Re: \partcombine and decrescendo spanner

[David Kastrup]

Kieren MacMillan <address@hidden> writes:

> Hi David,
>
>>>> What is \etc ?
>>> A rather brilliant addition by David K. (I believe?),
>> when it is applicable, it's sort of tacky.
>
> Not sure which definition (or perhaps definitions?) of 'tacky' you are
> intending here?
> The meaning "not having or exhibiting good taste" surely doesn’t apply
> (at least IMO).

      2: tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish
         colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a
         meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments" [syn:
         {brassy}, {cheap}, {flash}, {flashy}, {garish}, {gaudy},
         {gimcrack}, {loud}, {meretricious}, {tacky}, {tatty},
         {tawdry}, {trashy}]

It is a bit of a show-off.

>> when describing a feature for hiding complexity, I don't manage
>> to confine the description's complexity in a similar manner.
>
> Documentation is so often more verbose than coded features — just
> think of the volumes of prose required to explain, in even a cursory
> way, something like

A 4590 line graphic file?

exp(i pi) + 1 = 0

does not seem like a lot and has the same descriptive content (arguably,
the exponential function is more basic and well-defined anyway than
powers where negative and/or complex exponents are concerned).  And I
can add its power series definition in one paragraph, and the definition
of complex numbers as polynomials modulo i^2+1 in another and still take
up less space...

-- 
David Kastrup