balloonian variable: n. [Commodore users; perh. a deliberate
phonetic mangling of `boolean variable'?] Any variable that doesn't
actually hold or control state, but must nevertheless be declared,
checked, or set. A typical balloonian variable started out as a
flag attached to some environment feature that either became
obsolete or was planned but never implemented. Compatibility
concerns (or politics attached to same) may require that such a flag
be treated as though it were live.
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