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}.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {blue wire}{purple wire}{yellow wire}]