MIPS

MIPS /mips/ n.  [abbreviation] 1. A measure of computing
   speed; formally, `Million Instructions Per Second' (that's
   10^6 per second, not 2^(20)!); often rendered by
   hackers as `Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed' or in
   other unflattering ways.  This joke expresses a nearly universal
   attitude about the value of most {benchmark} claims, said
   attitude being one of the great cultural divides between hackers
   and {marketroid}s.  The singular is sometimes `1 MIP' even
   though this is clearly etymologically wrong.  See also {KIPS}
   and {GIPS}.  2. Computers, especially large computers,
   considered abstractly as sources of {computron}s.  "This is
   just a workstation; the heavy MIPS are hidden in the basement."
   3. The corporate name of a particular RISC-chip company; among
   other things, they designed the processor chips used in DEC's 3100
   workstation series.  4. Acronym for `Meaningless Information per
   Second' (a joke, prob. from sense 1).