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27 lines
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>mumble</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../M.html" title="M"/><link rel="previous" href="mumblage.html" title="mumblage"/><link rel="next" href="munch.html" title="munch"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">mumble</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="mumblage.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">M</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="munch.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="mumble"/><dt xmlns="" id="mumble"><b>mumble</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">interj.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. Said when the correct response is too complicated to enunciate,
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or the speaker has not thought it out. Often prefaces a longer answer, or
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indicates a general reluctance to get into a long discussion. “<span class="quote">Don't
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you think that we could improve LISP performance by using a hybrid
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reference-count transaction garbage collector, if the cache is big enough
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and there are some extra cache bits for the microcode to use?</span>”
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“<span class="quote">Well, mumble ... I'll have to think about it.</span>” </p></dd><dd><p> 2. [MIT] Expression of not-quite-articulated agreement, often used
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as an informal vote of consensus in a meeting: “<span class="quote">So, shall we dike out
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the COBOL emulation?</span>” “<span class="quote">Mumble!</span>” </p></dd><dd><p> 3. Sometimes used as an expression of disagreement (distinguished
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from sense 2 by tone of voice and other cues). “<span class="quote">I think we should
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buy a <a href="../V/VAX.html"><i class="glossterm"><a href="../V/VAX.html"><i class="glossterm">VAX</i></a></i></a>.</span>”
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“<span class="quote">Mumble!</span>” Common variant: <span class="firstterm">mumble
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frotz</span> (see <a href="../F/frotz.html"><i class="glossterm">frotz</i></a>; interestingly, one does
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not say ‘mumble frobnitz’ even though ‘frotz’ is
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short for ‘frobnitz’). </p></dd><dd><p> 4. Yet another <a href="metasyntactic-variable.html"><i class="glossterm">metasyntactic variable</i></a>, like
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<a href="../F/foo.html"><i class="glossterm">foo</i></a>. </p></dd><dd><p> 5. When used as a question (“<span class="quote">Mumble?</span>”) means “<span class="quote">I
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didn't understand you</span>”. </p></dd><dd><p> 6. Sometimes used in ‘public’ contexts on-line as a
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placefiller for things one is barred from giving details about. For
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example, a poster with pre-released hardware in his machine might say
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“<span class="quote">Yup, my machine now has an extra 16M of memory, thanks to the card
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I'm testing for Mumbleco.</span>” </p></dd><dd><p> 7. A conversational wild card used to designate something one
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doesn't want to bother spelling out, but which can be
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<a href="../G/glark.html"><i class="glossterm">glark</i></a>ed from context. Compare
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<a href="../B/blurgle.html"><i class="glossterm">blurgle</i></a>. </p></dd><dd><p> 8. [XEROX PARC] A colloquialism used to suggest that further
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discussion would be fruitless.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="mumblage.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../M.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="munch.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">mumblage<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>munch</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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