[G4] Re: English

[Al Poulin]

On Jun 19, 2007, at 6:06 AM, g4-request at listserver.themacintoshguy.com 
wrote:
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:08:34 -0700
> From: Earle Jones <earle.jones at comcast.net>

> Just by coincidence, the message following your message began (in
> response to a question about the new Safari browser):
>
>     its a *beta* wait until the next rev. dont lose sleep.
>     mine crashed constantly.  i just axed it. why worry?
>
> How many violations would one ticket here?

Here, there is one saving feature -- the person is communicating good 
information.  We should not put up a brick wall to this.  As for the 
consistent use of lower case, I remember how an excellent contributor 
of technical information on another  Macintosh e-list consistently used 
lower case.  His explanation in response to many complaints was that he 
has a disability analogous to dyslexia and that to type otherwise would 
be extremely difficult and time consuming.

This discussion has transmuted itself from someone's problem with OS-9 
on an MDD machine, through "Classic or Native" to "English."  English 
itself is in constant change, sometimes of necessity.  Wikipedia.com is 
an excellent resource for definitions.   While participating in peer 
reviews of medical research proposals concerning cancer, as a layman in 
that field, I found that biochemists and other PhD scientists who work 
the human genome and bodily cell functions have borrowed familiar terms 
from our somewhat older disciplines of computer science and 
electronics.  Sometimes the new meanings were almost counter-intuitive. 
  Going beyond the glossary of terms supplied by the peer review 
organization meant finding other resources.

But what really gripes me is when American speakers and writers do not 
say what they mean.  A lady the other day said that our neighborhood's 
red foxes "go to the bathroom like dogs."  Say what?  My dogs "go" 
outdoors.  The English, the Irish, and Europeans say "toilet."  Their 
"restrooms" are "toilets."  Indeed, I never go to a "restroom" to rest. 
  And why must Americans use "bathroom" for places where one cannot take 
a bath or shower?  I guess some day we'll see "Bathroom" on the side 
doors of our gasoline stations.

Al Poulin