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:
“The English are probably the most tolerant, least religious people on earth.”
—David Goldberg (b. 1939)
“The chrysanthemums’ astringent fragrance comes
Each year to disguise the clanking mechanism
Of machine within machine within machine.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)