English Explanatory Dictionary

machine that goes "ping"

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A piece of medical equipment, especially a bedside monitor; particularly one perceived as superfluous.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-machine that goes "ping".wav

Word forms

machine that goes "ping" machines that go "ping"

Etymology

Coined in the movie Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), in a sketch depicting a group of doctors at a birth more interested in the technological equipment than the mother and baby. The eponymous machine serves no apparent purpose except making an occasional ping sound.

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