Terminology: wheel
Robert Bonomi
bonomi at mail.r-bonomi.com
Sat May 26 03:57:01 UTC 2012
> From: Polytropon <freebsd at edvax.de>
>
> On Fri, 25 May 2012 21:52:12 -0400, Matthew Story wrote:
> > http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_(Unix_term)
>
> Ah, thanks! I hoped there was a more... technical explaination
> than just "wheel" being a slang term derivate. :-)
>
> big wheel (idiomatic)
> A person with a great deal of power or influence,
> especially a high-ranking person in an organization.
>
> slang "big wheel" -> wheel bit -> wheel group
There are numerous 'wheel' related terms in the 'casual English' lexicon.
See 'wheeler dealer', for example.
Those 'at the wheel' are those who are in charge -- in immediate control
of steering the ship.
See also 'wheel horse'. which has a secondary meaning of 'a diligent,
dependble worker' -- one who can be trusted to 'do things right' (defined
as 'the way the boss wants it done' :)
Derived from a position in a team of horses used to pull wagons, coaches,
etc. Some horses do *not* work well in a team at all, others are intractable
if they are not in a 'lead' position,
A 'wheel horse' will work behind others. They will, _without_complaint_,
follow the "horse's ass" in the lead. The parallel to computer operations
staff (the wheel group) is obvious. *GRIN*
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