alt

   1.  n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or {clone} keyboard; see {bucky
   bits},  sense 2 (though typical PC usage does not simply set the 0200
   bit).

   2. n. The option key on a Macintosh; use of this term usually reveals
   that  the  speaker  hacked  PCs  before  coming  to the Mac (see also
   {feature key}, which is sometimes incorrectly called `alt').

   3.  The  alt  hierarchy  on Usenet, the tree of newsgroups created by
   users  without a formal vote and approval procedure. There is a myth,
   not  entirely  implausible,  that  alt  is acronymic for "anarchists,
   lunatics,  and  terrorists";  but  in  fact  it  is  simply short for
   "alternative".

   4.  n.,obs.  Rare  alternate  name for the ASCII ESC character (ASCII
   0011011).  This  use,  derives, with the alt key itself, from archaic
   PDP-10 operating systems, especially {ITS}.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {splat}{TECO}]