machine that goes "ping"

English

Etymology

Coined in the movie Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), in a sketch depicting a group of doctors at a birth more interested in the technological equipment than the mother and baby. The eponymous machine serves no apparent purpose except making an occasional ping sound.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General American):(file)

Noun

machine that goes "ping" (plural machines that go "ping")

  1. (informal, humorous) A piece of medical equipment, especially a bedside monitor; particularly one perceived as superfluous.
    • 2015, Amy M Dennett et al., “Machines that go "ping" may improve balance but may not improve mobility or reduce risk of falls: a systematic review”, in Journal of Rehabilitative Medicine‎[1], volume 47, number 1, pages 18-30:
      see title
    • 2024 January 9, Scott Snowden, “Santa Monica rolls out mobile mental health unit”, in Santa Monica Daily Press‎[2]:
      The inside of the vehicle is pretty sparse and there are no oxygen tanks, intravenous drips or machines that go "ping."
    • 2024 February 7, Matthew Klingle, quotee, “The Role of the Historian in Medical Research”, in Bowdoin‎[3]:
      "Sure, medicine is about machines that go ‘ping’ and data and pharmacology," said Klingle, "but it’s also about fear, hope, joy, sorrow, grief, all those things that are in the realm of the humanities."
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