first i thought "silver bullet", there is no silver bullet, no silver bullet revisted was an expression in the late 80s early 90s as was "killer application" ten years after.

both are used for an answer nobody can give and both are used in connection with software crisis. i would have liked the idea, but nope, different stories, different crowd: or would marketing people ever talk about "essence" and "accident"?

Of all the monsters that fill the nightmares of our folklore, none terrify more than werewolves, because they transform unexpectedly from the familiar into horrors. For these, one seeks bullets of silver that can magically lay them to rest.(brooks)

are software bugs called feature requests ("they transform unexpectedly from the familiar into horrors").