Used as C's prefix bitwise negation operator; and in
Unix csh, GNU Emacs, and elsewhere, to stand for the
current user's home directory, or, when prefixed to a login
name, for the given user's home directory.
The "swung dash" or "approximation" sign is not quite the same
as tilde in typeset material but the ASCII tilde serves for
both (compare angle brackets).
[Has anyone else heard this called "tidal" (as in wave)?]
(1996-10-18)
Nearby terms:
TIFF « tiger team « tight loop « tilde » TILE Forth » Tim Berners-Lee » time bomb
