bells and whistles

[wathavy]

Hi, here is the quote in which 'bells and whistles' is used.

the founders and employees of these new companies will look for lower cost CAD software that can get the job done without the added expense of unnecessary bells and whistles.

But I found the dictionary explanation as follows.

Innovative and flashy, but often unnecessary and confusing, features of a product such as computer hardware or software. Originally referred to the ‘toy boxes' on theater organs of the silent-movie era.

Which, to me, indicates that the word 'unnecessary' is not necessary in the first paragraph, am I right?

Thank you for your attention.
Best Regards.

 

[panjandrum]

Check the dictionary definition again:
Innovative and flashy, but often unnecessary and confusing,

Within this definition, some bells and whistles may be necessary in some situations.
In that case, unnecessary in the first quoted paragraph is not redundant.

 

[wathavy]

Thank you for your quick response.

In that case, unnecessary in the first quoted paragraph is not redundant.

You meant the unnecessary was not necessary... and my assumption was confirmed, right?

Thank you.

 

[panjandrum]

Thank you for your quick response.


You meant the unnecessary was not necessary... and my assumption was confirmed, right?

Thank you.

No.
According to the definition you quoted, bells and whistles are "Innovative and flashy, but often unnecessary and confusing".
They are not always unnecessary.
Sometimes, for some purposes they are necessary.

So it is quite correct, and not redundant, to talk about "... unnecessary bells and whistles".

 

[wathavy]

Thank you.

So it depends on the context, would it be OK to understand in that manner?

Sorry to ask you so many time, but it just stuck in my head..

Thank you, again.

Edit,
So Bells and whistles includes both necessary and unnecessary stuff, is that you're proposing?

 

[panjandrum]

[...]
So Bells and whistles includes both necessary and unnecessary stuff, is that you're proposing?

That is exactly what the definition quoted in post #1 says.
The bells and whistles may be necessary in some situations for some purposes.

 

[wathavy]

Thank you so much.

Now it cleared out my blurred definition of it.

 

[zaffy]

Can I add 'unnecessary' in this example, or does "bells and whistles" already cover it?

"I need to get a cheap, simple car with no unnecessary bells and whistles"

 

[Tegs]

I would say you don’t need it here, since you state that you want a “cheap, simple car”. Any bells and whistles would therefore be unnecessary.

 

[zaffy]

I see. And how about now?

"I want to get a car with no unnecessary bells and whistles which cost a lot and you never use them"

 

[Tegs]

I would say

I want to get a car with no unnecessary and expensive bells and whistles

(“You never use them” would be implicit in “unnecessary”)

 

[Myridon]

It's not necessary for a car to have seat warmers but I use mine.

 

[Tegs]

Seat warmers are a necessity for me too What‘s necessary or not can be subjective.

 

[kentix]

Keep in mind that to the product manufacturers they are not bells and whistles, they are features. Manufacturers try to add features to their products to satisfy their customers more or to distinguish their products from their competitors and gain new customers. Sometimes they try too hard and add things that are more gimmicky than useful, at least to most people.

For the most part I think bells and whistles is most often used in a dismissive way. If you like it, it's a cool feature - if you don't, it's just one of the bells and whistles that came with the product which you bought for a different reason.

When I bought my car a number of years ago I only learned it had Bluetooth when they handed me the keys and told me I was free to drive away. The sale was complete. I started the car and was looking around and noticed it for the first time. I've been very happy ever since. For someone without a smartphone (which many people didn't have at the time) it would have been a bell and/or whistle - in their case, a useless feature. But it would have been included for them, too, whether they set out to buy it or not.

(More vaguely, this reminds me of an article I read a couple of days ago saying Coca Cola is going to discontinue about half of their brands. Because of low sales, they decided they aren't worth the effort to make and distribute anymore. These drinks are the bells and whistles of the Coke product line. They have a few adherents but not enough to attract additional buyers in the numbers to make including them worthwhile.)