The wealthiest man on earth, who has already told government lawyers he doesn't know the meaning of the words "we," "market share," "browser," and "concerned," saw his vocabulary go belly-up again when asked about a key executive's promise that "we're going to be p- - - ingon" a rival.

In a 28-minute segment of his videotaped deposition played in federal court here, Gates was confronted with an e-mail written by Microsoft official Ben Slivka in which he discussed company plans to respond to the introduction of a hot new software called Java.

Gates reluctantly conceded the computer language, developed by rival Sun Microsystems, was perceived to be a threat to Microsoft's industry-dominant Windows operating system because it allows developers to write programs that can run on any operating system.

In the e-mail Slivka wrote: "We're going to be p- - - ing on (Java) at every opportunity."

Gates, questioned by government lawyer David Boies, replied, he didn't know "what he specifically means by p- - - ing on."

"He might mean that we're going to be clear that we're not involved with it, that we think there's a better approach," Gates offered.

The courtroom bailiff had to hush tittering from the audience and Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson shook his head in disbelief.

"As the chief executive officer of Microsoft, when you get these kind of e-mails, would it be fair for me to assume that p- - - - - - on is not some kind of code word that means saying nice things about you, that has the usual meaning, that it would be in the vernacular?" Boies continued.

"I don't know what you mean in this kind of e-mail," Gates replied.

But he finally admitted: "I think it's a term of multiple meanings, In this case, it means what you've suggested it means."

It was the most tempestuous segment of the Gates deposition to be played at the six-week long trial.

Jittery Microsoft officials rushed out a five-page statement that said Gates was following American Bar Association guidelines on how witnesses should conduct themselves during depositions.

Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray also called the latest videotaped appearance by his boss "amusing but mostly irrelevant," to the case.

The grouchy multibillionaire, rocking back and forth in his chair, frequently pausing for long periods and once, noisily flipping through papers during a question, sparred with government lawyers on every point and often became amazingly forgetful and pedantic.

Gates even quibbled over the word Java.

"I told you many times about the use of the word Java. And I'm not sure you heard me. When people use the word Java, they don't mean just Java," Gates admonished Boies at one point.

At another, Boies became so exasperated that he told the slouching and boyish-looking mogul:

"I don't get to testify here. If I did, there would have been a lot of things I would have said along the way."

The tapes were played to introduce the government's latest witness, Sun Microsystems Vice President Dr. Richard Gosling, who created Java.

It's a critical line of inquiry that deals with allegations that Microsoft used its industry muscle to rewrite and sabotage Java - a computer language that allows developers to write software for any operating system - in order to protect its Window monopoly.

-- Midknight - 12/03/98