twonkie
/twon'kee/ The software equivalent of a Twinkie (a variety of sugar-loaded junk
food, or (in gay slang) the male equivalent of "chick"); a useless "feature"
added to look sexy and placate a marketroid.
Compare Saturday-night special.
The term may also be related to "The Twonky", title menace of a classic SF short
story by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore), first published in the
September 1942 "Astounding Science Fiction" and subsequently much anthologised.
[Jargon File]
(1994-10-20)
Nearby terms:
twm « .twmrc « two-binary, one-quaternary «
twonkie » two-phase commit » twos complement »
two-to-the-N
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