Meaning of abstract nonsense | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Details which are straightforward but so tedious that an author or lecturer would rather skip them (especially those of a category theoretical nature).
   humorous, uncountable
2. Details which involve diagram chasing.
   humorous, uncountable
3. Category theory in general.
   humorous, uncountable

Examples

“³Lang’s Algebra [Lan02, p. 759] supports the general consensus that this was not intended as an epithet: In the forties and fifties (mostly in the works of Cartan, Eilenberg, MacLane, and Steenrod, see [CE56]), it was realized that there was a systematic way of developing certain relations of linear algebra, depending only on fairly general constructions which were mostly arrow-theoretic, and were affectionately called abstract nonsense by Steenrod.”

CEFR level