# The problem with this computer is the person sitting in front of it. Acronym/Saying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245 "2018-03-27T04:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/21 "2018-03-27T18:10:00Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Or, you can’t make the application idiot proof, but you can try to make it idiot resistant. > > I’ve always used PEBCAC with a C not a K. Problem Exists Between Chair And Computer. Well then it could be a keyboard error, couldn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/22 "2018-03-27T18:21:41Z")
> [@Stana\_Claus](#): > > The two we used many years ago were “defective c/k (chair to keyboard) interface” and ESO (Equipment Superior to Operator) error. I’d always seen PEBKAC, but I like both of these much better – especially ESO. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/23 "2018-03-27T18:36:54Z")
Loose nut between monitor and chair ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/24 "2018-03-28T00:43:02Z")
Comment from the system designer when the user manager asked that we code ‘more intelligence’ into the application, so that it would recognize what the user meant rather than what they keyed: _“there has to be some intelligence on both sides of the keyboard”_. Very apt comment, but I’ve never seen an acronym for it. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/25 "2018-03-28T01:01:48Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Comment from the system designer when the user manager asked that we code ‘more intelligence’ into the application, so that it would recognize what the user meant rather than what they keyed: > _“there has to be some intelligence on both sides of the keyboard”_. > > Very apt comment, but I’ve never seen an acronym for it. [DWIM](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/DWIM.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/26 "2018-03-28T13:34:30Z")
We called that “coding the RUM instruction”. Read User’s Mind. Later updated to RUMIA. If Any. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/27 "2018-03-28T14:04:26Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > [DWIM](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/DWIM.html)? DWIMNWIS - Do What I Mean, Not What I Say ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/28 "2018-03-29T01:58:59Z")
For the old school hardware types there was/is: Short between the keyboard and the chair. (Back in the days when one could still see the wires in the hardware…) ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/29 "2018-03-29T17:38:03Z")
I often use I/O error. Idiot Operator. It helps that old school computers had an I/O connector on them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/30 "2018-03-29T17:48:41Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Comment from the system designer when the user manager asked that we code ‘more intelligence’ into the application, so that it would recognize what the user meant rather than what they keyed: > _“there has to be some intelligence on both sides of the keyboard”_. “On two occasions I have been asked, — “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower, House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.” -Charles Babbage (1864) ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245/31 "2018-03-29T17:53:43Z")
LNBK - Loose Nut Behind the Keyboard [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-with-this-computer-is-the-person-sitting-in-front-of-it-acronym-saying/811245.md?page=1)