Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 21:26:44 -0600 From: "Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P." <kdk@daleco.biz> To: mike bueide <mbueide@charter.net> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: More trivia: origin of the wheel group Message-ID: <3FE66474.1030201@daleco.biz> In-Reply-To: <20031222024701.GA1417@charter.net> References: <3FE500F4.3060108@potentialtech.com> <o9vfo9930c.fo9@mail.comcast.net> <3FE63E95.2020201@potentialtech.com> <20031222024701.GA1417@charter.net>
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mike bueide wrote: >On Sun, Dec 21, 2003 at 07:45:09PM -0500, Bill Moran wrote: > > >>Gary W. Swearingen wrote: >> >> >>>Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com> writes: >>> >>> >>> >>>>Does anyone know why the wheel group is called "wheel"? I mean, why not >>>>"admins" or something like that. "wheel" certainly is a cryptic name for >>>>the administrators group. Anyone have any idea why it's called "wheel"? >>>> >>>> >>>Seems obvious to me. "Big wheel" was slang for "one who calls the >>>shots" or "VIP" as long as I can remember. And "wheel" was common >>>slang for "big wheel". Some sys admin must have seen sys admins as >>>qualifying. Why "big wheel" had that meaning, I can only guess, but I >>>suspect it came from horsey days when people's importance was >>>pretty-well correlated with the size of their vehicle's wheels. >>> >>> >>Interesting. I can't remember ever hearing the term "Big wheel" before. >>Perhaps it's some local slang that is seldom used in western Pennsylvania? >> >> > >Might it not be a maritime reference? > >--------- > Michael Bueide > mbueide (at) charter (dot) net . > > Possibly, but that wouldn't explain that it's commonly known among old fogeys (sic --- "look" doesn't give a plural) in Missouri. Not very salty, Kevin Kinsey
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