone down »
To make a television program, piece of writing, etc. less offensive and so more suitable for a family audience.
|
walk it off »
To walk or pace in order to relieve a pain or cramp.
|
| Search from any page on the Web with Abbreviations.com AutoSearch. It's free! |
[