Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
"WAITS" is a plural of: wait. |
Date "WAITS" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1050. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | WAITS /wayts/ n. The mutant cousin of {TOPS-10 used on a handful of systems at {SAIL up to 1990. There was never an `official' expansion of WAITS (the name itself having been arrived at by a rather sideways process), but it was frequently glossed as `West-coast Alternative to ITS'. Though WAITS was less visible than ITS, there was frequent exchange of people and ideas between the two communities, and innovations pioneered at WAITS exerted enormous indirect influence. The early screen modes of EMACS, for example, were directly inspired by WAITS's `E' editor -- one of a family of editors that were the first to do `real-time editing', in which the editing commands were invisible and where one typed text at the point of insertion/overwriting. The modern style of multi-region windowing is said to have originated there, and WAITS alumni at XEROX PARC and elsewhere played major roles in the developments that led to the XEROX Star, the Macintosh, and the Sun workstations. Also invented there were bucky bits -- thus, the ALT key on every IBM PC is a WAITS legacy. One WAITS feature very notable in pre-Web days was a news-wire interface that allowed WAITS hackers to read, store, and filter AP and UPI dispatches from their terminals; the system also featured a still-unusual level of support for what is now called `multimedia' computing, allowing analog audio and video signals to be switched to programming terminals. Source: Jargon File. |
Literature | Waits Street musicians, who serenade the principal inhabitants at Christmas-time, especially on Christmas Eve. From Rymer's Faedra we learn it was the duty of musical watchmen "to pipe the watch" nightly in the king's court four times from Michaelmas to Shrove-Thursday, and three times in the summer; and they had also to make "the bon gate" at every door, to secure them against "pyckeres and pillers." They form a distinct class from both the watch and the minstrels. Oboes were at one time called "waits." "Dr. Busby says the word is a corruption of wayghtes, hautboys, transferred from the instruments to the performers."- Dictionary of Music. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | WAITS. Musicians of the lower order, who in most towns play under the windows of the chief inhabitants at midnight, a short time before Christmas, for which they collect a christmas-box from house to house. They are said to derive their name of waits from. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
WAITS was a variant of the Digital Equipment Corporation's TOPS-10 operating system for the PDP-10 mainframe computer, used at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) up until 1990; the mainframe computer it ran on also went by the name of "SAIL".There was never an "official" expansion of WAITS (the name itself having been arrived at by a rather sideways process), but it was frequently glossed as "West-coast Alternative to ITS". Though WAITS was less visible than ITS, there was frequent exchange of people and ideas between the two communities, and innovations pioneered at WAITS exerted enormous indirect influence.
WAITS alumni at Xerox PARC and elsewhere also played major roles in the developments that led to the Xerox Star, the Apple Macintosh, and the Sun workstations.
The early screen modes of EMACS, for example, were directly inspired by WAITS' "E" editor -- one of a family of editors that were the first to do real-time editing, in which the editing commands were invisible and where one typed text at the point of insertion/overwriting. The modern style of multi-region windowing is said to have originated there. The system also featured an unusual level of support for what is now called multimedia computing, allowing analog audio and video signals to be switched to programming terminals. Also invented there were "bucky bits" - thus, the "Alt" key on every IBM PC is a WAITS legacy. One WAITS feature very notable in pre-Web days was a news-wire interface that allowed WAITS hackers to read, store, and filter AP and UPI dispatches from their terminals.
Original text from the Jargon File Version 4.3.3, September 20, 2002, used by permission.
External Links
- The autobiography of SAIL
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "WAITS."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
WAITS | English | Westcoast Alternative to ITS | Computer - Computer - (Internet) |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Crosswords: WAITS |
| English words defined with "WAITS": ambusher, attendant, attender ♦ Engineman ♦ juror, juryman, jurywoman ♦ lady's maid ♦ safety squeeze, safety squeeze play ♦ temporiser, temporizer, tender, The lord chamberlain of England, To wait on ♦ waiter, Waiting gentlewoman. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "WAITS": Ada, Address Resolution Protocol, awaiting signal ♦ backoff ♦ delayed call, Dining Philosophers Problem ♦ event-driven ♦ F4, F6 ♦ Guy Lewis Steele, Jr. ♦ interrupt handler ♦ JRL ♦ Moakkibat, mold maker, Mumpers ♦ Prudent Tree ♦ RUBBER-MOLD MAKER ♦ slopsucker, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language, synchronized state. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | My lady, the tide waits for no man, but I swear it would wait for you. (Shakespeare in Love; writing credit: Marc Norman; Tom Stoppard) The one who loves, waits. (Love at Large; writing credit: Alan Rudolph) Good, I hate long waits. (Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi; writing credit: George Lucas; Lawrence Kasdan) The only person that I know who actually waits until the strike of midnight to set the clocks back (Jack & Jill; writing credit: Kathy Giaconia) Ah, but the servant waits, while the master baits (History of the World: Part I; writing credit: Mel Brooks) | |
Lyrics | She waits another week to fall apart, (American Girls; performing artist: Counting Crows) AND TO EVERYBODY ELSE WHO WAITS (That's Good; performing artist: Devo) In my life I’ve learned that heaven never waits, no (I wanna love you forever; performing artist: Jessica Simpson) It's gonna get worse if he waits too long (Don't Lose My Number; performing artist: Phil collins) Fine little girl waits for me ("Louie Louie"; performing artist: The Kingsmen) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Isoge! Wakamono: Tomorrow Never Waits (1974) She Waits (1972) The Hangman Waits (1947) While Justice Waits (1922) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Time and tide waits for no man Base line measurement in southeast Alaska Party of C. G. Quillian. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | A Great Blue Heron waits patiently for dinner along a mangrove shoreline. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | The CLASS ACTION waits for customers at Bud N' Mary's Marina. Credit: Fisheries. |  | The CARIB SEA waits for customers at Bud N' Mary's Marina. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | The crew waits for the fyke nets to fish. Fyke nets are used to sample small fish. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | A great blue heron waits for his dinner on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Credit: Tim McCabe. |
 | Adopted burro loaded on trailer waits to go to new home. Credit: Cathy Rodine. |  | "Da Nang, Vietnam . . . A young Marine private waits on the beach during the Marine landing" By an unknown photographer, August 3, 1965. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the U.S. Marine Corps. |
 | WAVES Aviation Machinist's Mates (AMM) working on a SNJ training plane and its Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine, circa 24 July 1943. They are (from left to right) Seaman 1st Class (AMM) Inez Waits, Seaman 1st Class (AMM) Lucille H. Henderson, Seaman 1st Class (AMM) Mary Anne Gasser, AMM 3rd Class Helen Adams, and Seaman 1st Class (AMM) Leona Curry. Credit: NAVY. |  | Aviation Machinist's Mate (AMM) 1st Class John Anderson supervises the work of Seaman 1st Class (AMM) Inez Waits (front) and Seaman 1st Class (AMM) Lucille H. Henderson in the air station's Assembly and Repair Department, 24 July 1943. They appear to be working on the rear of a radial aircraft engine. Credit: NAVY. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Time waits for no one" by Erika Thorpe Commentary: "Dying flowers." | "Lonely man" by bizilagun design Commentary: "A lonely man sits down as he waits for the dusk in a park in Madrid." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Aeschylus | Destiny waits alike for the free man as well as for him enslaved by another's might. |
Alexander Pope | On wrongs swift vengeance waits. |
Benjamin Franklin | Applause waits on success. |
| He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner. | |
Samuel Johnson | He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything. |
St. Jerome | While truth is always bitter, pleasantness waits upon evildoing. |
Tom Waits | I am the type of guy who'd sell you a rat's asshole for a wedding ring. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | In our days, a philosophy which is almost an official has entered into its service, wears its livery, and waits in its antechamber |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | What means this armed guard That waits upon your Grace |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Studies show that people who have a vitrectomy soon after a large hemorrhage are more likely to protect their vision than someone who waits to have the operation. (references) | |
Since waits are sometimes long and space is limited, reading, crafts, or quiet games can help pass the time. Teenagers may want to bring crafts, electronic games, playing cards, books, or magazines. (references) | ||
The doctor disconnects the intestine from the stoma and attaches it just above the anus. The stoma isn't needed any more, so the doctor either sews it up during surgery or waits about 6 weeks to make sure that the pull-through worked. (references) | ||
Business | As a result, investments have slowed as the world waits to see how President Chavez’s political and economic plans evolve. (references) | |
Economic History | Bahrain | Demand for U.S. hardware exists, but U.S. paper work, lengthy waits and taxes make retailers prefer Asian products. (references) |
Laos | ONE COMPANY WITH KIP INCOME REPORTS AVERAGE WAITS OF MORE THAN A MONTH FOR DOLLARS FROM THE LARGEST STATE-OWNED COMMERCIAL BANK, WITH THE EXCHANGE RATE ON THE DATE OF TRANSACTION, RATHER THAN THE DATE OF REQUEST, OBTAINING. (references) | |
Trade | Guyana | Since the Customs Department (like many government agencies) is extremely understaffed, the mandatory inspection often results in extended waits on the wharf. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "WAITS" is generally used as a lexical verb (-s form) -- approximately 91.08% of the time. "WAITS" is used about 325 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-s form) | 91.08% | 296 | 16,885 |
| Noun (plural) | 8.92% | 29 | 64,444 |
| Total | 100.00% | 325 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "WAITS" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Waits | Last name | 2,000 | 5,013 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "WAITS". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Hachaliah | N/A | Biblical | Who waits for the Lord |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "WAITS": waits-esque, waits-soundtracked. | |
Ending with "WAITS": page-waits. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "WAITS"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Bulgarian | коледари. (various references) | |
Chinese | 等待 (Wait, Waited, Waiting). (various references) | |
French | attend. (various references) | |
German | wartet. (various references) | |
Hungarian | utcai zenész. (various references) | |
Indonesian | penanti (one who waits). (various references) | |
Korean | 기대 (Anticipation, Expectation, Wait). (various references) | |
Manx | ylleyderyn moghey. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | aitsway.(various references) | |
Romanian | colindãtor (carol singer). (various references) | |
Spanish | murga (street band). (various references) | |
Turkish | noelde sokaklarda şarkı söyleyen çalgıcılar, kasaba bandosu. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "WAITS": waitstaff, waitstaffs. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "WAITS": awaits, outwaits. (additional references) | |
| |
"WAITS" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: aits, awit, awits, ewaits, Gwaith, naits, twaites, waata, wadit, waiet, waiit, wains, wairs, wairt, waish, waiste, waisty, waity, waitz, warist, wasti, wati, Wats, wavit, waxit, wayest, weist, wetis, whatis, wiat, wiate, wigits, witos, witsa, witso, witsy, witws, woets, woist, woit. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "WAITS" (pronounced wā"ts) |
| 4 | w ā" t s | awaits, equates, weights. |
| 3 | -ā" t s | abates, annotates, Ates, baits, Bates, Cates, conflates, conjugates, crates, creates, dates, debates, dictates, eights, estates, fates, gates, grates, greats, hates, inflates, mates, misstates, narrates, negates, pates, plates, predates, procreates, rates, relates, restates, sates, skates, slates, spates, States, straights, straits, traits, translates, updates. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: waist. | |
| Words within the letters "a-i-s-t-w" | |
-1 letter: aits, sati, staw, swat, taws, twas, wait, wast, wats, wist, wits. | |
-2 letters: ais, ait, its, sat, saw, sit, tas, taw, tis, twa, was, wat, wis, wit. | |
-3 letters: ai, as, at, aw, is, it, si, ta, ti. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-i-s-t-w" | |
+1 letter: awaits, pitsaw, twains, waists. | |
+2 letters: bawties, dawties, lawsuit, pitsaws, tawnies, tawpies, tawsing, taxwise, trishaw, waisted, waister, waiters, waniest, wapitis, wariest, wasting, wastrie, waviest, waxiest, whatsis, whatsit, wraiths. | |
+3 letters: awaiters, bawdiest, fawniest, flatwise, flawiest, gawkiest, inswathe, lawsuits, outwaits, pawkiest, ringtaws, sightsaw, stairway, strawier, strawing, swastica, swastika, swathing, swatting, sweatier, sweatily, sweating, tawdries, tawniest, taxiways, tideways, tinwares, trishaws, twankies, wackiest, wagtails, wainscot, waisters, waisting, waitings, waitress, wartiest, wartimes, washiest, waspiest, wasterie, wastries, waterish, weariest, whatsits, wildcats, wiretaps, wistaria, wisteria. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Images: Digital Art 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Names: Derived from | 13. Expressions 14. Translations: Modern 15. Abbreviations 16. Acronyms | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
