Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!burl!codas!ufcsv!gatech!mcnc!ecsvax!ethies
From: ethies@ecsvax.UUCP (Eric Thies)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: etymology of "vaxen"
Message-ID: <4463@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: 22 Jan 88 02:17:24 GMT
References: <20383@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Reply-To: ethies@ecsvax.UUCP (Eric Thies)
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Lines: 18

In article <20383@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA> mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Mike Khaw) writes:
>Why is "vaxen" the plural for "vax"?  Is it just something to show that
>you are one of the initiated (i.e., only ignorant dolts say "vaxes")?
>Or, as I've heard from an associate, is it because vax is to vaxen as ox
>is to oxen?
>
>Mike Khaw
I have a feeling you're right about the "ox is to oxen" thingy.  I imagine 
folks like to think of their machines as some sort of possibly cute animal.
So Vaxen makes it sound like you've got vaxes grazing in your machines room.
And this ties in nicely with the phrase "disk farm".  There is some really
good word that means "giving the attributes of a living thing to an in-
animate object" but I just can't think of it right now.  Oh, and I prefer
to say vaxes, probably because so many people say vaxen. :-)

eric
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Eric Thies     ethies@ecsvax.uucp   ethies@ecsvax.bitnet   ethies@uncg.bitnet