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Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el
From: |
David Kastrup |
Subject: |
Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el |
Date: |
Tue, 08 Mar 2005 11:24:14 +0100 |
User-agent: |
Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.0.50 (gnu/linux) |
Nick Roberts <address@hidden> writes:
> > [Discussion of "`foo' is an obsolete function since 21.4;"]
> >
> > >> . This combination of "is" and "since" is incorrect English usage.
> >
> > >I think "is ... since" is pretty common usage actually, and certainly
> > >makes sense.
> >
> > <Gnashes teeth>
> >
> > Yes, it does make sense and it is regrettably common usage, but it is
> > WRONG. It is something that a native English speaker would never say.
> > In this case, it is just as easy to be correct.
>
> I don't know if it's correct or not but I think it is effective use of
> English.
"efficient" you mean probably . Let us just replace every "is not"
and "was not" and "has not" with "ain't". That is also efficient.
> I think its important to remember that English may not be the first
> language for many Emacs users. "`foo' is an obsolete function since
> 21.4" is concise: it tells the user that foo *is* obsolete and then
> that it became obsolete in version 21.4. He doesn't have to
> understand the many forms of past tense that English can have.
We are not talking about whether it is impossible to make sense out of
what is written. But I don't see how the non-first language speaker
actively gains anything if we switch to a bastardized version of
English. We don't require the readers of the manual to write correct
English themselves, we just strive to be understandable even for
non-native speakers. But I don't see that the correct English usage
here would have any detrimental effects.
--
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum
- English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Alan Mackenzie, 2005/03/07
- Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Bill Wohler, 2005/03/08
- Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Andreas Schwab, 2005/03/08
- Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Nick Roberts, 2005/03/08
- Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Miles Bader, 2005/03/08
- Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Bill Wohler, 2005/03/08
- Re: English usage bug in bytecomp.el, Richard Stallman, 2005/03/09