Etymology

Kobayashi Maru

Today it means: A scenario with no positive or favourable outcome; a no-win situation. Full definition →

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The story

From the fictional Kobayashi Maru test, first introduced in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a training exercise in which Starfleet cadets face an intentionally unwinnable scenario as a test of character. The test involves the rescue of an eponymous vessel, named by Star Trek II screenwriter Jack B. Sowards after his neighbours, from the Japanese family name Kobayashi and maru (a suffix of Japanese ship names).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.