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more about elephantine
elephantine |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Elephantine \El`e*phan"tine\, a. [L. elephantinus of ivory, Gr ?: cf F. ['e]l['e]phantin.] Pertaining to the elephant, or resembling an elephant (commonly, in size); hence huge; immense; heavy; as of elephantine proportions; an elephantine step or tread. {Elephantine epoch} (Geol.), the epoch distinguished by the existence of large pachyderms. --Mantell. {Elephantine tortoise} (Zo["o]l.), a huge land tortoise; esp., {Testudo elephantina}, from islands in the Indian Ocean; and {T. elephantopus}, from the Galapagos Islands. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: elephantine adj : of great mass; huge and bulky; "a jumbo jeg" [syn: {gargantuan}, {giant}, {jumbo}] From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]: 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}. From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: elephantine 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}]
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