Larry Wall referred to the old dichotomy of the “manipulexity” of C for reaching into low-level system details versus the “whipuptitude” of shell, awk, sed, and

Larry Wall referred to the old dichotomy of the “manipulexity” of C for reaching into low-level system details versus the “whipuptitude” of shell, awk, sed, and friends. He targeted Perl for the sweet spot in the unfilled gap between them.