root of all evil en · NOUN
Etymology
Genericized in other phrases from (the love of) money is the root of all evil, which see.
Meanings
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Something that is perceived to be a root cause of all the world's evil.
The real problem is that programmers have spent far too much time worrying about efficiency in the wrong places and at the wrong times; premature optimization is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming.
1974, Donald Knuth, “Turing Award Lecture”, in Communications of the ACM, page 671:idleness is the root of all evil, lust is the root of all evil
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| roots of all evil | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
Translations (6)
ro rădăcina tuturor relelor (Translations) · de Ursprung alles Bösen (Translations) · fi kaiken pahan alku ja juuri (Translations) · hu minden baj(nak)/rossz(nak) gyökere/forrása/kútforrása/oka (Translations) · nl zaad van alle kwaad (Translations) · de Wurzel allen Übels (Translations)