creeping featuritis

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

creeping featuritis
 /kree'ping fee'.chr.i:`t@s/, n.

   Variant of {creeping featurism}, with its own spoonerization: feeping
   creaturitis. Some people like to reserve this form for the disease as
   it actually manifests in software or hardware, as opposed to the
   lurking general tendency in designers' minds. (After all, -ism means
   `condition' or `pursuit of', whereas -itis usually means `inflammation
   of'.)

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

creeping featuritis

   <jargon> /kree'ping fee'-chr-i:`t*s/ A variant of {creeping
   featurism}, with its own spoonerism: "feeping creaturitis".
   Some people like to reserve this form for the disease as it
   actually manifests in {software} or {hardware}, as opposed to
   the lurking general tendency in designers' minds.  -ism means
   "condition" or "pursuit of", whereas -itis usually means
   "inflammation of".

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1997-08-03)

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