Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: "J. Roeleveld" <joost@××××××××.org>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] Horrible English
Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 16:50:24
Message-Id: 62C49253-90A2-4FD3-8822-C8949DABDAA0@antarean.org
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] Horrible English by Alan McKinnon
1 On May 12, 2017 6:15:05 PM GMT+02:00, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com> wrote:
2 >On 12/05/2017 09:37, J. Roeleveld wrote:
3 >> On May 11, 2017 11:20:49 AM GMT+02:00, Alan McKinnon
4 ><alan.mckinnon@×××××.com> wrote:
5 >>> On 11/05/2017 02:09, Peter Humphrey wrote:
6 >>>> On Wednesday 10 May 2017 23:33:37 Alan McKinnon wrote:
7 >>>>
8 >>>>> I you read -dev, you could have replied to the original with a
9 >>> correct
10 >>>>> fix :-)
11 >>>>
12 >>>> No good. I can't read C. I gave up in the '80s and reverted to
13 >>> assembler.
14 >>>>
15 >>>>> The author isn't English mother-tongue btw [1]
16 >>>>
17 >>>> Maybe not, but he's only following what the typical American is
18 >>> doing.
19 >>>>
20 >>>>>> (By way of explanation, 35 years ago I was made the documentation
21 >>>>>> manager of a 200-man-year software project. Ever since then I've
22 >>> been
23 >>>>>> unable to read anything at all without the eye of an editor -
24 >it's
25 >>>>>> ruined my enjoyment of everything I read. There's no hope any
26 >>> longer.)
27 >>>>>
28 >>>>> Oh noes. So you can't enjoy Pratchett? poor, poor you <shudder>
29 >:-)
30 >>>>
31 >>>> Sadness.
32 >>>>
33 >>>>> [1] Living in a country with 11 (yes, eleven!) official languages,
34 >>> all
35 >>>>> considered legally valid for purposes of government with equal
36 >>> status, I
37 >>>>> had to let go of English bias and accept that languages get
38 >mangled.
39 >>> All
40 >>>>> the time.
41 >>>>
42 >>>> I sympathise. I couldn't live in a place like that.
43 >>>>
44 >>>>> Except for this new meaning for "revert". can't bring myself to
45 >>> accept
46 >>>>> that one, too much like gouging out eyeballs with a blunt spoon.
47 >>>>
48 >>>> Eh? What meaning is that? I seem to have missed it.
49 >>>>
50 >>>
51 >>> In Africa, "revert" has become synonymous with "reply".
52 >>>
53 >>> Causes no end of confusion when the firewall admin replies to a
54 >ticket
55 >>> saying he'll do it and revert.
56 >>
57 >> I'd be complaining about someone like that the whole time.
58 >> "Why the *beep* will you revert all changes before we can even test
59 >them? You *beeeeeep*"
60 >
61 >True story:
62 >
63 >I used to do exactly that, then got into horrible trouble with HR, and
64 >disciplinary hearing and $DEITY knows what else.
65 >
66 >Turned out one of the fellows I called a *beeeeeep* was the CEO of our
67 >subsidiary in Ghana
68
69 Hehe....
70 Which language has 'revert' and 'reply' being the same word?
71
72 Personally, I'd challenge HR for allowing people with such an obvious lack of education into the company.
73
74 --
75 Joost
76 --
77 Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.