R0334700 (ro͞ob′)adj. Of, relating to, or being a contrivance that brings about by complicated means what apparently could have been accomplished simply.[After Reuben Lucius ("Rube") Goldberg (1883-1970), American cartoonist noted for his intricate diagrams of such contrivances.]
Rube Goldberg
(ruːb ˈɡəʊldbɜːɡ) adjUS doing something by unnecessarily complicated means
Rube Gold•berg
(ˈrub ˈgoʊld bɜrg) adj. 1. having a fantastically complicated, improvised appearance: a Rube Goldberg arrangement of flasks and test tubes. 2. deviously complex and impractical. [1955–60; after Rube(Reuben)Goldberg (1883–1970), U.S. cartoonist]Thesaurus
Noun
1.
Rube Goldberg - United States cartoonist who drew intricate diagrams of very complicated and impractical contraptions that accomplished little or nothing (1883-1970)Goldberg, Reuben Lucius Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Describing an unnecessarily complicated machine used for a simple task. Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist known for drawing such contraptions. I just love these silly Rube Goldberg machines—it takes imagination to design something so complicated!See also: rube
Rube Goldberg
An intricate contraption, usually involving a chain reaction, that is designed to produce quite simple results. It is named for Reuben (“Rube”) Goldberg (1883–1970), who according to Willard Espy, prospered for more than fifty years by developing cartoon equivalents of the mountain that labored to give birth to a mouse. The name later was used to describe any overly confusing or overcomplicated system. Rube Goldberg machines have shown up in numerous films. In Back to the Future (1985), Doc Brown has a Rube Goldberg machine to start cooking his breakfast and feed his dog when the clock changes to a certain time in the morning. The term also has been used quite figuratively, as in “The Senator’s plans for health care reform resemble a Rube Goldberg.”See also: rube
Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg
Birthday
Birthplace
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died
Occupation
Engineer, sculptor, news reporter, cartoonist
Known for
Rube Goldberg machines
Goldberg, Rube
(Reuben Lucius Goldberg), 1883–1970, American cartoonist and sculptor, b. San Francisco. After drawing cartoons for San Francisco newspapers, he moved to New York City. There he worked for the New York Evening Mail until his cartoons became syndicated in 1921. Goldberg originated the successful comic strip "Boob McNutt" and the panel series "Foolish Questions." He is known for his drawings of ludicrously intricate machinery meant to perform simple operations. Goldberg worked as a political cartoonist for the New York Sun and later for the New York Journal American. After 1964 he concentrated on sculpture. He is the author of How to Remove the Cotton from a Bottle of Aspirin (1959) and Rube Goldberg vs. the Machine Age (1968).
Bibliography
See biography by P. C. Marzio (1973); M. F. Wolfe, Rube Goldberg: Inventions (2011); J. George, The Art of Rube Goldberg (2013).
Goldberg, Rube
(1883–1970) designed elaborate contraptions to effect simple results. [Am. Hist.: Espy, 111]See: Inventiveness
Goldberg, (Reuben Lucius) Rube
(1883–1970) cartoonist; born in San Francisco. Originally an engineer, he began his career as a sports cartoonist in San Francisco in 1905. He created the syndicated newspaper comic strips, Boob McNutt (1916–33) and Lala Palooza in the 1930s. His most whimsical character was Professor Butts, whose complicated inventions to achieve simple ends—using ropes, pulleys, buckets, and small animals—allowed Goldberg to satirize modern technology; he also gave his own name to the language to describe any complicated device that achieves some simple goal. Hired as a political cartoonist by the New York Sun in 1938, he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his cartoon, "Peace Today."
Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
A slang term for an unnecessarily complicated solution to a problem, or a problem with a solution that is itself problematic. The term refers to a 20th-century American cartoonist who drew large machines performing simple actions for which a machine is not necessary.
Rube Goldberg
noun
Synonyms for Rube Goldberg
noun United States cartoonist who drew intricate diagrams of very complicated and impractical contraptions that accomplished little or nothing (1883-1970)
Rube Goldberg - United States cartoonist who drew intricate diagrams of very complicated and impractical contraptions that accomplished little or nothing (1883-1970)