chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (Chris Torek) (10/08/86)
(The original topic was paging and virtual memory.) >In article <1181@ncr-sd.UUCP> someone (probably Greg Noel) writes: >>... Henry is probably too young to have heard the terms used correctly >>and is using the (usually very reasonable) assumption that if A and B >>always occur together, then A implies B... In article <7190@utzoo.UUCP> henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) replies: >The meanings of words are defined by how they are used, not by how >they used to be used. You are both wrong. Henry is right in using `virtual memory' as he does; his is the meaning that is generally accepted in the field. His usage is unlikely to cause confusion. But the meanings of words are not defined by how they are used. The meanings of words are defined by the listener. Many words are ambiguous. This is not a failing of the language. Problems occur only when writers (or speakers) use such words carelessly. For example, William Strunk Jr. advises us that the word `presently' Has two meanings: ``in a short while'' and ``currently.'' Because of this ambiguity it is best restricted to the first meaning: ``He'll be here presently'' (``soon,'' or ``in a short time''). (_The_Elements_of_Style_, William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, Third Edition, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, p. 57.) I, however, disagree: `It is presently raining' is clear, if not concise. In its other incarnation, the word `presently' may be used as an intensifier. Neither usage stands alone; the writer must provide context. I feel I should also mention that Professor Strunk is, in another sense, correct. He also advises us to `omit needless words.' The intensifier must be justified. Consider, for example, this sentence: `Today was and will be a wonderful day, although it is presently raining'. Without the word `presently', it means something entirely different. While, as White says in the introduction to Chapter V, `... the young writer ... will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion', I think that the Computer Science stars surrounding `virtual memory' have long since settled. I must admit that I am even younger a writer than Henry---but I am not, or not usually, a careless one: I know my navigation. Henry is on course. -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 1516) UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!chris CSNet: chris@umcp-cs ARPA: chris@mimsy.umd.edu