[1] : Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002)

dwim
     do what i mean telecommunication, usenet, irc
     
     

[2] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

dwim /dwim/ acronym, `do what i mean' 1. adj. able to guess,
   sometimes even correctly, the result intended when bogus input was
   provided. 2. n. obs. the bbnlisp/interlisp function that attempted to
   accomplish this feat by correcting many of the more common errors. see
   hairy. 3. occasionally, an interjection hurled at a balky computer,
   esp. when one senses one might be tripping over legalisms see
   legalese. 4. of a person, someone whose directions are
   incomprehensible and vague, but who nevertheless has the expectation
   that you will solve the problem using the specific method he/she has in
   mind.

   warren teitelman originally wrote dwim to fix his typos and spelling
   errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his style, and would often
   make hash of anyone else's typos if they were stylistically different.
   some victims of dwim thus claimed that the acronym stood for `damn
   warren's infernal machine'.

   in one notorious incident, warren added a dwim feature to the command
   interpreter used at xerox parc. one day another hacker there typed
   `delete $' to free up some disk space. the editor there named backup
   files by appending `$' to the original file name, so he was trying to
   delete any backup files left over from old editing sessions. it
   happened that there weren't any editor backup files, so dwim helpfully
   reported `$ not found, assuming you meant 'delete '.' it then started
   to delete all the files on the disk the hacker managed to stop it with
   a vulcan nerve pinch after only a half dozen or so files were lost.

   the disgruntled victim later said he had been sorely tempted to go to
   warren's office, tie warren down in his chair in front of his
   workstation, and then type `delete $' twice.

   dwim is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex
   program; it is also occasionally described as the single instruction the
   ideal computer would have. back when proofs of program correctness were
   in vogue, there were also jokes about `dwimc' do what i mean,
   correctly. a related term, more often seen as a verb, is dtrt do the
   right thing; see right thing.


see also:
hairy legalese vulcan nerve pinch right thing 

[3] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

dwim
     
        /dwim/ acronym, "do what i mean" not what i say 1. able to
        guess, sometimes even correctly, the result intended when
        bogus input was provided.
     
        2. the bbnlisp/interlisp function that attempted to accomplish
        this feat by correcting many of the more common errors.  see
        hairy.
     
        3. occasionally, an interjection hurled at a balky computer,
        especially when one senses one might be tripping over
        legalisms see legalese.
     
        warren teitelman originally wrote dwim to fix his typos and
        spelling errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his
        style, and would often make hash of anyone else's typos if
        they were stylistically different.  some victims of dwim thus
        claimed that the acronym stood for "damn warren's infernal
        machine'.
     
        in one notorious incident, warren added a dwim feature to the
        command interpreter used at xerox parc.  one day another
        hacker there typed "delete $" to free up some disk space.
        the editor there named backup files by appending "$" to the
        original file name, so he was trying to delete any backup
        files left over from old editing sessions.  it happened that
        there weren't any editor backup files, so dwim helpfully
        reported "$ not found, assuming you meant 'delete '".  it
        then started to delete all the files on the disk  the hacker
        managed to stop it with a vulcan nerve pinch after only a
        half dozen or so files were lost.
     
        the disgruntled victim later said he had been sorely tempted
        to go to warren's office, tie warren down in his chair in
        front of his workstation, and then type "delete $" twice.
     
        dwim is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a
        complex program; it is also occasionally described as the
        single instruction the ideal computer would have.  back when
        proofs of program correctness were in vogue, there were also
        jokes about "dwimc" do what i mean, correctly.  a related
        term, more often seen as a verb, is dtrt do the right thing;
        see right thing.
     
        jargon file
     
     
see also:
hairy legalese xerox parc vulcan nerve pinch right thing jargon file 

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