If you want X, you know where to find it.
<exclamation> There is a legend that Dennis Ritchie, inventor of C, once
responded to demands for features resembling those of what at the time was a
much more popular language by observing "If you want PL/I, you know where to
find it." Ever since, this has been hackish standard form for fending off
requests to alter a new design to mimic some older (and, by implication,
inferior and baroque) one. The case X = Pascal manifests semi-regularly on
Usenet's comp.lang.c newsgroup. Indeed, the case X = X has been reported in
discussions of graphics software (see X Window System).
[Jargon File]
(1995-10-25)
Nearby terms:
IFP « IFS « IFX « If you want X, you know where to find
it. » IGC » IGES » IGL
