| WYSIAYG
= W =
X
WYSIWYG /wiz'ee-wig/ or /wiss'ee-wig/ adj.
[Traced
to Flip Wilson's "Geraldine" character c.1970] Describes a user
interface under which "What You See Is What You Get", as opposed
to one that uses more-or-less obscure commands that do not result
in immediate visual feedback. True WYSIWYG in environments
supporting multiple fonts or graphics is a a rarely-attained ideal;
there are variants of this term to express real-world
manifestations including WYSIAWYG (What You See Is Almost
What You Get) and WYSIMOLWYG (What You See Is More or Less What You
Get). All these can be mildly derogatory, as they are often used
to refer to dumbed-down user-friendly interfaces targeted at
non-programmers; a hacker has no fear of obscure commands (compare
WYSIAYG). On the other hand, EMACS was one of the very
first WYSIWYG editors, replacing (actually, at first overlaying)
the extremely obscure, command-based TECO. See also WIMP environment. [Oddly enough, WYSIWYG has already made it into the
OED, in lower case yet. --ESR]
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.
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