jba@gorm.ruc.dk (Jan B. Andersen) (06/21/91)
Charlie.Mingo@p4218.f421.n109.z0.FidoNet.Org (Charlie Mingo) writes: >takahash@ntmtv.UUCP (Alan Takahashi) writes: >AT> I have to admit, I'm totally confused here. You can't 'download' a file >AT> from Usenet...it has to have been posted by someone. > Perhaps you should take a peek at alt.sex.pictures (no pun intended), >which is a Usenet newsgroup filled with GIFs. I'll bet the poster is referring >to something along those lines. (Gifs are uuencoded and segmented when >distributed over Usenet.) No, Alan Takahashi is right, in the strict sense. I guess that conversations along the lines of User: I want to download some files from Usenet Programmer: You can't. or User: I have a 5.0 disk Programmer: No, you haven't. is quite common in the world of EDP and computers. At least, it is something I have discussed and seems to share with many colleages here at the university. Programming and the use of programming languages with their strict syntax and semantics, also affects how we use spoken language. Sloopy wording gets nailed almost automatically - just for the fun of seeing the innocent person getting confused, when s/he thought it was a "5.0 disk" as opposed to a "5 1/4 inch floppy disk in MS-DOS format with some Word Perfect 5.0 documents on it". What should we do about it? Should we try to educate them in how express themselves correctly or should we let them get away with it? --- Jan B. Andersen <jba@dat.ruc.dk> ("SIMULA does it with CLASS")
rmh@apple.com (Rick Holzgrafe) (06/25/91)
In article <1991Jun21.090010.9325@gorm.ruc.dk> jba@gorm.ruc.dk (Jan B. Andersen) writes: > Programming and the use of programming languages with their strict > syntax and semantics, also affects how we use spoken language. Sloopy wording > gets nailed almost automatically - just for the fun of seeing the innocent > person getting confused, when s/he thought it was a "5.0 disk" as opposed > to a "5 1/4 inch floppy disk in MS-DOS format with some Word Perfect 5.0 > documents on it". > > What should we do about it? Should we try to educate them in how express > themselves correctly or should we let them get away with it? I see nothing in our profession/avocation that prohibits common courtesy. When faced with a request such as the example you quote, I'll respond with either "I didn't quite understand your posting, but if your situation is <my guess, correctly described>, then you can "<my solution>." or, if truly confused, with "I didn't quite understand your posting. Did you mean <my best guess>, or <my next best guess>, or something different?" I'm not Miss Manners (Hi, David), but I can't see any excuse for answering a polite if confused request for help with "BZZZZT! Wrong!" The above corrects them while (trying to) help solve the problem. ...and by the way, "sloopy" is properly spelled with one "o" and two "p"s, while "how express themselves correctly" is incorrectly expressed, being an improper use of the infinitive. :-) :-) :-) ========================================================================== Rick Holzgrafe | AppleLink: HOLZGRAFE1 rmh@apple.com Software Engineer | These are my opinions, Apple Computer, Inc. | and probably aren't Apple's.