[from Greek akme highest point of
perfection or achievement] The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate,
and non-functional gadgetry — where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson
(two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop. The name
has been humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything.
(In fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the
early 1900s.) Describing some X as an Acme X
either means
This is insanely great
, or, more
likely, This looks insanely great on paper,
but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with
it.
Compare pistol.
This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here
for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner Brothers'
series of Road-runner
cartoons. In these cartoons, the
famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap, and
eat the Road-runner. His attempts usually involved one or more
high-technology Rube Goldberg devices — rocket jetpacks, catapults,
magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were usually delivered
in large wooden crates labeled prominently with the Acme name — which,
probably not by coincidence, was the trade name of the animation rotation
board used by cartoonists since forever. Acme devices invariably
malfunctioned in improbable and violent ways.