Etymology of "grep"

David Phillip Oster oster at lapis.berkeley.edu
Fri Jan 9 04:43:50 AEST 1987


We've all heard the story that grep gets its name from the command in old
Unix "ed": g/r.e./p where r.e. stands for regular expression. Although
this may be true, it is hard to believe that it is the whole truth.

"Grep" is also named for "greps" the Yiddish word for "belch."

--- David Phillip Oster		-- "We live in a Global Village."
Arpa: oster at lapis.berkeley.edu  --
Uucp: ucbvax!ucblapis!oster     -- "You are Number Six."



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