JargonFile/original/html/L/like-nailing-jelly-to-a-tree.html
2014-03-27 18:54:56 +00:00

14 lines
2.7 KiB
HTML
Raw Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters

This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>like nailing jelly to a tree</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="../L.html" title="L"/><link rel="previous" href="like-kicking-dead-whales-down-the-beach.html" title="like kicking dead whales down the beach"/><link rel="next" href="line-666.html" title="line 666"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">like nailing jelly to a tree</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="like-kicking-dead-whales-down-the-beach.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">L</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="line-666.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="like-nailing-jelly-to-a-tree"/><dt xmlns="" id="like-nailing-jelly-to-a-tree"><b>like nailing jelly to a tree</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">adj.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> Used to describe a task thought to be impossible, esp. one in which
the difficulty arises from poor specification or inherent slipperiness in
the problem domain. &#8220;<span class="quote">Trying to display the &#8216;prettiest&#8217;
arrangement of nodes and arcs that diagrams a given graph is like nailing
jelly to a tree, because nobody's sure what &#8216;prettiest&#8217; means
algorithmically.</span>&#8221;</p><p>Hacker use of this term may recall mainstream slang originated early
in the 20th century by President Theodore Roosevelt. There is a legend
that, weary of inconclusive talks with Colombia over the right to dig a
canal through its then-province Panama, he remarked, &#8220;<span class="quote">Negotiating
with those pirates is like trying to nail currant jelly to the
wall.</span>&#8221; Roosevelt's government subsequently encouraged the
anti-Colombian insurgency that created the nation of Panama.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="like-kicking-dead-whales-down-the-beach.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../L.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="line-666.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">like kicking dead whales down the beach </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> line 666</td></tr></table></div></body></html>