Re: [OT] Suggestion for next Debian release
Tue, 19 Feb 2002 06:44:21 +0800
csj <csj@mindgate.net>
debian-user@lists.debian.org
> > > > > > > and here is really no interest in ridiculing anyone and
> > > > > > > less someone who would formulate constructively his
> > > > > > > criticism and suggestions ...
> For the life of me, I can't see what's unclear about this
> construction.
It's not clear who's speaking ('I' or `we'?), or what's meant by `here'
or `less', or whether `someone' and `his' refer to the same person.
The imprecision adds up.
> . . . I see nothing wrong with speaking, writing or even reading
>English in a manner foreign to the dictates of Hollywood, the BBC or
>New York Times.
Nor do I, but the point here is clarity.
> To insist on a correct way to write or speak English runs contrary to
the spirit of the GPL.
Has anyone in this thread proposed to dictate the `correct way'?
Not that I know of. (The GPL isn't relevant.)
> It would be as if the *native* speakers imposed a EULA on the rest of
the world that limited our rights to modify the language and propagate
our own "ethnicized" versions, while they could casually say, "You ain't
seen nuthin' yet" or "Hasta la vista, punk, in space no one can hear
your scream."
No, it wouldn't. Asking for simple language is not coercion.
> Language, like open source, should be a matter of using
what works, not what some stodgy grammarian, film mogul or computer
science lecturer says it should be.
Exactly: the lines that provoked this thread _don't_ work.
(I care nothing for 'Grim grammarians in their golden gowns', for
they do indeed value rules over understanding.)
> Anybody who has taken a few weeks of German lessons would have
> understood the original.
I've been reading German for many years, & I disagree. Yes, Dryden
professed to improve his writing by translating it from English to Latin
&
back again. Dryden was a fool, & English is not an inflected language.
>Language has meaning only within a given context. And in the context
>of this forum, "And here is" makes easy and perfect sense. But "That
>is a cat!" (as proper as the sentence might be) won't, because I
>don't have the reference to know if you're actually pointing to a cat
>or just a scrappy little dog. To me the only criminals are those who
>insist their Shift key is broken.
You're right about the shift key, & also to say that meaning depends
on context. The context of the debian-users forum is English --
readers, writers, vocabulary, usage, syntax, idiom. It won't do to
whine (like many an inept author) `But you know what I mean!'
However, none of what I say here is meant to disparage the original
writer. That sentence simply grew too long to keep under control, &
I'm sure that if he'd re-read it he'd have rewritten his own words &
done much better. For proof, see his other posts to debian-users.
Here's the great precept of Unix: Let each command do one thing, &
do it well. That goes for English sentences, too.
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