Red Book
= R =
regexp
red wire n.
[IBM] Patch wires installed by programmers who have
no business mucking with the hardware. It is said that the only
thing more dangerous than a hardware guy with a code patch is a
softy with a soldering iron.... Compare blue wire,
yellow wire, purple wire.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.