2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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Acme
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. [from Greek akme highest point of perfection or achievement] The
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canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry where
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Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson (two cartoonists who specialized in
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elaborate contraptions) shop. The name has been humorously expanded as A (or
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American) Company Making Everything. (In fact, Acme was a real brand sold
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from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the early 1900s.) Describing some X as an
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Acme X either means This is insanely great , or, more likely, This looks
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insanely great on paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself
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in the foot with it. Compare pistol. This term, specially cherished by
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American hackers and explained here for the benefit of our overseas
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brethren, comes from the Warner Brothers' series of Road-runner cartoons. In
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these cartoons, the famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch
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up with, trap, and eat the Road-runner. His attempts usually involved one or
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more high-technology Rube Goldberg devices rocket jetpacks, catapults,
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magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were usually delivered
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in large wooden crates labeled prominently with the Acme name which,
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probably not by coincidence, was the trade name of a peg bar system for
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superimposing animation cels used by cartoonists since forever. Acme devices
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invariably malfunctioned in improbable and violent ways.
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