[Columbia University: prob. by
mutation from Commonwealth slang v. `wank', to masturbate] Used
much as hack is elsewhere, as a noun denoting a clever
technique or person or the result of such cleverness. May describe
(negatively) the act of hacking for hacking's sake ("Quit wanking,
let's go get supper!") or (more positively) a wizard. Adj.
`wanky' describes something particularly clever (a person,
program, or algorithm). Conversations can also get wanky when
there are too many wanks involved. This excess wankiness is
signalled by an overload of the `wankometer' (compare
bogometer). When the wankometer overloads, the conversation's
subject must be changed, or all non-wanks will leave. Compare
`neep-neeping' (under neep-neep). Usage: U.S. only. In
Britain and the Commonwealth this word is extremely rude and
is best avoided unless one intends to give offense. Adjectival
`wanky' is less offensive and simply means `stupid' or `broken'
(this is mainstream in Great Britain).
brute force adj.
Describes a primitive programming style
one in which the programmer relies on the computer's processing
power instead of using his or her own intelligence to simplify the
problem, often ignoring problems of scale and applying naive
methods suited to small problems directly to large ones....
