23 lines
3.3 KiB
HTML
23 lines
3.3 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Acme</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="../A.html" title="A"/><link rel="previous" href="ACK.html" title="ACK"/><link rel="next" href="ad-hockery.html" title="ad-hockery"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Acme</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ACK.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">A</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ad-hockery.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="Acme"/><dt xmlns="" id="Acme"><b>Acme</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [from Greek <span class="foreignphrase"><i class="foreignphrase">akme</i></span> highest point of
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perfection or achievement] The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate,
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and non-functional gadgetry — where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson
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(two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop. The name
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has been humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything.
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(In fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the
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early 1900s.) Describing some X as an “<span class="quote">Acme X</span>” either means
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“<span class="quote">This is <a href="../I/insanely-great.html"><i class="glossterm">insanely great</i></a></span>”, or, more
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likely, “<span class="quote">This looks <a href="../I/insanely-great.html"><i class="glossterm">insanely great</i></a> on paper,
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but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with
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it.</span>” Compare <a href="../P/pistol.html"><i class="glossterm">pistol</i></a>.</p></dd><dd><p>This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here
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for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner Brothers'
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series of “<span class="quote">Road-runner</span>” cartoons. In these cartoons, the
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famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap, and
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eat the Road-runner. His attempts usually involved one or more
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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 —
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which, probably not by coincidence, was the trade name of a peg bar system
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for superimposing animation cels used by cartoonists since forever. Acme
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devices invariably malfunctioned in improbable and violent ways.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ACK.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../A.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ad-hockery.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">ACK </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> ad-hockery</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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