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

el camino bignum /el' k-mee'noh big'nuhm/ n. the road mundanely called
   el camino real, running along san francisco peninsula. it originally
   extended all the way down to mexico city; many portions of the old road
   are still intact. navigation on the san francisco peninsula is usually
   done relative to el camino real, which defines logical north and south
   even though it isn't really north-south in many places. el camino real
   runs right past stanford university and so is familiar to hackers.

   the spanish word `real' which has two syllables: /ray-ahl'/ means
   `royal'; el camino real is `the royal road'. in the fortran language, a
   `real' quantity is a number typically precise to seven significant
   digits, and a `double precision' quantity is a larger floating-point
   number, precise to perhaps fourteen significant digits other languages
   have similar `real' types.

   when a hacker from mit visited stanford in 1976, he remarked what a
   long road el camino real was. making a pun on `real', he started calling
   it `el camino double precision' -- but when the hacker was told that the
   road was hundreds of miles long, he renamed it `el camino bignum', and
   that name has stuck. see bignum.

   gls has since let slip that the unnamed hacker in this story was in
   fact himself --esr

   in recent years, the synonym `el camino virtual' has been reported as
   an alternate at ibm and amdahl sites in the valley. mathematically
   literate hackers in the valley have also been heard to refer to some
   major cross-street intersecting el camino real as "el camino imaginary".
   one popular theory is that the intersection is located near moffett
   field - where they keep all those complex planes.


see also:
logical bignum 

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

el camino bignum
     
         /el' k-mee'noh big'nuhm/ the road mundanely called
        el camino real, a road through the san francisco peninsula
        that originally extended all the way down to mexico city and
        many portions of which are still intact.  navigation on the
        san francisco peninsula is usually done relative to el camino
        real, which defines logical north and south even though it
        isn't really north-south many places.  el camino real runs
        right past stanford university.
     
        the spanish word "real" which has two syllables: /ray-al'/
        means "royal"; el camino real is "the royal road".  in the
        fortran language, a "real" quantity is a number typically
        precise to seven significant digits, and a "double
        precision" quantity is a larger floating-point number,
        precise to perhaps fourteen significant digits other
        languages have similar "real" types.
     
        when a hacker from mit visited stanford in 1976, he
        remarked what a long road el camino real was.  making a pun on
        "real", he started calling it "el camino double precision" -
        but when the hacker was told that the road was hundreds of
        miles long, he renamed it "el camino bignum", and that name
        has stuck.  see bignum.
     
        jargon file
     
        1996-07-16
     
     
see also:
logical stanford university fortran real double precision floating-point 
hacker mit bignum jargon file 

Camino >> C Words
Camino, definition of term: Camino
camino_pag1.html

Bignum >> B Words
Bignum, definition of term: Bignum
bignum_pag1.html