:cookie: /n./ A handle, transaction ID, or other token of
agreement between cooperating programs. "I give him a packet, he
gives me back a cookie." The claim check you get from a
dry-cleaning shop is a perfect mundane example of a cookie; the
only thing it's useful for is to relate a later transaction to this
one (so you get the same clothes back). Compare {magic cookie};
see also {fortune cookie}.

:cookie bear: /n. obs./ Original term, pre-Sesame-Street, for
what is now universally called a {cookie monster}. A
correspondent observes "In those days, hackers were actually
getting their yucks from...sit down now...Andy Williams.
Yes, *that* Andy Williams. Seems he had a rather hip (by the
standards of the day) TV variety show. One of the best parts of the
show was the recurring `cookie bear' sketch. In these sketches, a
guy in a bear suit tried all sorts of tricks to get a cookie out of
Williams. The sketches would always end with Williams shrieking
(and I don't mean figuratively), `No cookies! Not now, not
ever...NEVER!!!' And the bear would fall down. Great stuff."

:cookie file: /n./ A collection of {fortune cookie}s in a
format that facilitates retrieval by a fortune program. There are
several different cookie files in public distribution, and site
admins often assemble their own from various sources including this
lexicon.

:cookie jar: /n./ An area of memory set aside for storing
{cookie}s. Most commonly heard in the Atari ST community; many
useful ST programs record their presence by storing a distinctive
{magic number} in the jar. Programs can inquire after the