27-letter words containing a, r, i, o, u, s

network application support — (networking) (NAS) DEC's approach to applications integration across a distributed multivendor environment.
neurolinguistic programming — a therapy designed to alter behaviour by reprogramming unconscious patterns of thought
on the understanding (that) — If you agree to do something on the understanding that something else will be done, you do it because you have been told that the other thing will definitely be done.
open scripting architecture — (OSA) A CIL approach to the coexistence of multiple scripting systems.
oscillating universe theory — the theory that the universe is oscillating between periods of expansion and collapse
outline planning permission — a permission for building on land which sets out general but not yet detailed guidelines
personal accident insurance — accident which covers personal accidents
polymorphic lambda-calculus — (language, types) (Or "second order typed lambda-calculus", "System F", "Lambda-2"). An extension of typed lambda-calculus allowing functions which take types as parameters. E.g. the polymorphic function "twice" may be written: twice = /\ t . \ (f :: t -> t) . \ (x :: t) . f (f x) (where "/\" is an upper case Greek lambda and "(v :: T)" is usually written as v with subscript T). The parameter t will be bound to the type to which twice is applied, e.g.: twice Int takes and returns a function of type Int -> Int. (Actual type arguments are often written in square brackets [ ]). Function twice itself has a higher type: twice :: Delta t . (t -> t) -> (t -> t) (where Delta is an upper case Greek delta). Thus /\ introduces an object which is a function of a type and Delta introduces a type which is a function of a type. Polymorphic lambda-calculus was invented by Jean-Yves Girard in 1971 and independently by John C. Reynolds in 1974.
post-viral fatigue syndrome — Post-viral fatigue syndrome is a long-lasting illness that is thought to be caused by a virus. Its symptoms include feeling tired all the time and muscle pain.
potassium hydrogen tartrate — a colourless or white soluble crystalline salt used in baking powders, soldering fluxes, and laxatives. Formula: KHC4H4O6
pour oil on troubled waters — any of a large class of substances typically unctuous, viscous, combustible, liquid at ordinary temperatures, and soluble in ether or alcohol but not in water: used for anointing, perfuming, lubricating, illuminating, heating, etc.
proclaim from the housetops — to announce (something) publicly
product liability insurance — Product liability insurance is insurance for a producer or supplier of goods against injury to third parties or loss of or damage to their property that is caused by a fault in the goods.
protestant episcopal church — Episcopal Church in America.
public broadcasting service — a network of independent, noncommercial television stations that operate with public and government funding instead of with revenues from advertising. Abbreviation: PBS.
public service broadcasting — publicly-funded broadcasting
public works administration — the U.S. federal agency (1933–44) that instituted and administered projects for the construction of public works. Abbreviation: PWA, P.W.A.
respiratory syncytial virus — a myxovirus causing infections of the nose and throat, esp in young children. It is thought to be involved in some cot deaths
rough endoplasmic reticulum — a network of tubular membranes within the cytoplasm of the cell, occurring either with a smooth surface (smooth endoplasmic reticulum) or studded with ribosomes (rough endoplasmic reticulum) involved in the transport of materials.
senile macular degeneration — a type of macular degeneration that is one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly and in which tiny blood vessels grow into the macula of the retina, obscuring vision. Abbreviation: SMD.
serial storage architecture — (storage) (SSA) IBM's proposed ANSI standard for a standard high-speed interface to disk clusters and arrays. SSA allows full-duplex packet multiplexed serial data transfers at rates of 20Mb/sec in each direction. According to John Taylor, programme manager at IBM's Storage Division at Havant, SSA will be used in arrays of discs working with high-end computers ranging from mainframes down to LAN servers. Taylor said that SSA differs from the IEEE proposed P1394 serial interface specification in its ability to offer simultaneous multiplexed transfers from more than one disk or array. IBM also supports the P1394 standard which will be used primarily by desktop PCs for multimedia applications. SSA has received backing from a number of companies including connector makers Molex, ITT Cannon and AMP, disk drive makers Conner and Western Digital and RAID array suppliers like Dynatech and NCR. IBM expects to see the first SSA products released at Comdex in Autumn 1994 but it will be 1995 before the products ship in volume. Under an agreement signed with ASIC maker and ARM licencee VLSI Technology, IBM will use ARM-based chips made by VLSI to implement the SSA interface and VLSI will make these cores available to third parties as one of its Functional System Blocks.
stand/turn sth on it's head — If you stand an idea or argument on its head or turn it on its head, you think about it or treat it in a completely new and different way.
stanford research institute — Former name of SRI International.
supreme court of judicature — an English court formed in 1873 from several superior courts and consisting of a court of original jurisdiction (High Court of Justice) and an appellate court (Court of Appeal)
symbol manipulation program — (SMP) Steven Wolfram's earlier symbol manipulation program, before he turned to Mathematica.
synchronous optical network — (networking) (SONET) A broadband networking standard based on point-to-point optical fibre networks. SONET will provide a high-bandwidth "pipe" to support ATM-based services. The SONET standard will establish a digital hierarchical network with a consistent worldwide transport scheme. SONET has been designed to take advantage of fibre, in contrast to the plain old telephone system which was designed for copper wires. SONET carries circuit-switched data in frames at speeds in multiples of 51.84 megabits per second (Mbps) up to 48 * 51.84 Mbps = 2.488 gigabits per second. Since SONET uses multiple channels to transmit data, each SONET frame can be considered to be a two-dimensional table of bytes that is 9 rows high and 90 columns deep. For every OC-n level, SONET can transmit n number of frames at a given time. Groups of frames are called superframes. SONET is the American version of SDH.
the forest of fontainebleau — a forest in N France, where the town of Fontainebleau is located
the odds are in sb's favour — If you say that the odds are in someone's favour, you mean that they are likely to succeed in what they are doing.
thyroid stimulating hormone — thyrotropin. Abbreviation: TSH.
thyroid-stimulating hormone — thyrotropin. Abbreviation: TSH.
to all intents and purposes — something that is intended; purpose; design; intention: The original intent of the committee was to raise funds.
to be bursting at the seams — to be very full
to practise what you preach — If you say that someone practises what they preach, you mean that they behave in the way that they encourage other people to behave in.
to rear/raise its ugly head — If you say that something unpleasant or embarrassing rears its ugly head or raises its ugly head, you mean that it occurs, often after not occurring for some time.
to rule sb with a high hand — to behave imperiously towards someone
to run rings around someone — If you say that someone runs rings round you or runs rings around you, you mean that they are a lot better or a lot more successful than you at a particular activity.
to stop dead in your tracks — If someone or something stops you in your tracks, or if you stop dead in your tracks, you suddenly stop moving because you are very surprised, impressed, or frightened.
to take someone by surprise — If something takes you by surprise, it happens when you are not expecting it or when you are not prepared for it.
to the best of your ability — as well as you can
united nations organization — the United Nations. Abbreviation: UNO, U.N.O.
united service organization — a private, non-profit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the US military, with programmes in 140 centres worldwide
universal computer protocol — (communications, protocol) An earlier form of External Machine Interface (EMI).
universal naming convention — (networking) (UNC) The type of file system path used in Microsoft Windows networking to completely specify a directory on a file server. The basic format is: \\servername\sharename where "servername" is the hostname or IP address of a network file server, and "sharename" is the name of a shared directory on the server. This is related to the conventional MS-DOS "C:\windows" style of directory name. E.g. \\server1\dave might be set up to point to C:\users\homedirs\dave on a server called "server1". It is possible to execute a program using this convention without having to specifically link a drive, by running: \\server\share\directory\program.exe The undocumented DOS command, TRUENAME can be used to find out the UNC name of a file or directory on a network drive. Even Microsoft don't know whether UNC stands for "Universal Naming Convention" or "Uniform Naming Convention", both appear on their website, sometimes withing the same document, but with a preference for "Universal".
university grants committee — an advisory committee of the British government, which advised on the distribution of grant funding amongst British universities. It was in existence from 1919 until 1989. Its functions have now largely been taken over by the higher education funding councils (HEFCE (England), SHEFC (Scotland), HEFCW (Wales), and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland)
weapons of mass destruction — nuclear, biological and chemical arms
while-you-wait heel repairs — repairs to damaged heels of footwear, carried out while the customer waits

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