Baroque [was Re: Should nested classes in an Enum be Enum members?]
Steven D'Aprano
steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info
Fri Jun 29 20:51:57 EDT 2018
On Sat, 30 Jun 2018 09:02:37 +1000, Cameron Simpson wrote:
> On 29Jun2018 10:36, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
>>On 06/28/2018 10:52 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>>>It isn't clear to me why FederalHoliday is an Enum, especially as the
>>>API seems extremely baraque.
>>
>>Huh. I had to look that word up, and I still don't know what you meant
>>exactly, although I suspect it wasn't complimentary. ;-)
>
> It tends to mean "weird", but perhaps a more nuanced phrasing might be
> unusual and strange, and usually connotes some degree of over
> complication.
It might have helped if I spelled it correctly, sorry.
It should not mean "weird or bizarre", although I've seen a couple of
lesser-quality dictionaries give that as a meaning. Which is itself weird
and bizarre :-)
The more established meanings are:
- literally, it refers to the Baroque style of art, music and
architecture popular in Europe between (approximately) 1600 and 1750;
- figuratively, it means to be highly ornate and elaborate, with strong
connotations of being *excessively* complicated to the point of being
convoluted.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/baroque
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/baroque
So not especially complimentary (sorry Ethan, but that was my first
impression) but not *necessarily* a bad thing either.
The Jargon File adjective that comes closest is probably gnarly:
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/gnarly.html
but that's probably stronger with even worse connotations than baroque.
--
Steven D'Aprano
"Ever since I learned about confirmation bias, I've been seeing
it everywhere." -- Jon Ronson
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