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APL Puns

in Recreational

16 December 2015

The Author

Roger Hui

APL Programmer

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In the Beginning

`⌊`	floor
`⌈`	ceiling
`⍟`	log

⌊ and ⌈ were punnish when the notation was introduced in 1962. They have long since gone mainstream, used even by respectable mathematicians and computer scientists.

To see why ⍟ is a pun, see the Vector article My Favourite APL Symbol.

• • • • •

The following are a joint effort by the Dyalog team, many derived after a sumptuous dinner and a few glasses of wine. Column 0 are valid APL expressions. For an enhanced experience may we suggest covering column 1 as you read column 0 for the first time.

In Modern Times

`⊃⎕A~'L'`	the first no el
`⍴⍴⍴'your boat'`	rho rho rho your boat
`*⍣¯1⊢fly+fly`	log of the flies
`{⍺←23 ⋄ (2÷(○1)0.5)×-/⍵×(⍵2×⍳⍺)÷ (!⍳⍺)×1+2×⍳⍺}ghanistan`	erf ghanistan
`↑^≡`	mix and match
`>/+/∘⎕UCS¨'the parts' 'the whole'`	the sum of the parts is greater than the whole
`?⍨2e9`	a big deal
`○1`	APL π
`2(⌷⍤1)2 3 4⍴○1`	a slice of APL π
`0 0⍉3 4⍴○1`	another slice of APL π
`easy←○1`	easy as π
`{4×-/÷1+2×⍳⍵}1e6`	a π long in the making
`↑`	pike; see APL Quotations and Anecdotes
`↓`	spike
`⍋`	pine
`⍒`	spine
`⍋`	Concorde taking (and showing) off
`⍒`	uh-oh
`{⍵⌷⍨⊂?⍨≢⍵}`	degrade
`bb∨~bb`	two b or not two b
`bb≥bb`	two b or not two b
`××`	sign of the times
`a←2÷⍨3 4⍴⍳12 ⋄ *○0j1×a`	show off
`a←2÷⍨3 4⍴⍳12 ⋄ *○0j1×a+2e9`	shameless show off
`⍎turtles←'⍎turtles'`	it’s turtles all the way down…

In Honour of a Certain Movie Series

`0⍴'menace'`	I. The Empty Menace
`⊢⎕ns¨ 2⍴⎕this`	II. Tack of the Clones
`⌽'htxiS'~'x'`	III. Reverse of the Sith
`⎕io←~⎕io`	IV. A New Beginning
`{'Jedi'⊢1e3×○R}`	V. The M π R Strikes from the Back
`{'Jedi'}`	VI. Return Jedi
`(+⌿÷≢)3 4 5⊣⎕dl 10`	VII. The Fork Awakens

`may←+⌿÷≢ ⋄ may∘∪`	may the fork be with you
`0 1 2 3 (⌊/⍬) 5 6`	the fourth is strong with this one
`4 4 4 4 (⌊/⍬) 4 4`	I feel a great disturbance in the fours
`1=?2e9`	this is not the number you are looking for
`1=?2e9`	in my experience, there’s no such thing as luck
`Luke.##`	I AM your father
`4 ⊃ 0 1 2 3 'dark side'`	vier ist the path to the dark side
`x{0.5×⍵+⍺÷⍵}⍣≡darkside`	do not underestimate the power of the dark side
`⎕ct←1`	I find your lack of faith disturbing
`0.2 ∊ ÷3 1 4 1 9 2 6 3 8 9 7 9`	I find your lack of a-fifth disturbing
`{0::⍺⍺~⍵ ⋄ ⍺⍺ ⍵}`	do, or do not; there is no `:Try`

`⍝`	R2D2
`>⍝`	Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope
`⊂○⊃`	Princess Leia
`<○>`	Yoda
`○>---`	Death Star
`>∘<`	X-wing fighter
`⊢○⊣`	tie fighter
`○⍨`	tie fighter in stealth
`⊢○⊣ 1`	π fighter
`⊣⍲⍲`	ATAT
`⍤`	Ewok
`⍥`	Wookie
`⍋`	imperial cruiser
`⍋⍒`	imperial cruisers colliding
┌──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┐ │⊢ │⍒ │⍒⍒│⍋⌽│⌽ │⍋ │⍋⍒│⍒⌽│ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⍒ │⍒⍒│⍋⌽│⊢ │⍒⌽│⌽ │⍋ │⍋⍒│ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⍒⍒│⍋⌽│⊢ │⍒ │⍋⍒│⍒⌽│⌽ │⍋ │ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⍋⌽│⊢ │⍒ │⍒⍒│⍋ │⍋⍒│⍒⌽│⌽ │ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⌽ │⍋ │⍋⍒│⍒⌽│⊢ │⍒ │⍒⍒│⍋⌽│ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⍋ │⍋⍒│⍒⌽│⌽ │⍋⌽│⊢ │⍒ │⍒⍒│ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⍋⍒│⍒⌽│⌽ │⍋ │⍒⍒│⍋⌽│⊢ │⍒ │ ├──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┤ │⍒⌽│⌽ │⍋ │⍋⍒│⍒ │⍒⍒│⍋⌽│⊢ │ └──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┘	climatic space battle