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Definitions by Eighth of seven

running on impulse engines

In the original Star Trek series, whenever the main engines (warp drive) broke down (which was pretty frequent) the Enterprise would only be able to move using "impulse engines" - a low power, sub-lightspeed manouvering system based on a small fusion ram/ion drive.

By inference, someone described as "running on impilse engines" or "impulse power only" is either:

1. Very tired (a.k.a. 'running on empty')

2. Genuinely ill

3. (derog.) Slow and/or stupid.
"Jesus, I've just had to brief the sales guys on the new product.... they're all running on impulse engies up there".

"You want to go for a beer ?"

"No, man, I'm running on impulse engines... got to go home and grab some sleep."

oldthinker 

A newspeak word invented by george orwell in his book 1984.

An oldthinker is one who clings to old or outmoded ways of thought. Orwell defines it as, "... typical sentence .... as 'Oldthinkers unbellyfeel Ingsoc'. The shortest rendering that one could make of this in Oldspeak would be: 'Those whose ideas were formed before the Revolution cannot have a full emotional understanding of the principles of English Socialism.' But this is not an adequate translation.....

Used by geeks in a perjorative way about anyone who is not techno-savvy.
"My Dad's a real Oldthinker - he won't even have a mobile phone !"

"Come the Revolution, all you Oldthinkers will be put up against a wall and shot !"
oldthinker by Eighth of Seven January 15, 2007

floor show 

1. A minor fight or fracas, usually in a drinking establishment or other place of public entertainment. The actual level of violence is low, due to the participants being inept, inebriated or both. Hence the incident is entertaining rather than frightening to the onlookers.
"I was in <drinking establishment> last night - there was a terrific floor show. Some drunk guy got chucked out by the doormen."
floor show by Eighth of Seven January 15, 2007

book of words 

1. The instructions, user or technical manual for a piece of equipment.

2. By inference, any important piece of documentation, either as treeware or in electronic form.
"Where's the Book of Words for the router ?"

"I've logged the fault in the Book of Words."
book of words by Eighth of Seven January 15, 2007

carbon unit 

A low-grade worker; a peon. A dumb person doing a dumb job, often in retail, food service, or warehousing.
"I'll get a couple of carbon units to come round tonight and take that junk away."

"One of the carbon units in Goods Inwards tripped over a cable and smashed his arm. "
carbon unit by Eighth of Seven January 15, 2007

five and five 

In R/T (radio telephone) parlance, a report on signal strength (1 - 5) and quality (1 - 5).

Hence, "I ready you two and four" means "your signal is weak, but I can hear you clearly".

By inference, "five and five" means "really good" ?
"How's the pizza ?"
"Five and five."

"We dropped into <drinking establishment> - the beer was crap, but the scenery was five and five."
five and five by Eighth of Seven January 9, 2007

suicyclist

One who, while dressed in brightly coloured silly clothes and an inadequate helmet, rides a (racing) bicycle (often in heavy urban or rush-hour traffic) at high speed and without signls, as if they have no interest in their own safety or that of others, and genuinely wish to die as soon as possible in a multi-vehicle collision of their own making. They invariably look offended if forced to give way to cars, whatever the circumstances. See also kamikaze.
"I nearly got T-boned by a Suicyclist running a red light in my way in this morning".
suicyclist by Eighth of Seven January 8, 2007