@TimLocke It's a community wiki, you can edit it.

@another-dave Oh, thank you! Yes, I was misreading as "BCPL, like CPL, used vertical bars", as opposed to "BCPL, since CPL used vertical bars". I agree this is a worthwhile answer then. It unfortunately won't let me revert my downvote unless it's edited, so I've proposed a clarifying edit :)

While it would have been a useful response to the comment, this is indeed not-an-answer, as well as making a claim about BCPL using pipes, which conflicts with the cited statement in njuffa's answer.

I think I agree that Larry Wall can at least be credited with popularizing the concept in the programming field, and enshrining it as a widely-accepted virtue. Of his three virtues, I think this is the one everyone remembers.

@snips-n-snails A few years later, CD jukeboxes were a thing, considerably faster than humans. Though in many cases, even being a little slower than a human would also have been fine for some applications, since it'd allow the human to continue interacting with the computer without a disk-swapping distraction.

I agree that establishing a common ground with the device, done right, can essentially eliminate any risk, but I feel it's it's overly strong to say that "touching a radiator won't help a bit". There are of course exceptions, but a stationary device is unlikely to have much charge relative to its environment, while a moving person is a charge-generator. So grounding yourself reduces but does not eliminate the risk by bringing your potential within a sane range to your environment. For casual hobbyists, this is typically enough. For enthusiasts/pros, common ground is way better, I agree.

Seems to me the "X for Y" phrasing is a sporting thing. In sports, "he's 3/3" is often pronounced "he's three for three."

@PatrickSchlüter Hrm. I admit I am tempted to add in the answers from other people here, after doublechecking them. If I do that, though, I should convert the answer to community wiki, so I don't get points for other peoples' work. And so they can fix any transcription errors I make! [Edit: done!]