COBOL: /koh'bol/ n. [COmmon Business-Oriented Language]
(Synonymous with evil.) A weak, verbose, and flabby language used
by card wallopers to do boring mindless things on dinosaur
mainframes. Hackers believe that all COBOL programmers are suits
or code grinders, and no self-respecting hacker will ever admit to
having learned the language. Its very name is seldom uttered
without ritual expressions of disgust or horror. One popular one is
Edsger W. Dijkstra's famous observation that "The use of COBOL
cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a
criminal offense." (from "Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal
Perspective") See also fear and loathing, software rot.
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