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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Death, X of</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../D.html" title="D"/><link rel="previous" href="Death-Star.html" title="Death Star"/><link rel="next" href="DEC.html" title="DEC"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Death, X of</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Death-Star.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">D</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="DEC.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="Death--X-of"/><dt xmlns="" id="Death--X-of"><b>Death, X of</b></dt></dt><dd><p> [common] A construction used to imbue the subject with campy menace,
usually with intent to ridicule. The ancestor of this term is a famous
<i class="citetitle">Far Side</i> cartoon from the 1980s in which a balloon
with a fierce face painted on it is passed off as the &#8220;<span class="quote">Floating Head
of Death</span>&#8221;. Hackers and SF fans have been using the suffix &#8220;<span class="quote">of
Death</span>&#8221; ever since to label things which appear to be vastly
threatening but will actually pop like a balloon if you prick them. Such
constructions are properly spoken in a tone of over-exagerrated
portentiousness: &#8220;<span class="quote">Behold! The Spinning - Pizza - of -
<span class="emphasis"><em>Death</em></span>!</span>&#8221; See
<a href="../B/Blue-Screen-of-Death.html"><i class="glossterm">Blue Screen of Death</i></a>, <a href="../P/Ping-O--Death.html"><i class="glossterm">Ping O' Death</i></a>,
<a href="../S/Spinning-Pizza-of-Death.html"><i class="glossterm">Spinning Pizza of Death</i></a>,
<a href="../C/click-of-death.html"><i class="glossterm">click of death</i></a>. Compare <a href="Doom--X-of.html"><i class="glossterm">Doom, X of</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="Death-Star.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../D.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="DEC.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Death Star </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> DEC</td></tr></table></div></body></html>