$DEITY

Etymology
From the syntax of environment variables in Unix shells, and the practice of putting paths to user's software of choice in generically named variables like  or.

Noun

 * 1)  A generic deity; listener's or reader's god of choice.
 * 2) * 2000, Justin Warren, [//groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.sysadmin.recovery/bPkZ5IpWWlE/ChWAU1yctvYJ Re: newbie learns an arcane command], alt.sysadmin.recovery, Usenet
 * No real init that actually works the way it's supposed to. No snoop. No truss/strace. The whole stupid application install method with it's /opt /etc/opt/, /var/opt, /tmp/var/etc/opt $DEITY dammit!
 * 1) * 2000, 2:1, [//groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.sys.mac.advocacy/4GAI4Vw0b8I/7OqqIXt-w4UJ Re: Malloy digest], comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy, Usenet
 * For $DEITY&#39;s sake, stop `digesting' each other and advocate something useful!

Usage notes
Often substitutes for / in set phrases like or.