I have been trying to find out what the three letters 'AWP' mean when used in relation to fruit machines. I'm not sure if people outside the UK will understand what I mean by 'fruit machine', so I will tell you:

I mean the gambling machines you see in casinos, bookies, pubs, bowling alleys, chip shops, etc, etc. They take your money, spin some reels, which usually have pictures of various fruits (and bars and sevens) on them, and if it ends up showing the same fruit on all 3 (or 4, or 5) reels then you get some money back. Minimum payout ratio at least 78%, or so the small print on the machine says.

Narzos tells me that in "merkin-land" (as he affectionately refers to the US of A) they call these things slot machines. "One armed bandit" is another name for them, but they no longer tend to have any arms at all anymore in the UK, just buttons.

I see people all over the web talking about AWPs and SWPs. I know that SWPs are 'Skill With Prizes' machines - the ones where the machine asks you general knowledge questions with cash prizes if you answer enough correctly. But what does the 'A' stand for?

So far I've come across the following (irrelevant) meanings of AWP:

"Alan W. Pollack"

Some guy who hangs around the rec.music.beatles newsgroup and who has written some very extensive notes concerning the styles, forms, melodies, harmories, arrangements, intros, verses, bridges and outros of lots of famous Beatles songs.

http://rmb.simplenet.com/public/files/awp/awp.html

The "Association of Web Professionals"

The industry recognised association and certification body dedicated to enhancing the value and credibility of Web professionals through on-going development and communication of standards, a code of ethics and professional development.

http://www.a-w-p.org/

The "Associated Writing Programs"

They support over 20,000 writers at over 320 member colleges and universities and 60 writers' conferences and centers.

http://awpwriter.org/

The "Anti Women Projectile" Clan

A Swedish CounterStrike clan. I guess this is a reference to the Arctic Warfare Police sniper rifle mentioned in the previous writeup.

http://www.clanbase.com/claninfo.php?cid=8929

The "Academic Writing Program"

A program at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign which (allegedly) provides an intensive learning environment for students who can be expected to benefit from a two-semester sequence of Rhetoric classes designed to assist them in developing their academic writing skills.

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/awp/

The "Association for Women in Psychology"

A not-for-profit scientific and educational organization committed to encouraging feminist psychological research, theory, and activism.

http://www.awpsych.org/

The "Australian Women's Party"

They call for constitutional change so that men and women are guaranteed equal representation in federal parliament (in Australia? Give it a rest, Sheila!).

http://www.isis.aust.com/awp/

"Associated Wood Products", Inc

A company selling - um - wood products from Minnesota, USA.

http://www.associatedwood.com/

"Aerial Work Platforms"

A company selling telescopic boom work platforms.

http://www.groveworldwide.com/manlift/default_m.htm

The "Average Wholesale Price"

Something determined by the FDB, apparently.

http://www.ascp.com/public/ga/awp/awpinfo.shtml

The "Adjusted World Price"

A term used by a group calling themselves the "National Cotton Council of America".

http://www.econcentral.com/loan/faqs.htm

"Academic Writing for Publication"

A booklet published by EECTR (Effective English Communication for Teaching and Research) designed to provide self-access help to academic staff who wish to develop their academic writing skills.

http://www.engl.polyu.edu.hk/EECTR/awp.htm

"Aktionsgemeinschaft Wirtschaft und Politik" (Action Committee Economics and Politics)

A German organisation which stands for "re-creation of liberal society... by the reduction of the socialism of the functionary patronizing, the zero tariff, the subsidies and control progression, the unaufhoerlich growing state proportion of the national income and the indebtedness pauperization!" (translations by babelfish).

http://www.awp-digital.de/zukunft.htm

The "AG für Wirtschaftspublikationen"

A Swiss site of the "AG for economics publications" with articles from the "Swiss commercial news agency" (it says here).

http://www.awp.ch/ -- thanks to generic-man for pointing out that .ch isn't the Czech Republic!

Oh, so eventually I found it...

"Amusement With Prizes"

More commonly known as fruit machines, they are found in three different types of premises. Licensed premises such as pubs and clubs are licensed by the Licensing Magistrates for their fruit machines but in the other types of premises the local authority is responsible for licensing under section 34 of the Gaming Act 1968.

http://www.middevon.gov.uk/ehealth/licensing/amusement%20with%20prizes.htm

We are not amused.

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