veil

n 1: a garment that covers the head and face [syn: {head covering}]

2: the inner embryonic membrane of higher vertebrates

(especially when covering the head at birth) [syn: {caul},

{fetal membrane}, {embryonic membrane}]

3: Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl [syn: {humeral veil}]

v : to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil; "a

conspiracy of silence veiling it" [ant: {unveil}]

evil

As used by a {hacker}, implies that some system, program,

person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be

not worth the bother of dealing with. Unlike the adjectives

in the cretinous, {losing}, {brain-damaged} series, "evil"

does not imply incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of

goals or design criteria fatally incompatible with the

speaker's. This usage is more an aesthetic and engineering

judgment than a moral one in the mainstream sense. "We

thought about adding a {Blue Glue} interface but decided it

was too evil to deal with." "{TECO} is neat, but it can be

pretty evil if you're prone to typos." Often pronounced with

the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/.

Compare {evil and rude}.

[{Jargon File}]

(1994-12-12)