How To Get Around MIT

Glossary

The following is a dictionary of MIT words, phrases, and acronyms. Terms commonly identified by either acronyms or names are listed here by acronym. Alphabetically, acronyms are listed before words.

AI - Artificial Intelligence.
All Tech Sing - An annual event that used to be held every spring during Spring Weekend.
Alumni Association President's Court - A nice place to sit, if you can find it.
Anal - uptight.
ASA - Association of Student Activities.
AWS - Association of Women Students.
armadillo - A small set of drawers common to a selected few dorms.
Athena - The MIT computer system.

Bathroom - Arts and Media Technology Building (E15, The Media Lab).
Beast from the East - Resident of Second East, East Campus.
beaver - The MIT mascot.
Big Sail - The official name of the steel sculpture south of the Green Building. Site of the annual spontaneous tuition riot. Usually called the Great Sail.
Big Screw - A 36”, solid aluminum, left-handed thread, wood screw presented by APO during Spring Weekend to the faculty or staff member voted most deserving.
blooter - (1) adj. \ Any person or object of unbelievably large size, e.g. , “That's a blooter corn muffin you have there.” (2) n. \ The nickname of the 16 oz. “extra large” coffees sold by the SCC 24-hour coffeehouse during finals week.
blow off - v. \ (1) To flush. (2) To punt.
Bomber - Resident of Burton Third.
Brass Rat - Ugly hunk of gold some MIT students and alums wear on a finger.
Bridge Circuit - (1) A running course along the Charles River which includes the BU, Harvard, and/or Longfellow Bridges. Not to be confused with a circuit bridge. (2) A series of contests where people play rubbers.
Bronze Bunny - Sculpture in Lowell Court (building 1). Officially named “Three Piece Reclining Figure, Draped.”
Bruno - A unit of volume resulting from a piano falling six stories onto Amherst Alley from the roof of Baker House.
BSO - Boston Symphony Orchestra.
BSU - Black Students Union.
bummer - Post-choke or post-screw description of said choke or screw; in general, something not good.
bug - (1) A natural or introduced flaw, often the cause of a crash. (2) One of our cherished friends inhabiting MIT dorms, who does not pay tuition, nor, more relevantly, rent.
busted - (1) Arrested. (2) Broken.
by definition - (1) Clearly, obviously. (2) Necessarily. (3) “I can't remember why.”

CAP - Committee on Academic Performance.
CAES - Center for Advanced Engineering Studies (building 9).
CAVS - Center for Advanced Visual Studies (building W11).
CEP - Committee on Educational Policy, defunct.
CUP - Committee on Undergraduate Programs.
ChemE - Chemical Engineering (Course X).
CivE - Civil Engineering (Course I).
CP - Campus Police.
COC - Committee on Curricula.
COD - Committee on Discipline.
CSC - Chinese Students Club.
CVA - Committee on Visual Arts. Student-faculty committee responsible for the placement of “art” on campus.
Cambridge Tool & Die - Local nerd shop; not to be confused with Tool & Die, an MIT “humor” magazine that is occasionally published.
Camp Cambridge - MIT.
Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware.
Chancellor - The office previously held by Paul Gray. No longer exists.
Cheney Room - Margaret Cheney Room (3-310), for women students only.
Chocolate City - Top three floors of New House 1.
choke - v. To snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Chorallaries - Close-harmony mixed-voice vocal group.
Compton Lecture Hall - Room 26-100.
Concourse - An experimental freshman program. Prof. Rose (x3-3200) has more information.
Coop - Co-operative store. Located in Kendall Square, the Student Center, Harvard Square, and other locations. See Shopping chapter.
Course - (1) Department major. (2) Subject (e.g., 5.11). Note: the Registrar's Office has declared (2) an invalid definition.
crash - v. (1) To sleep in a place where one does not pay rent, such as a friend's apartment. (2) To join a party without being invited. (3) To cease functioning, as in a computer system.
cretin - A fool.
crock - (1) Something that has been botched, e.g., “What a crock.” (2) Bucket, e.g., “This is a crock of shit.”
crunch - (1) n. What happens at the end of the term. (2) v. To process mindlessly, as in “number crunch”.
CSR - Center for Space Research (building 37).

dl - Dormline. Now replaced by 5ESS. “This is MIT. Collect and third-number calls will not be accepted at this number.”
D-Labs - see Draper.
DSA - Dean for Student Affairs (7-133, x3-6776).
DSRE - Division for Study and Research in Education.
DYA - Domestic Year Away. (See Academic chapter.)
Deke - Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
dope - n. (1) Marijuana, rarely other drugs. (2) Trace impurity added to pure substance to alter properties. (3) Moron (archaic).
DormCon - Dormitory Council. The central dormitory governing and co\"ordinating body.
Dormline - Old MIT dormitory telephone system. (Also dl.) Now replaced by 5ESS.
Double E - see EE.
down - adj. \ (1) Feeling depressed, said of a person. (2) Non-working, gronked, said of a computer.
Draper - Formerly Instrumentation Labs. Works on inertial guidance systems, radar, etc. Divested by MIT due to student protest two decades ago. Hires many MIT students.
drop - v. To de-register for a subject during a term.
dweeb - n. Nerd.

EE - Electrical Engineering (Course VI-1).
EECS - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course VI).
EIT - (rhymes with “fight”) (1) The Engineer in Training exam, given each year to students en route to becoming professional engineers. (2) An exclamation which originated at TEP, used when someone is unfairly destroyed. Can be used as virtually any part of speech, e.g., “I got eited on my 18.03 test.”
ESG - Experimental Study Group. An alternative freshman program located at 24-612. Associate Director Holly Sweet (x3-7786) has more information.
ESP - Education Studies Program. Runs HSSP (High School Studies Program), in which MIT students design and teach their own courses to high school students.
elephant - A large piece of furniture resembling a closet; common to Baker, Random, and New House.
emeritus - Retired from regular service with honor. See professor.
-er joke - A set of jokes common on campus, e.g., “Fiddler on the Roof? But I just met her!”
Ernie - Resident of Burton 5. Formerly Smoker.

FADC - Friday Afternoon Drinking Club. Synonymous with FAC.
FAC - Friday Afternoon Club.
FinBoard - Finance Board. The undergraduate body charged with proposing and administering the Undergraduate Association budget and funding student activities.
First-year - A freshman, at Wellesley.
Fishbowl - A workstation cluster of Project Athena located off the Infinite Corridor (building 11).
5ESS - MIT's new and improved phone system.
flushed - (1) pp. Turned down or out. Disappointed in some endeavor, usually involved with selling oneself. Examples: “I got flushed at the mixer,” “I just got flushed by [fill in fraternity name here] (2) v. To get a reddish hue on one's face from heat, exertion, or embarrassment. Example:“I got flushed at the mixer.” (3) pp. Disposed of. When said of a person, this connotes dismissal or expulsion. Example: “I got flushed at the mixer.”
flame - v. To speak obnoxiously and/or at great length.
FPC - Faculty Policy Committee.
frappe - In New England, a snack made up of milk, syrup, and ice cream. It's called a “milkshake” in the English-speaking world.
F--- Truck - The Wellesley Senate Bus

G - Graduate student.
GAMIT - Gays at MIT (unrelated to this book).
GSC - Graduate Student Council. The governing body for graduate students as a group (50-110, x3-2195).
generate - To create; to come up with.
glitch - A bug; cause of sporadic gronkedness.
grease - The governing body of an organization.
greasy - Said of someone intimately involved in student activities; a denizen of Stratton 4.
Great Sail - see Big Sail.
Green Line - (1) One of Boston's four subway lines. (2) Former access method to the roof of the Green Building.
gritch - (1) v. \ To complain. (2) n. \ Complaint. Not to be confused with glitch, which is sometimes the cause of a gritch.
Grogo - Mascot of Technique, the MIT yearbook. A big ape.
gronked - Kaput, non-functioning.
grungy - Grubby and dingy. What you feel like after studying 20 hours straight for a final in 85 degree
heat.

hack - (1) n. \ A trick or prank. For example, having a balloon pop up out of the field in the middle of the Hahvahd-Yale football game or getting elected UAP are fine hacks. (2) A quick shortcut to get something done quickly, for example in a computer program. v.(3) To goof off, talk randomly, or just hang around. (4) To apply oneself, work hard, or try earnestly. Example: a computer hacker. Also connotes fanaticism. (5) To harass somebody, whether in fun or malice.
hacker - (1) One who hacks. (2) One who does a lot of some activity,e.g., pinball hacker.
Hacker Heaven - A summer program at LCS.
Hahvahd - The big red-brick school, both Up The Street and Up Chuck River; little liberal arts school.
Hahvahd Bridge - The Mass. Ave. bridge from MIT to Boston, which measures 364.4 Smoots + 1 ear in length.
HoToGAMIT - The old name for this book, which was always pronounced “how to gam it”; now it's spelled that way.
Hosed - Bogged down with work.
HowToGAMIT - The new, superior name for this book. It’s a really great book, isn’t it. And it needs people like you to help put it out. Call x3-4885 and leave a message, or email ddif@mit.edu for more info.
Hub - Boston.
Huntington Hall - Room 10-250.

IAP - Independent Activities Period. The month of January at MIT.
IFC - Interfraternity Conference. The central coordinating and governing body of the fraternities. Counterpart to DormCon.
IHTFP - (1) I Hate This #$%&*!@ Place (if you can't figure it out, you don't deserve to know). (2) I Have Truly Found Paradise. (3) It's Hard To Fondle Penguins. (4) I Help Tutor Freshman Physics. (5) I Have To Forever Pay. (See TDM.)
IPC - Information Processing Center (building 11).
I/S - Information Services (building 11).
ISP - Integrated Studies Program, an alternative freshman program. Contact Prof. Leon Trilling (x3-7481) for more information.
Infinite Corridor - A quarter-mile hallway through the heart of the Institute. The longest continuous straight corridor in the world.
infinitely - Exceedingly, really, quite, e.g., “infinitely screwed up.”
Institute - MIT.
Institute Professor - see professor.
instructor - (1) Person who stands in front of students and lets fall pearls of wisdom. (2) Academic rank in the lower echelons of the junior faculty.
Interphase - An intensive summer academic program for minorities, designed to ease the transition from high school to MIT.
intuitively obvious - (1) Too simpleminded to deserve explanation. (2) More often, too abstruse to explain if the speaker understands it at all.
“Is this how I get to Baker House?” - Classic line said by a freshman to a Campus Police officer when caught in the steam tunnels.

JYA - Junior Year Abroad.
Jack Florey - (1) Mythical resident of Fifth East, East Campus. (2) A hacking group associated with Fifth East.
James Tetazoo - (1) Mythical resident of Third East, East Campus. (2) A hacking group associated with Third East.
J. Arthur Random - (1) Mythical resident of Random Hall.
jock - (1) An athletic supporter. (2) An athletic supporter. (3) Anyone who does a lot of something.
JudComm - Judicial Committee, a generic term signifying a group of students charged with enforcing student laws. Usually attached to a living group.

k - One thousand (of anything).
KK - Kosher Kitchen.
Killian Court - Great Court.
kiosk - (1) A large cylindrical bulletin boards located in halls around the Institute. (2) A newspaper stand located in the street, such as the one at Harvard Square.
Kiss of Death Award - The Baker award, given to professors who teach well. A surprisingly high percentage of Baker award recipients are subsequently denied tenure. Damned shame, too.
kludge - (rhymes with “stooge”) (1) A Rube Goldberg-style device which appears unlikely to work but does anyhow. (2) Something complex that doesn't work, e.g., this definition.
Knight - (1) Resident of Burton Two. (2) What follows Kday.
Kresge - The hump between the Oval and the athletic field. Used for lectures, theatre, movies, concerts, conferences, and - less frequently - skiing.

LCS - Laboratory for Computer Science. Interdepartmental facility devoted to research in the computer and information sciences (x3-6201).
LSC - Lecture Series Committee. A student organization that puts on movies, lectures, and other entertainment for the MIT community.
Lambchops - Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
lecturer - (1) One who lectures. (2) Low, low academic rank.
living group - The place where you live (may not apply for some people found in the Student Center).
L-Lab - Lincoln Laboratory, a special MIT-affiliated laboratory located in Lexington. Its specialties include optics, radio physics, data systems, radar, and re-entry systems.
Logarhythms - Small, all-male vocal group.
Loser - Will Shen.

MBTA - Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. Operates the Boston area mass transit, well, not too horribly. Known as the “T”.
MechE - Mechanical Engineering (Course II).
MIT Community - Nearly 20,000 students, faculty, researchers, staff, and employees at MIT. Sometimes used more expansively to include their families and also alumni.
MITERS - MIT Electronic Research Society.
MITOC - MIT Outing Club.
MITSC - MIT Skydiving Club.
MITSFS - MIT Science Fiction Society. Pronounced “mittsfiss” or “mitt-siffs,” but never “misfits.”
MITV - MITelevision.
MOF - Smile and ask a Baker resident. (Most Obnoxious Freshman)
MRS - Model Rocket Society.
MTG - Musical Theatre Guild.
mariah - A long piece of laboratory rubber tubing filled with water; useful in waterfights. Also spelled “moriah.”
midnight requisition - How you get something when normal suppliers are closed.
milkshake - Snack made with milk and syrup, but no ice cream. If you want a “milkshake,” order a frappe.
moat - The wet thing wrapped around the Chapel. A good place to throw obnoxious people.
mumble - n. A verbal expression used to replace actual mumbling.
munge - v. To mangle, mutilate, or mess up badly.

n - A random number with various connotations. There are n ways to beat (or get screwed by) the system.
NGL - Nobody Gets Laid.
nerd - (pronounced gnurd) Someone who studies too much. Frequently connotes contempt. General insult noun, not necessarily unfriendly.
nonoptimal - adj. (1) In need of improvement. (2) Horribly bad.
nontrivial - (1) Very difficult. (2) Impossible. (See trivial.)
nuke - n. (1) Nuclear power plant. (2) Nuclear weapon. v. \ 3) To attack with a nuclear weapon, e.g., “Nuke 'em 'til they glow.” (4) Damage caused by a microwave oven, e.g., “Nuke alert!”, or by a jock, e.g., “He nuked my knee.” (4) To cook in a microwave oven, e.g., “I'll just nuke some dinner.”

OR - Operations Research.
ORK - Order of Random Knights, a hacking group based in Random Hall.
OSP - Office of Sponsored Programs. An administrative apparatus overseeing outside research grants and works at MIT.

petition - (1) n. \ A form used to request something unusual with regard to academics, such as placing out of all your upper-class requirements. v. \ (2) To fill out a petition form, submit it to the proper authorities, and satisfy other protocols associated with that kind of activity. (3) To petition for a delay on an Incomplete, an administrative means of procrastination.
placement - The process of career counseling, graduate school counseling, and finding a job (summer, temporary, or permanent). Often occurs at the Placement Office (12-170).
Player - Resident of Burton Four.
postdoc - Postdoctoral fellow.
postgrad - Graduate student.
powertool - (1) n. An electrically operated tool. (2) v. What one has to do to catch up on the entire term in any given course the night before the final exam in that course.
prefrosh - Those happy few who are deciding whether or not to come to MIT.
professor - (1) Person teaching a course. (2) Academic rank with three levels (assistant, associate, full) comprising the main body of the faculty. (3) Institute Professor: Academic post recognizing exceptional distinction. Institute Professors can work as they wish on research and teaching, without regard for formal boundaries and duties. (4) Professor Emeritus: Faculty member who has reached 70 (mandatory retirement age) but who is working (legally) at up to 50% of his or her former load.
Project Athena - A project to integrate computers into MIT academics.
Provost - The senior academic officer, who assists the President of the Institute in addition to carrying on projects of his own.
punt - (1) v.t. To determine after analytical deliberation not to do something, said of something often academic in nature. (2) v.i. To be in the process of not doing something.
putz - (1) v. To do something in a ridiculous manner or for no justifiable reason. (2) n. One who putzes.

quantum mechanics - People who repair quanta.

RA - Research Assistant. Usually a graduate student employed by a department, receiving pay plus a tuition allowance for research. Funded by outside grants.
Rat, the - The Rathskellar, a punk bar in Boston’s Kenmore square. Known for the derelicts who hang outside at 3am. Attend with caution. RLE - Research Laboratory of Electronics, an interdisciplinary lab in building 36.
ROTC - Reserve Officer Training Corps. Military officer training program operating within MIT and some other colleges. Pronounced “rotsie.”
random - (1) Any. (2) Indeterminate, sometimes connoting number. (3) Without order, garbled. (4) Average person.
Random - Resident of Random Hall.
Red Staple - Sculpture by Tang Hall. Officially named “For Marjorie.”
rip-off - (1) A theft. (2) Something so outrageously expensive as to be almost a theft, e.g., “Tickets to Bruins' hockey games are a real rip-off.”

SAA - Student Art Association.
SACC - Social Action Coordination Committee (obsolete).
SAS - Student Assistance Services.
SCA - Society for Creative Anachronism.
SCC - Student Center Committee.
SCEP - Student Committee on Educational Policy.
SEG - Smile and ask an upper-classman.
SGS - Strategic Games Society.
SIPB - Student Information Processing Board. Pronounced “sip-bee.”
Sala - La Sala de Puerto Rico. Large all-purpose room in the Student Center donated by Puerto Rico.
screw - (1) Bad thing, such as the Institute Screw or “screwed to the wall.” (2) What nuns don't do.
scrod - (1) n. A baby codfish. Example: “I got scrod by the Dining Service.” (2) v. Past tense of screw. Example: “I got scrod by the Dining Service.”
secretary - One who is paid starvation wages to run everything.
shrink - Psychiatrist.
Smoker - Outdated name for Burton Five resident (see Ernie).
Smoot - Unit of measurement of Harvard Bridge (see Hacking).
snow - v. (1) To impress someone, such as a date. (2) To confuse favorably with a profusion of detail. (3) n. Brown, cold particles that cover sidewalks and gutters through Boston winters. Reputed to contain water.
Sport Death - Philosophy at Senior House.
Squanch - (1) Resident of East Campus Third East. (2) A short fellow with a picket sign and a wilted flower.
Squinto - Nichols 2, 3, 4 (Senior House).
Stratton House - (1) Student Center (3rd, 4th, and 5th floors). (2) Not just a living group, it's a way of life
Steer Roast - annual Senior House party at which said animal is actually roasted. Attend with caution.
Stud Center - Student Center.
Stud House - Student House.
subject - One or two professors, N students, a room, a formal curriculum, a formal subject number, and a formal grade, except when it isn't.

TA - Teaching Assistant. Usually a grad student employed by a department, receiving pay plus a tuition allowance for teaching duties. Funded by the Institute.
TCA - Technology Community Association. Has an office on the fourth floor of the Student Center. Operates various MIT community-related projects such as the Red Cross Blood Drives, a ticket service, and a used-book exchange. Also writes and publishes HowToGAMIT (W20-450, x3-4885).
TDM - Too Damned Much. Refers to tuition.
TFM - See TDM.
TMRC - Tech Model Railroad Club (pronounced “tumurk”).
TWO - Technology Wives Organization. Former name of Tech Community Women.
Tech - archaic. MIT. Now called the Institute.
Tech Talk - The official MIT newspaper published every Wednesday (except summers and Institute holidays).
Tech, The - A student-written and published newspaper that appears in Lobby 7 and other random places on Tuesdays and Fridays (except summers and Institute holidays).
Technology - Very archaic name for the Institute. See Tech.
Tech Square - (1) Member of the MIT Square Dancing Club. (2) Group of buildings located northeast of MIT, location of LCS and the MIT AI Lab.
tonic - Soda, New England style.
tool - (1) v. To study. (See powertool.) n. (2) One who studies to an extreme. Connotes over-concentration on problem sets. Supertool: an extreme extreme. (3) MIT student. Slightly derogatory.
Transparent Horizons - East Campus scrapheap traditionally buried in snow each winter.
trash - To destroy or vandalize, especially during a riot.
trivial - (1) Obvious. Often said sarcastically. (2) Easy to do.
Tuition Riot - Traditional “spontaneous” demonstration held to celebrate a tuition increase.
turkey - (1) A chestnut-stuffed, giblet-jammed Tom gobbler. (2) One lacking common sense.
'Tute - MIT.

U - Undergraduate.
UA - (1) Undergraduate Association. Organization of all MIT undergraduates (W20-401). (2) Urban Action (7-141).
UAAO - Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office (7-103). Its previous incarnations were known as OFA (Office of Freshman Advising) and FAC (Freshman Advisory Council).
UAC - Undergraduate Association Council. Undergraduate governing, coordinating, and information--distributing agency. Consists of the sum of living group representatives.
UAP - Undergraduate Association President. Presides over UAC and has other random duties.
UAVP - Undergraduate Association Vice President.
UROP - Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. A source of credit and dollars for many undergrads.
Urban Action - A student organization dedicated to community service which helps find projects for enthusiastic volunteers (20A-001, x3-2894).
urchin - Term, among others, for anyone (especially a high school student) who hangs around and makes a pest of himself, frequently causing objects of value to sprout legs and walk away.

Vardebedia - Fifth floor of New House 4 (archaic).
Vigilante - Resident of MacGregor F-entry.
Virjin - Resident of MacGregor J-entry.

Women's League - Service and social organization for all MIT women. Formerly Tech Matrons.

Zebe - Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.