Barry Gershenfeld wrote:
> 
>> This is just an aside, but I think there is a some difference between
>> acquiesce and quiesce. I suppose if your disks seem temperamental, the
>> meanings might be equivalent.
> 
> The biggest difference being that acquiesce is an English word.  I
> looked up 'quiesce' since I'd never heard of it, and it appears to be
> jargon.  That's based on the observation that the search hits lead to
> technical discussions, and none to dictionaries.  "Acquiesce" gives the
> opposite result.   I'm going to guess that 'quiesce' derives from the
> desire to have a word that means "reaches its quiescent state", though
> what they're really seeking is a state where the system load is at a
> minimum, and the disks are not being accessed.  There is an actual
> command by this name in IBM-dom, which suggests the term wasn't invented
> yesterday, and that in the minds of some DP or IP personnel, it's as
> good as a word.
> 
> Just thought I'd share, since I took the trouble to look it up.  Anyone
> wants to research it deeper, go ahead.
> 

Well, I had no trouble finding it in several online dictionaries .. no
mention of jargon-ocity, even.

In the process of checking, Google led me to a new resource I hadn't
stumbled onto before -- kinda nice:
  http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/

BTW, I've been seeing quiesce for several years and always thought it
sounded recently made up, although fitting a well-defined need. On
further looking, it seems to be an eminently authentic word which just
may not have been widely used until recently.

Regards,
..jim


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