computer says no

English

Etymology

From the British sketch comedy series Little Britain, where it was the catchphrase of the character Carol Beer, a bank worker and later holiday rep and hospital receptionist, who dealt with customer enquiries by typing them into her computer and responding with "computer says no".

Phrase

computer says no

1. (humorous) Alluding to an attitude in customer service in which the default response is to check with information stored or generated electronically and then make decisions based on that, apparently without using common sense and without any desire to help the customer.

Translations

popular phrase for an attitude in customer service

• Dutch: computer zegt nee
• Russian: компьютер говорит нет (kompʹjuter govorit net)

See also

• jobsworth
• officialism
• Kafkaesque