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What does here be dragons mean in the example below?

WARNING Here be dragons. Relative source binding can not only encourage bad application practices, such as binding to things defined in codebehind instead of following a pattern such as ViewModel, but also be hard to debug, especially when you get into changes to DataContext set by external consumers of your user control.

Doctor Jones
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Liu
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3 Answers3

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"Here be Dragons" was a phrase frequently used in the 1700s and earlier by cartographers (map makers) on faraway, uncharted corners of the map. It was meant to warn people away from dangerous areas where sea monsters were believed to exist. It's now used metaphorically to warn people away from unexplored areas or untried actions. There are no actual dragons, but it is still dangerous.

Forrest Taylor
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    I'd like to see some evidence that this text was "frequently" put on maps in the 1700s. – FumbleFingers Aug 07 '11 at 17:09
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    @FumbleFingers. It's one of those things that "everyone knows", which turns out to be not true.If I remember correctly, it only ever appeared on one map. The answer is, however, correct, as this is the legend the question is referring to. – TRiG Aug 07 '11 at 17:43
  • @FumbleFingers: When you find such evidence, you might use it to support the contention in your own answer that there was "a tendency for old maps to be 'embellished' with ... the legend ..." – Robusto Aug 07 '11 at 19:04
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    @Robusto - it isn't contentious that old maps used to be embellished, just not with these specific words. – Neil Coffey Aug 07 '11 at 20:18
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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_be_dragons – Ken Bloom Aug 07 '11 at 20:46
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    This answer is correct in spirit but inaccurate according to wikipedia so -1 until it is fixed. – z7sg Ѫ Aug 07 '11 at 21:24
  • @Robusto: I didn't actually check anything before I wrote my answer. I knew old maps sometimes had serpents, Anemoi (wind gods), etc., partly just to "fill out" the unknown corners. As I implied, I was somewhat sceptical that any cartographer worth his salt would actually write "Here be dragons". Having seen the Wikipedia article I now wish I'd put it a bit more strongly. – FumbleFingers Aug 08 '11 at 01:19
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    You could simply add to your answer that this legend is not factual, but since people believe it to be true, the phrase has the same effect. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Aug 08 '11 at 04:28
  • @Neil Fein: I did indeed do that. Even though I now know it's effectively untrue, I really like the "old maps" origin. If I was watching a swashbuckling adventure movie featuring an antique map I think I'd be positively disappointed if it didn't have "Here be dragons" somewhere in a corner! :) – FumbleFingers Aug 08 '11 at 13:56
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    @Sverre Rabbelier: I wonder if such signs are posted anywhere on the island of Komodo? – oosterwal Aug 08 '11 at 13:59
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    Your answer is still untrue, as it claims the phrase was used frequently on maps. I submitted an edit, perhaps this will help? – Goodbye Stack Exchange Aug 08 '11 at 15:40
  • An analogous phrase is "hic sunt leones", with the same meaning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_be_dragons#Other_creatures_on_maps Here you can also read about some examples of real maps containing this and similar phrases. – martina.physics Jul 18 '13 at 07:42
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It's a jocular archaism. I wouldn't like to say it was ever really spoken in earnest, by a speaker who genuinely feared he was entering land so little known it might contain dragons.

It may have got a bit of extra currency from the tendency for old maps to be "embellished" with drawings. Unexplored areas (land, sea, or unknown) would often be decorated with serpents, and perhaps the legend Here be dragons.

Today it's just a jokey way of saying "There are/may be some really scary things here!". In OP's context, really difficult technical problems.

LATER: Having consulted Wikipedia on this one, I should say the only relevant ancient usage known is the Hunt-Lenox Globe (early 1500s), with the Latin HC SVNT DRACONES (hic sunt dracones, here are dragons) on the eastern coast of Asia.

The earliest reference I can find is this from 1892 claiming cartographers from the 1300s used the phrase, but this NGram strongly suggests the myth didn't become widespread until quite recently.

But it's a nice legend, so I'll keep my "perhaps" at the end of the second paragraph.

Makyen
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FumbleFingers
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“Here be dragons” is used to denote dangerous or unexplored territories (see on Wikipedia).

I assume that in your case, it means:

WARNING. If you're skiing out of bounds, you'll be on your own, you may encounter problems and it will be hard to come back.

where “out of bounds” means “not following patterns” and “come back” means “debug”.

MetaEd
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Jill-Jênn Vie
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  • While you're explaining the phrases in your alternative version, you might also mention that by "skiing out of bounds", you mean "using relative source binding". But it's not a usage I've heard before (though I have heard people say "skiing off-piste" metaphorically). – FumbleFingers Aug 07 '11 at 18:34