hack value

Often adduced as the reason or motivation for expending effort

toward a seemingly useless goal, the point being that the

accomplished goal is a hack. For example, MacLISP had

features for reading and printing Roman numerals, which were

installed purely for hack value. See display hack for one

method of computing hack value, but this cannot really be

explained, only experienced. As Louis Armstrong once said

when asked to explain jazz: "Man, if you gotta ask you'll

never know." (Feminists please note Fats Waller's explanation

of rhythm: "Lady, if you got to ask you ain't got it.")