24 lines
3.5 KiB
HTML
24 lines
3.5 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>N</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../N.html" title="N"/><link rel="previous" href="../N.html" title="N"/><link rel="next" href="nadger.html" title="nadger"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">N</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="../N.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">N</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="nadger.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="N"/><dt xmlns="" id="N"><b>N</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/N/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">quant.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> 1. A large and indeterminate number of objects: “<span class="quote">There were
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<tt class="literal">N</tt> bugs in that crock!</span>” Also used in
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its original sense of a variable name: “<span class="quote">This crock has
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<tt class="literal">N</tt> bugs, as
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<tt class="literal">N</tt> goes to infinity.</span>” (The true
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number of bugs is always at least <tt class="literal">N + 1</tt>;
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see <a href="../L/Lubarskys-Law-of-Cybernetic-Entomology.html"><i class="glossterm">Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic Entomology</i></a>.)
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</p></dd><dd><p> 2. A variable whose value is inherited from the current context.
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For example, when a meal is being ordered at a restaurant,
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<tt class="literal">N</tt> may be understood to mean however many
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people there are at the table. From the remark “<span class="quote">We'd like to order
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<tt class="literal">N</tt> wonton soups and a family dinner for
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<tt class="literal">N - 1</tt></span>” you can deduce that one
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person at the table wants to eat only soup, even though you don't know how
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many people there are (see <a href="../G/great-wall.html"><i class="glossterm">great-wall</i></a>). </p></dd><dd><p> 3. <tt class="literal">Nth</tt>: <span class="grammar">adj.</span> The ordinal counterpart of
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<tt class="literal">N</tt>, senses 1 and 2.</p></dd><dd><p> 4. “<span class="quote">Now for the <tt class="literal">N</tt>th and last
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time...</span>” In the specific context
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“<span class="quote"><tt class="literal">N</tt>th-year grad student</span>”,
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<tt class="literal">N</tt> is generally assumed to be at least 4,
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and is usually 5 or more (see
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<a href="../T/tenured-graduate-student.html"><i class="glossterm">tenured graduate student</i></a>). See also <a href="../R/random-numbers.html"><i class="glossterm">random numbers</i></a>,
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<a href="../T/two-to-the-N.html"><i class="glossterm">two-to-the-N</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="../N.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../N.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="nadger.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">N </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> nadger</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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