He X That Can Be Y Is Not The True X: Yet Another Instance Of Hackerdom's Peculiar Attraction To Mystical References --- A Common Humorous Way Of Making Exclusive Statements About A Class Of Things.

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:the X that can be Y is not the true X: Yet another instance of
hackerdom's peculiar attraction to mystical references --- a common
humorous way of making exclusive statements about a class of
things. The template is from the "Tao te Ching": "The
Tao which can be spoken of is not the true Tao." The implication
is often that the X is a mystery accessible only to the
enlightened. See the {trampoline} entry for an example, and
compare {has the X nature}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary

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