Chawmp

1 definition found

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

  chawmp n. [University of Florida] 16 or 18 bits (half of a machine
     word). This term was used by FORTH hackers during the late 1970s/early
     1980s; it is said to have been archaic then, and may now be obsolete. It
     was coined in revolt against the promiscuous use of `word' for anything
     between 16 and 32 bits; `word' has an additional special meaning for
     FORTH hacks that made the overloading intolerable. For similar reasons,


     /gaw'bl/ (spelled `gawble' or possibly `gawbul') was in use as a term
     for 32 or 48 bits (presumably a full machine word, but our sources are
     unclear on this). These terms are more easily understood if one thinks
     of them as faithful phonetic spellings of `chomp' and `gobble'
     pronounced in a Florida or other Southern U.S. dialect. For general
     discussion of similar terms, see {nybble}.