bimbart@kulcs.uucp (Bart Demoen) (03/16/88)
could the author of article 599 in comp.lang.prolog behave a bit more respectful towards europeans who speak 3 or 4 (natural) languages but whose native language is not english ? we are bound to make mistakes in english, but that's no reason to sneer at us and by the way, it is not the first time he did so, or do I need to remind you of the Boston conference in 1985, Mister O'Keefe ? ------------ those who have nothing to say, repeat themselves
ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe) (03/16/88)
In article <1196@kulcs.kulcs.uucp>, bimbart@kulcs.uucp (Bart Demoen) writes: > could the author of article 599 in comp.lang.prolog behave a bit more respectful > towards europeans who speak 3 or 4 (natural) languages but whose native > language is not english ? we are bound to make mistakes in english, but that's > no reason to sneer at us. Before flaming me, might it not be an idea to ensure that I have done something to deserve it? I am well aware that my dialect of English is not identical to British English nor yet to American, and I have seen "precised" enough times that this time I thought it was a proper use of English that I didn't happen to know. Just because someone has a European name and is writing from Europe doesn't mean that person isn't a native speaker of English: the writer could be American, for all I can tell to the contrary. What I wrote was not ' "precised" isn't proper English ', but 'I don't understand "precised"'. That's what I wrote, and that, sir, is EXACTLY what I meant. Well, not exactly, it was an indirect request for clarification. If Demoen would care to say what it means, I would still like to know.