from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
twonkie
/twon'kee/ The software equivalent of a Twinkie (a variety of
sugar-loaded junk food, or (in gay slang) the male equivalent
of "chick"); a useless "feature" added to look sexy and
placate a {marketroid}.
Compare {Saturday-night special}.
The term may also be related to "The Twonky", title menace of
a classic SF short story by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and
C. L. Moore), first published in the September 1942
"Astounding Science Fiction" and subsequently much
anthologised.
[{Jargon File}]
(1994-10-20)