a camel is a horse designed by a committee
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[edit] English
[edit] Alternative spellings
- a camel is a horse designed by committee
- a camel is a horse made by a committee
- a camel is a horse made by committee
[edit] Proverb
a camel is a horse designed by a committee
- An expression critical of committees—or by analogy, group decision-making—by emphasizing the ineffectiveness of incorporating too many conflicting opinions into a single project. In this figure of speech, the distinguishing features of a camel, such as its humps and poor temperament, are taken to be the deformities that resulted from its poor design.
- 1952, Proceedings Regular Meeting, Ohio Valley Transportation Advisory Board, Pacific Northwest Advisory Board, pg. 24:
- A camel is a horse designed by a committee, so we hope that this committee will—and I think it will—function appropriately.
- 1975, The Professional Geographer: The Journal of the Association of American Geographers, v.27 1975, pg. 132:
- If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, what is a materials policy statement prepared by seven study teams?
- 1976, Popular Science, v.209 1976 Jul-Dec:
- Whoever concluded that a camel is a horse designed by a committee could have similar thoughts about taxicabs.
- 2002,The West Wing, episode Night Five, original airdate February 6th, 2002:
- "This is a presidential address, Andrea, not a camel (...) A camel! A horse built by committee!" (Toby Ziegler)
- 2004, Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2005, Roger Ebert, Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 0740747428, pg. 388:
- To quote another ancient proverb, "A camel is a horse designed by a committee." Life or Something Like It is the movie designed by the camel.
- 1952, Proceedings Regular Meeting, Ohio Valley Transportation Advisory Board, Pacific Northwest Advisory Board, pg. 24:
