hysterical reasons
(Or "hysterical raisins") A variant on the stock phrase "for historical
reasons", indicating specifically that something must be done in some stupid way
for backward compatibility, and moreover that the feature it must be compatible
with was the result of a bad design in the first place. "All IBM PC video
adaptors have to support MDA text mode for hysterical reasons." Compare
bug-for-bug compatible.
[Jargon File]
Nearby terms:
HyperText Transmission Protocol, Secure « hyperware
« hypotenuse « hysterical reasons » Hytelnet
» HyTime » i18n
|