the X that can be Y is not the true X

Yet another instance of hackerdom's peculiar attraction to

mystical references - a common humorous way of making

exclusive statements about a class of things. The template is

from the "Tao te Ching": "The Tao which can be spoken of is

not the true Tao." The implication is often that the X is a

mystery accessible only to the enlightened. See the

trampoline entry for an example, and compare has the Xnature.

[Jargon File]