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From: marie@harvard.ARPA (Marie desJardins)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Poor English (here too)
Message-ID: <482@harvard.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 15-Mar-85 12:41:54 EST
Article-I.D.: harvard.482
Posted: Fri Mar 15 12:41:54 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Mar-85 02:09:20 EST
References: <4800002@umn-cs.UUCP> <441@terak.UUCP>
Organization: Aiken Computation Laboratory, Harvard
Lines: 26

> Don't worry about "orientate" -- the biggest problem is the word
> "initialize" which every computer person really and truly believes
> is a genuine word!
> -- 
> Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug

I don't understand the fuss.  What's the problem?  We have a new
technology, namely computer science.  Since this technology didn't exist
previously, there are bound to be a number of things one will want to be
able to express in English that there was no need to express before.
How do you think any language develops?  People invent new words when
they need them, or they borrow them from another language, or whatever.
Pick a word, any word.  At some point in the history of mankind, that
word simply did not exist, and there was probably no way to express the
concept.  For example, "paper".  What did people call it when it was
first invented?  The word didn't exist.  "Terminal".  You're sitting at
one right now, but up until some number of years ago "terminal" just
meant "final".  There are limits to how rigid you can be:  you can't
just say "This is the language, this is how it's going to stay, and
anybody who uses a word that's not in Webster's Third is an uneducated
slob."  I don't buy it.

	Marie desJardins
	marie@harvard

	"Go ahead.  Flame me.  Make my day."