A Rube Goldberg machine, contraption, invention, device, or apparatus is a deliberately over-engineered or overdone machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).
Over the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or complicated system. For example, news headlines include "Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?" and "Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine".
Read more about Rube Goldberg Machine: Origin, Similar Expressions Worldwide, Professional Artists, Competitions, Examples in Media
Famous quotes containing the words goldberg and/or machine:
“Diplomacy is to do and say
The nastiest things in the nicest way.”
—Isaac Goldberg (1887–1938)
“I find it hard to believe that the machine would go into the creative artist’s hand even were that magic hand in true place. It has been too far exploited by industrialism and science at expense to art and true religion.”
—Frank Lloyd Wright (1869–1959)