>>>We'd say "has a short fuse" and "take the biscuit" but maybe Terry has already told you that.
>>
>>The primary meaning of "fuse" is electrical. The word we usually associate with whatever carries delayed flame to the explosive is "wick" (as in a candle or petroleum lamp), although there's a more specific expression in use among the specialists - and even I know it, but again it's not the most common one. So, when the kid in the nudist camp asked his mom why was that man so big, mom said "he ate a powder keg" - the kid, of course, started away shouting "he's gonna blow any moment now, his wick is short".
>
>To us, a wick is the thing that burns on a candle or an oil lamp. I've never heard anyone use the word wick in connection with explosives. We always use 'fuse'.

I always try to keep some of the local color when translating proverbs, but then I see in this case it became an obstacle to understanding.

>Check this out: http://www.fireworks.com/safety/homemade-fireworks.asp
>
>Look at the 2nd paragraph under "Illegal Explosives".

Too bad I don't have the time to shred that article :). "Illegal explosives have been outlawed by federal law since 1966." - before which time they were called what? How does one outlaw something that's illegal? Have legal explosives been outlawed too? If they have been illegal by some other laws before 1966, are the ones which/where were legal still legal, i.e. did the federal law outline only those which were somehow illegal already, or all of them?

Or, "Imagine the recipe for disaster that presents itself when you have an illegal explosive like an M-80 or Cherry Bomb with much more pyrotechnic charge than is permitted by law coupled with a fuse that doesn't burn the minimum three (3) seconds." - how is this an example of what a danger a nonstandard fuse may present? Why do you have to use "much more charge" to make the short fuse dangerous? Isn't short fuse dangerous with standard charge as well?

Programmers shouldn't be allowed to read such articles.