elephantine
:elephantine: adj. Used of programs or systems that are both conspicuous
hog
s (owing perhaps to poor design founded on {brute force and ignorance}
}) and exceedingly hairy
in source form. An elephantine
program may be functional and even friendly, but (as in the old joke
about being in bed with an elephant) it's tough to have around all the
same (and, like a pachyderm, difficult to maintain). In extreme cases,
hackers have been known to make trumpeting sounds or perform expressive
proboscatory mime at the mention of the offending program. Usage:
semi-humorous. Compare `has the elephant nature' and the somewhat more
pejorative monstrosity
. See also second-system effect
and baroque
Jargon File Version 4.3.1, 29 JUN 2001 =
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