The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
drool-proof paper
n.
Documentation that has been obsessively dumbed down, to the point where
only a cretin could bear to read it, is said to have succumbed to the
?drool-proof paper syndrome? or to have been ?written on drool-proof
paper?. For example, this is an actual quote from Apple's LaserWriter
manual: ?Do not expose your LaserWriter to open fire or flame.? The SGI
Indy manual included the line ?[Do not] dangle the mouse by the cord or
throw it at coworkers.?
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
drool-proof paper
Documentation that has been obsessively dumbed
down, to the point where only a cretin could bear to read
it, is said to have succumbed to the "drool-proof paper
syndrome" or to have been "written on drool-proof paper". For
example, this is an actual quote from Apple Computer's
LaserWriter manual: "Do not expose your LaserWriter to open
fire or flame."
[Jargon File]
(1997-06-23)