Waving a dead chicken (over it)

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Waving a dead chicken (over it) is an informal phrase used to describe a known (or suspected) useless procedure to remedy any software and/or hardware issue. [1] This may or may not imply that an actual remedy exists, and if so, that that remedy had been attempted beforehand. The procedure may be a last ditch effort to resolve a situation, and/or possibly simply to satisfy those who refuse to accept defeat. [2]

The term may be derived from the Jewish traditional custom of Kapparot, in which a live chicken is swung over one's head as a symbol of atonement for sins: even assuming arguendo that using a live chicken would be effective, it would be agreed that using a dead chicken would not.

Kapparot

Kapparot is a customary, Jewish atonement ritual practiced by some Jews on the eve of Yom Kippur. This is a practice in which a chicken or money is waved over a person's head and the chicken is then slaughtered in accordance with halachic rules. (tzedakah).

Arguendo is a Latin legal term meaning for the sake of argument. "Assuming, arguendo, that ..." and similar phrases are used in courtroom settings and academic legal settings, and occasionally in other domains, to designate provisional and unendorsed assumptions that will be made at the beginning of an argument in order to explore their implications.

Another possible source can be found in Diogenes.

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References

  1. Rouse, Margaret. “Waving a Dead Chicken.” January 2006, WhatIs.com, whatis.techtarget.com, Copyright © 1999-2014 TechTarget, web publications, 10 November 2014, < http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/waving-a-dead-chicken>.
  2. FOLDOC – Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org), n.d., “Wave a dead chicken.” The Free Dictionary by Farflex, Copyright © 2014 Farlex, Inc, web publications, <http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/wave+a+dead+chicken>