the.com/manual
The book you consult only after you've already broken the thing.
means Done by hand, or the book that tells you how to do it yourself instead of letting a machine or an expert handle it.
from From Latin manualis, 'of the hand,' rooted in manus, 'hand' — the same root behind manage, manicure, and manipulate. A manual labor is work done by hand; a manual (the book) was originally something small enough to hold in one hand, like a handbook — knowledge sized to fit your grip, read only once your hands have already made a mess of things.
- read order
- Opened after disaster, not before purchase
- translation quality
- Often written by committee, read by no one
- irony
- Page one always explains how to open the book
- digital era
- Replaced by forums and a shrug