I was recently introduced to the term "pots" to mean "dials" or "knobs" in the field of sound design and audio engineering. (It rather took me by surprise; I had no idea what the sound designer was talking about, until it was explained to me.)
Later, I looked the term up, and found - well, not much. The dictionaries and thesauri available to me didn't contain this particular meaning of the word. I was able to find the term used in a few forum posts, but what I really wanted to know was how the term came to be used at all.
So, I ask: What is the origin of "pots" as a word meaning "dials?" Is it derived from the other meanings of the word? Is it a loanword from some other language? Was it coined from a long-forgotten acronym? I can't help but be curious.