14-letter words containing a, r, c, h, e, y
- scratch monkey — (humour) As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed. This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of Toronto. Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; the university had spent years teaching her how to swim, breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of different gas mixtures on her physiology. Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a DEC engineer troubleshooting a crash on the program's VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was wired to Mabel. It is reported that, after calming down an understandably irate customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of certain clueless droids at the local "humane" society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. A corespondent adds: The details you give are somewhat consistent with the version I recall from the Digital "War Stories" notesfile, but the name "Mabel" and the swimming bit were not mentioned, IIRC. Also, there's a very detailed account that claims that three monkies died in the incident, not just one. I believe Eric Postpischil wrote the original story at DEC, so his coming back with a different version leads me to wonder whether there ever was a real Scratch Monkey incident.
- sobriety coach — a person who is employed to help another to refrain from drinking alcohol
- speech therapy — treatment for speaking disorders
- sphaerocrystal — a spherical crystalline mass
- stretchability — to draw out or extend (oneself, a body, limbs, wings, etc.) to the full length or extent (often followed by out): to stretch oneself out on the ground.
- supply teacher — A supply teacher is a teacher whose job is to take the place of other teachers at different schools when they are unable to be there.
- surinam cherry — a tropical American tree, Eugenia uniflora, of the myrtle family, having ovate leaves and fragrant, white flowers.
- the real mccoy — the genuine thing or person as promised, stated, or implied (usually preceded by the or the real): Those other paintings are copies, but this one is the McCoy.
- thermodynamics — the science concerned with the relations between heat and mechanical energy or work, and the conversion of one into the other: modern thermodynamics deals with the properties of systems for the description of which temperature is a necessary coordinate.
- three-act play — a dramatic production such as play or film which is divided into three acts or sections
- trachyspermous — having seeds with a rough coat.
- treasury bench — (in Britain) the front bench to the right of the Speaker in the House of Commons, traditionally reserved for members of the Government
- turbomachinery — machinery consisting of, incorporating, or constituting a turbine
- tymshare, inc. — (company) The US company that created the TYMNET network.
- unhysterically — in a way that does not show or suggest any hysteria; calmly; rationally
- voyage charter — the hire of a ship or aircraft for a specified number of voyages
- water hyacinth — a floating aquatic plant, Eichornia crassipes, of tropical lakes and rivers, that grows so prolifically it often hinders the passage of boats.
- xerophytically — As a xerophyte.
- zygobranchiate — of or relating to zygobranchs or the Zygobranchia genus