18-letter words containing a, s, o, u
- ha ha only serious — (SF fandom, originally as mutation of HHOK, "Ha Ha Only Kidding") A phrase (often seen abbreviated as HHOS) that aptly captures the flavour of much hacker discourse. Applied especially to parodies, absurdities, and ironic jokes that are both intended and perceived to contain a possibly disquieting amount of truth, or truths that are constructed on in-joke and self-parody. The Jargon File contains many examples of ha-ha-only-serious in both form and content. Indeed, the entirety of hacker culture is often perceived as ha-ha-only-serious by hackers themselves; to take it either too lightly or too seriously marks a person as an outsider, a wannabee, or in larval stage. For further enlightenment on this subject, consult any Zen master. See also AI koan.
- hash house slinger — a person who serves in a cheap cafe
- haud your wheesht! — be silent! hush!
- head and shoulders — If you say that someone or something stands head and shoulders above other people or things, you mean that they are a lot better than them.
- heat of combustion — the heat evolved when one mole of a substance is burnt in oxygen at constant volume
- hold up one's head — to be unashamed
- honeysuckle family — the plant family Caprifoliaceae, typified by shrubs and woody vines having opposite leaves, clusters of usually flaring, narrow, tubular flowers, and various types of fruit, and including the elder, honeysuckle, snowberry, twinflower, and viburnum.
- honour moderations — (at Oxford University) the first public examination, in which candidates are placed into one of three classes of honours
- house of delegates — the lower house of the General Assembly in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.
- human rights group — a group that campaigns for human rights
- hungry programmers — (body) A group of programmers producing free software.
- huntington station — a town on W Long Island, in SE New York.
- hydrofluorocarbons — Plural form of hydrofluorocarbon.
- hypersexualisation — Alternative spelling of hypersexualization.
- hypersexualization — The act or process of hypersexualizing.
- hyposulfurous acid — an acid, H 2 S 2 O 4 , next in a series below sulfurous acid, known only in solution or in the form of its salts.
- ifs, ands, or buts — a supposition; uncertain possibility: The future is full of ifs.
- ignatius of loyola — Loyola, Saint Ignatius.
- immunohistological — the microscopic study of tissues with the aid of antibodies that bind to tissue components and reveal their presence.
- in terrorem clause — a clause in a will stating that a beneficiary who contests the will shall lose his or her legacy.
- in with a shout of — If you say that someone is in with a shout of achieving or winning something, you mean that they have a chance of achieving or winning it.
- incommensurability — not commensurable; having no common basis, measure, or standard of comparison.
- inconsequentiality — of little or no importance; insignificant; trivial.
- indus civilization — an ancient civilization that flourished in the Indus River valley, from about 2500 to 1500 b.c.: extensive archaeological excavations at the main sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in Pakistan.
- industrial diamond — a small often synthetic diamond, valueless as a gemstone, used in cutting tools, abrasives, etc
- infectious disease — illness spread by person to person
- inner automorphism — an automorphism that maps an element x into an element of the form axa −1 where a −1 is the inverse of a.
- inquisitor-general — the head of the Spanish court of Inquisition
- institutionalising — Present participle of institutionalise.
- institutionalizing — Present participle of institutionalize.
- instruction manual — how-to, usage guide
- instrument station — station (def 14a).
- intercartilaginous — (anatomy) Within cartilage.
- interinstitutional — Between institutions.
- investment account — a bank account in which money is saved long-term to accrue interest
- involuntary muscle — muscle: contracts involuntarily
- iron (ii) sulphate — an iron salt with a saline taste, usually obtained as greenish crystals of the heptahydrate, which are converted to the white monohydrate above 100°C: used in inks, tanning, water purification, and in the treatment of anaemia. Formula: FeSO4
- iverson's language — APL, which went unnamed for many years.
- jerusalem syndrome — a delusive condition affecting some visitors to Jerusalem in which the sufferer identifies with a major figure from his or her religious background
- johannes gutenberg — Johannes [yoh-hahn-uh s] /yoʊˈhɑn əs/ (Show IPA), (Johann Gensfleisch) c1400–68, German printer: credited with invention of printing from movable type.
- joint consultation — a formal system of communication between the management of an organization and the employees' representatives used prior to taking decisions affecting the workforce, usually effected through a joint consultative committee
- just (plain) folks — simple and unassuming; not snobbish
- king's regulations — (in Britain and the Commonwealth when the sovereign is male) the code of conduct for members of the armed forces that deals with discipline, aspects of military law, etc
- komsomolsk-on-amur — city in SE Russia, on the Amur River: pop. 309,000
- krause's corpuscle — any of numerous encapsulated nerve endings occurring in the skin and mucous membranes, functioning as sensory cold receptors.
- last but not least — lastly
- last in, first out — The expression last in, first out is used to say that the last person who started work in an organization should be the first person to leave it, if fewer people are needed.
- last-in, first-out — an inventory plan based on the assumption that materials constituting manufacturing costs should be carried on the books at the market price of the last lot received. Abbreviation: LIFO. Compare first-in, first-out.
- lay down your arms — If soldiers lay down their arms, they stop fighting and give up their weapons.
- lenticular process — a method for producing images with a three-dimensional effect by photographing on lenticulated film.