17-letter words containing n, a, g, u, r
- universal grammar — a grammar that attempts to establish the properties and constraints common to all possible human languages.
- unix brain damage — Something that has to be done to break a network program (typically a mailer) on a non-Unix system so that it will interoperate with Unix systems. The hack may qualify as "Unix brain damage" if the program conforms to published standards and the Unix program in question does not. Unix brain damage happens because it is much easier for other (minority) systems to change their ways to match non-conforming behaviour than it is to change all the hundreds of thousands of Unix systems out there. An example of Unix brain damage is a kluge in a mail server to recognise bare line feed (the Unix newline) as an equivalent form to the Internet standard newline, which is a carriage return followed by a line feed. Such things can make even a hardened jock weep.
- urogenital system — the urinary tract and reproductive organs
- user brain damage — (humour) (UBD) A description (usually abbreviated) used to close a trouble report obviously due to utter cluelessness on the user's part. Compare pilot error; opposite: PBD; see also brain-damaged, PEBCAK.
- vinaigrette sauce — a tart sauce of oil, vinegar, and seasonings, sometimes including chopped capers, pickles, etc., usually served cold with salads.
- vulcan death grip — (jargon) A variant of Vulcan nerve pinch derived from a Star Trek classic epsisode where a non-existant "Vulcan death grip" was used to fool Romulans that Spock had killed Kirk.
- waitangi tribunal — (in New Zealand) a government tribunal empowered to examine and make recommendations on Māori claims under the Treaty of Waitangi
- warehousing costs — the costs involved in storing goods in a warehouse
- washington square — a short novel (1881) by Henry James.
- working substance — a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.
- wrangell-mountain — Mount, an active volcano in SE Alaska, in the Wrangell Mountains. 14,006 feet (4269 meters).
- youth programming — the creation and scheduling of television programmes specifically aimed at young people
- zonal pelargonium — a pelargonium whose leaves are marked with concentric circles of a different colour to the rest of the leaf