12 lines
611 B
Plaintext
12 lines
611 B
Plaintext
on the gripping hand
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In the progression that starts On the one hand... and continues On the other
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hand... mainstream English may add on the third hand... even though most
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people don't have three hands. Among hackers, it is just as likely to be on
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the gripping hand. This metaphor supplied the title of Larry Niven Jerry
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Pournelle's 1993 SF novel The Gripping Hand which involved a species of
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hostile aliens with three arms (the same species, in fact, referenced in
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juggling eggs ). As with TANSTAAFL and con , this usage became one of the
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naturalized imports from SF fandom frequently observed among hackers.
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