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What is the origin of the expression “Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate”?
Computers
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This is the inscription on an IBM punched card. Frequently, office workers organize papers and forms by stapling or folding them together, or by impaling them on a spindle. Because Hollerith (punched) card readers scan uniform rectangular holes in a precise arrangement, any damage to the physical card makes it unusable. In the 1950s and 1960s, when punched cards became widespread, manufacturers printed a warning on each card; IBM’s “Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate” was the best known. In 1964, the student revolution at the University of California, Berkeley, used the phrase as a symbol of authority and regimentation.