I see a lot of sentences that talk about puppies dying when you do something. For instance, in the CS domain, there's a common quote which says “Every time you log in production, a puppy dies.”. What does this exactly mean ?
-
4It's a joke. "A puppy dies" is a sad thing.– Hot LicksSep 25, 2017 at 22:16
-
1It means don’t log in production (unless a [figurative] puppy’s death on your conscience is worth it)– JimSep 25, 2017 at 22:18
-
@HotLicks Many thanks for your comment. Got it now– HiddenDroidSep 25, 2017 at 22:21
-
1@KristinaLopez Many thanks for your comment. Got it now– HiddenDroidSep 25, 2017 at 22:21
-
1It's a device used to induce guilt to prevent something from happening. It probably evolved from something similar to "when you lie, angels/Jesus cries" - things that parents tell their kids so that develop a sense of moral ethic about certain actions . Now, there are all sorts of similar sayings - usually having to do with cute animals (puppies, kittens, bunnies, pandas etc). For some odd reason, many of the memes are engineering/math related.– squidlydeuxSep 25, 2017 at 23:30
|
Show 1 more comment
1 Answer
The specific usage is a dark twist on the often-quoted line from It's a Wonderful Life, "Every time a bell rings / An angel gets his wings". In this case, "every time you do X, something horrible happens".
The horrible consequence of ill-considered action ("a puppy dies") is a fairly common internet meme which probably derives from the cover image of the "Death" issue of National Lampoon magazine (January 1973).
