Maybot

English

Etymology

From May +‎ -bot. Popularised by John Crace for political sketches published since November 8th 2016.

Proper noun

the Maybot

1. (UK politics, derogatory, humorous) A nickname for Theresa May.
   • 2016 November 8, John Crace, “Theresa struggles to take back control – from her own Maybot”, in The Guardian:

     Whirr. Clunk. Clang. The Maybot’s eyes rotated into life.

   • 2017 May 8, Michael Settle, “Election sketch: the Maybot repeats herself - strong and stable leadership; me not him”, in The Herald Scotland:

     Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, sacked in the Maybot takeover, sported a vacuous grin throughout the whole mechanical exercise, confirming perhaps that the election chip had been successfully inserted.

   • 2017 June 3, Andrew Rawnsley, “The Maybot and Monsieur Zen. A drama that didn’t obey the script”, in The Guardian:

     Her campaign team seemed to have found a patch for the Maybot.

   • 2018 November 21, Brian Smith, letter to the editor in "‘Queue-jumping’ comment reveals the Tories’ moral vacuum", The Guardian.

     The perils of AI decision-making incorporating false assumptions is nicely illustrated by the Maybot’s latest output: EU citizens will no longer be able to “jump the queue ahead of ... software developers from Delhi”.