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jiffy

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jiffy

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Jiffy  \Jif"fy\,  n.  [Perh.  corrupt.  fr  gliff.]  [Written  also 
  {giffy}.] 
  A  moment;  an  instant;  as  I  will  be  ready  in  a  jiffy. 
  [Colloq.]  --J.  &  H.  Smith. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  jiffy 
  n  :  a  very  short  time;  "if  I  had  the  chance  I'd  do  it  in  a 
  flash"  [syn:  {blink  of  an  eye},  {flash},  {instant},  {split 
  second},  {trice},  {twinkling},  {wink},  {New  York  minute}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  jiffy  n.  1.  The  duration  of  one  tick  of  the  system  clock  on 
  your  computer  (see  {tick}).  Often  one  AC  cycle  time  (1/60  second  in 
  the  U.S.  and  Canada,  1/50  most  other  places),  but  more  recently  1/100 
  sec  has  become  common.  "The  swapper  runs  every  6  jiffies"  means  that 
  the  virtual  memory  management  routine  is  executed  once  for  every  6 
  ticks  of  the  clock,  or  about  ten  times  a  second  2.  Confusingly,  the 
  term  is  sometimes  also  used  for  a  1-millisecond  {wall  time}  interval. 
  3.  Even  more  confusingly,  physicists  semi-jokingly  use  `jiffy'  to  mean 
  the  time  required  for  light  to  travel  one  foot  in  a  vacuum,  which  turns 
  out  to  be  close  to  one  _nanosecond_.  4.  Indeterminate  time  from  a  few 
  seconds  to  forever.  "I'll  do  it  in  a  jiffy"  means  certainly  not  now 
  and  possibly  never  This  is  a  bit  contrary  to  the  more  widespread  use 
  of  the  word  Oppose  {nano}.  See  also  {Real  Soon  Now}. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  jiffy 
 
  1.  The  duration  of  one  {tick}  of  the  computer's  {system 
  clock}.  Often  one  AC  cycle  time  (1/60  second  in  the  US  and 
  Canada,  1/50  most  other  places),  but  more  recently  1/100  sec 
  has  become  common. 
 
  2.  Confusingly,  the  term  is  sometimes  also  used  for  a 
  1-millisecond  {wall  time}  interval.  Even  more  confusingly, 
  physicists  semi-jokingly  use  jiffy"  to  mean  the  time  required 
  for  light  to  travel  one  foot  in  a  vacuum,  which  turns  out  to 
  be  close  to  one  *nanosecond*. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}]




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