djk@munmurra.mu.oz (David James Keegel) (11/04/88)
In article <13420@dhw68k.cts.com>, tedj@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Ted Johnson) says:
]
] This is a program called Number Talk. If you type in a number
] (e.g., "-234.35"), Number Talk will spell it ("Negative Two
] Hundred Thirty-Four Point Three Five")
...
] X if (n < 0) {
] X say("negative", FALSE);
] X }
As far as I am concerned, "negative" as a property of numbers, NOT an
operator. To me "negative one" is a meaningless contradiction, like
"red lemon". Since negative means less than zero, one is not negative.
The fix for this is to put:
X say("minus", FALSE);
instead. "Minus" is an operator (both binary and unary). My rule of thumb
is that the symbol "-" translates to "minus". The phrase "negative x"
is interpreted as x < 0, rather than -x.
Are there any mathematicians out there who disagree?
I know, I know, mathematicians don't read source groups. :-(
David Keegel (djk@munnari.oz.au)