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From: alderson@polya.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: "big endian" and "little endian"
Summary: Blackbirds aren't relevant
Message-ID: <6289@polya.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 23 Jan 89 22:56:17 GMT
References: <170@microsoft.UUCP> <4008@hubcap.UUCP> <482@babbage.acc.virginia.edu> <5721@cbmvax.UUCP> <1102@l.cc.purdue.edu> <1916@ardent.UUCP>
Reply-To: alderson@polya.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson)
Followup-To: comp.lang.misc
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 8

"four and twenty blackbirds" was a MARKED construction even when the poem was
new, used by the poet for its rhythmical structure and markedness.  Marked
constructions such as this are interesting for what they say about the unmarked
ones; they don't provide counter-arguments to claims based on the unmarked
ones.

Rich Alderson
Stanford University