Ballmer Peak

English

Etymology

Coined by American cartoonist, author and engineer Randall Munroe in 2007 in his webcomic xkcd, after Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft from 2000–2014.

Proper noun

Ballmer Peak

1. (Internet slang, humorous) A fictional level of drunkenness (originally stated to correspond with a BAC of 0.129–0.138%) said to confer one with superhuman programming ability.
   • 2008 November 13, Domo, “Scoreboard Request for A10 bonus”, in uw.cs.cs241‎^[2] (Usenet):

     I think he's researching drug use and its relation with Ballmer's Peak.

   • 2016 June 1, krw, “Reflow soldering for dummies”, in sci.electronics.design‎^[3] (Usenet):

     If the programmers writing autonomous vehicle software are in the Ballmer peak, will they get charged with DWI?

   • 2021 June 1, Kate Julian, “America Has a Drinking Problem”, in The Atlantic‎^[4], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 November 2021:

     At a talk he later gave on wu-wei at Google, Slingerland made much the same point about intoxication. During the Q&A, someone in the audience told him about the Ballmer Peak—the notion, named after the former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, that alcohol can affect programming ability. Drink a certain amount, and it gets better. Drink too much, and it goes to hell. Some programmers have been rumored to hook themselves up to alcohol-filled IV drips in hopes of hovering at the curve's apex for an extended time.