gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett) (07/09/85)
Why do people use 'sh*t', 'f*ck', 'd*mn', and 'un*x' when they
know darn (damn?) well WE know what they're saying, and THEY know
what they're saying, but they won't come out and say it!
To illustrate the dangers of using '*' in place of a real letter,
I have scanned our local dictionary for words which match these
patterns, as if each word were to be expanded as the Shell
does (ignoring the case of letters).
For 'sh*t' we have:
Shabbat shaft shallot shan't sharpshoot sheet
sherbet shift shirt shit shoot short
shortcut shot shouldn't shout showboat Shreveport
shrift shunt shut shutout
For 'd*mn', we have just:
damn
For 'f*ck':
feedback fiddlestick Fitzpatrick flack flashback fleck
flick flintlock flock Franck Frederick Frick
frock fuck fullback
Finally, we have for 'un*x':
uniplex Unix
(I should point out here that in our dictionary it did not say
"Unix is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories" but just the
work "Unix" by itself. Our lawyers are looking into this....).
I hope that by your reading this you are now more alert to the
dangers of the ambiguous '*' and will no longer use it in
contexts where the pattern might be confused for something else
(except for 'd*mn', which is apparently unique).
--
Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,sun}!amdahl!gamkad@ttrdc.UUCP (Keith Drescher) (07/12/85)
In article <1753@amdahl.UUCP> gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett) writes: >Why do people use 'sh*t', 'f*ck', 'd*mn', and 'un*x' when they >know darn (damn?) well WE know what they're saying, and THEY know >what they're saying, but they won't come out and say it! > >........... by your reading this you are now more alert to the >dangers of the ambiguous '*' and will no longer use it in >contexts where the pattern might be confused for something else >(except for 'd*mn', which is apparently unique). >-- >Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,sun}!amdahl!gam Maybe we could just use f?ck, d?mn, un?x, that solved the ambiguity. Sh?t still presents a problem though ...... Sorry, just had to add my 1/2 cents worth. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________ _ (___________/ ====<_>==== // Keith Drescher (kad@ttrdc) \_\__//____ >__________/ PATH: ...!ihnp4!ttrdc!kad ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Standard Disclaimer: The views presented here are not those of my employer, my family, or myself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
chabot@miles.DEC (Sxyzyskzyik) (07/15/85)
Keith Drescher (kad@ttrdc) > Maybe we could just use f?ck, d?mn, un?x, that solved the > ambiguity. Sh?t still presents a problem though ...... So does "f?ck"--how about "feck" (what you don't have when you're "feckless"). :-) L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot chabot%amber.dec@decwrl.arpa
gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly) (07/16/85)
-- > > Maybe we could just use f?ck, d?mn, un?x, that solved the > > ambiguity. Sh?t still presents a problem though ...... > So does "f?ck"--how about "feck" (what you don't have when you're > "feckless"). > > :-) > L S Chabot Yeah, how about it? I could sure use a good feck. -- *** *** JE MAINTIENDRAI ***** ***** ****** ****** 16 Jul 85 [28 Messidor An CXCIII] ken perlow ***** ***** (312)979-7753 ** ** ** ** ..ihnp4!iwsl8!ken *** ***