<
jargon> (From George Bush's "
voodoo economics") The use by
guess or cookbook of an obscure or
hairy system, feature, or
algorithm that one does not truly understand. The implication
is that the technique may not work, and if it doesn't, one
will never know why. Almost synonymous with
black magic,
except that black magic typically isn't documented and
*nobody* understands it.
Compare
magic,
deep magic,
heavy wizardry,
rain dance,
cargo cult programming,
wave a dead chicken.
[
Jargon File]
(1995-03-10)