[9fans] Acme definition

[William Staniewicz <wstan@localhostnl.demon.nl>]

A friend asked me about the origin of the word "Acme".  My first
impulse was to consult the "OED", but not having one handy, I resorted
to some online sources.  Most neglected to include a reference to one
of my favorite contexts: The Roadrunner cartoon (btw, while living in
Texas, I actually saw one run across the street in front of my car, it
actually looked like the one in the Warner Bros' series and moved like
it too!).

Acme n.

[from Greek `akme', highest point of perfection or achievement] The
canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry
- where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson (two cartoonists who
specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop.  The name has been
humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything.  (In
fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the
early 1900s.)  Describing some X as an "Acme X" either means "This is
insanely great", or, more likely, "This looks insanely great on paper,
but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with
it."  Compare pistol.

This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here
for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner
Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons.  In these cartoons, the
famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap,
and eat the Roadrunner.  His attempts usually involved one or more
high-technology Rube Goldberg devices - rocket jetpacks, catapults,
magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc.  These were usually
delivered in large cardboard boxes, labeled prominently with the Acme
name.  These devices invariably malfunctioned in improbable and
violent ways.

		-Bill