Ballmer Peak

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English

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Etymology

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Coined by American cartoonist, author and engineer Randall Munroe in 2007 in his webcomic xkcd, after Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft from 2000–2014.[1][2]

Proper noun

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Ballmer Peak

  1. (Internet slang, humorous) A fictional level of drunkenness (originally stated to correspond with a BAC of 0.129–0.138%) said to confer one with superhuman programming ability.
    • 2008 November 13, Domo, “Scoreboard Request for A10 bonus”, in uw.cs.cs241[2] (Usenet):
      I think he's researching drug use and its relation with Ballmer's Peak.
    • 2016 June 1, krw, “Reflow soldering for dummies”, in sci.electronics.design[3] (Usenet):
      If the programmers writing autonomous vehicle software are in the Ballmer peak, will they get charged with DWI?
    • 2021 June 1, Kate Julian, “America Has a Drinking Problem”, in The Atlantic[4], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 November 2021:
      At a talk he later gave on wu-wei at Google, Slingerland made much the same point about intoxication. During the Q&A, someone in the audience told him about the Ballmer Peak—the notion, named after the former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, that alcohol can affect programming ability. Drink a certain amount, and it gets better. Drink too much, and it goes to hell. Some programmers have been rumored to hook themselves up to alcohol-filled IV drips in hopes of hovering at the curve's apex for an extended time.

References

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  1. ^ Randall Munroe (2007 October 1) “Ballmer Peak”, in xkcd[1], archived from the original on 2023-08-17
  2. ^ Ballmer Peak”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.