HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: TONY%VM1.MCGILL.CA@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU (Tony Harminc)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Subject: Turing things
Date: 10 Apr 92 18:13:07 GMT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Delivery-Notice:  SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender.

On Fri, 10 Apr 1992 10:31:00 PST Lobstrosities Unite said:
>
>Gosh, Graham. I didn't realize we all had to speak and use the same terminology
>as do you.  Around here, Turing Machine is understood as any device that runs
>(notice I didn't say, "can run") the Turing Test.  That's how it was taught to
>me (in a basic sort of way).
>
>What was Turing most noted for? I think for his statement (and subsequent
>proof, at least in his mind) that a computer, given the right environment, etc,
>could be passed off as a person.  Or, more correctly, that a subject could not
>guess, by the responses received, whether the responder was human or computer.
>
>On what device did he initially run these tests?  On a Turing Machine.

I think this situation is like the ones that have cropped up with Natalie
and linguistics terminology several times.  In the world of computer science
the terms "Turing test" and "Turing machine" are very clearly understood.
A Turing machine has nothing directly to do with the Turing test.  Further,
no Turing test has ever been conducted.  Although some tiny aspects of
Turing's thought experiment have been exercised, nothing even close in scope
to what he proposed is in a position to be conducted - computers are just
not there yet.  Similarly, no Turing machine has been built (though it
can be argued that the universe is a kind of Turing machine).

Now when Natalie talks of "grammar" or of "vowel length", some of us have
a little trouble with the idea that linguists' terminology is what we
all should use (rather than the terminology many of us grew up with).
There comes a point when the level of detail being discussed requires
the specialist terminology.  For casual conversation, perhaps the idea
of a Turing machine as something that tries to fool humans into thinking
that it's another human is not much different than calling the vowel
in "cake" a long a.  Hmmm - I don't think I'm arguing with much conviction.

Tony H.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Original-From: hlwpk!ktw (Kenneth T Wolman +1 201 564 2866)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Sat, 11 Apr 1992 06:47:00 EDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         ktw%HLWPK.ATT.COM@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Setting nomail
Comments: To: WORDS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU

We're going up to Albany for a surprise party for my mother-in-law
(neat lady!), who is turning 75 on Monday.  So I've set nomail,
and should be back sometime late tomorrow.  Assorted flames and
heavy-breathing notes can be sent to me personally (snicker!).

Ken
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Sat, 11 Apr 1992 10:52:58 EST
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         BGRISSOM%UKCC.UKY.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Swedish cake mix
              10 Apr 1992 16:41:54 EST from <BGRISSOM@UKCC.UKY.EDU>

>>the microscopic lines that read (skipping the dots):
>>
>>           Observera: tillverkaren ansvarar inte for effekten av
>>           att ata kakor bakade med denna mix av moderliga
>>           kvinnor aktiva i internationellt utbyte av
>>           elektronisk post.
>

     I bothered several people about this last night.  I was in the
     grip of the grape, but I knew that Torkel must be both making a
     joke and imparting a lesson.  The lesson must be that even though
     English and German are cognate or whatever, you can't get the
     meaning from that alone.  The joke is at the expense of our own
     Honda momma.  With a Swedish dictionary, I came up with this
     (provisional) translation:

             Notice: The manufacturers are not responsible for the
             effects of [any?] cakes baked with this mix by motherly
             women active in international exchange of electronic mail.

     The business about the missing dots is too subtle for me.

     bog
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Thu, 9 Apr 1992 12:34:03 EDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         AMPHYS01%YSUB.YSU.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Kids and language revisited
Comments: To: WORDS-L@UGA.cc.uga.edu

While we're on the topic of kids and language rules (under the Russian
thread, I think), I will have to ask your indulgence and tell my two
favorite stories about my son and language:

He coined "unstapler" for staple puller or staple remover, whatever you
call it, when he was about 2 -- I thought it was an economical, precise
term for the tool and still use it.

When he was about 5 (and reading for two years or so, alas), he spotted
a billboard promoting a program to eliminate illiteracy.  He wanted to
know what illiteracy meant, so I told him -- and, always explaining how
you can understand an unfamiliar word if you look at the root, went on
with literature, literate, etc.  He pronounced then that HE wasn't
illiterate -- he'd been littering for two years now.

He used the root and, knowing the adjective and noun forms, made a verb
following the rules of language he knew to that point.

Sharon
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-VMS-To: IN%"WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Thu, 16 Apr 1992 23:38:00 EST
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         "Aaron Dickey, still alive"
 <AXD7104%ACFCLUSTER.NYU.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Time Magazine
Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu

Just FYI...in the US, postdated checks are meaningless.  If you write a
check, it's cashable immediately, regardless of any postdating.  It
will only be rejected if it's too OLD...more than 180 days is standard
around here.

--Aaron
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Sun, 12 Apr 1992 20:36:37 -0400
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         Steve Portigal <stevep%SNOWHITE.CIS.UOGUELPH.CA@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Steve P., I apologize, The Ronin
Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu

  Ronin, I think we agree in principle.  It can be a tremendous burden to
have an unwanted child.  It can be a terrible burden to *be* an unwanted
child.  Apology accepted (though there's nothing to be *sorry* about,
you just rethought your opinion)...

steve
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Sun, 12 Apr 1992 13:52:07 EST
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         BGRISSOM%UKCC.UKY.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Re: Swedish cake mix
              12 Apr 1992 12:23:50 CDT from <tushar@ZAPHOD.UCHICAGO.EDU>

 Tushar speculates:
>Chris Mohoney can easily be a fake. He stepped in just when there was
>another impossible posting from somewhere in the middle east. This in
>fact induced my inflamed imagination to think that Lisa A (who had come
>in about the same time) was another fake.

 I have never doubted Lisa; in fact, I recently added a codicil to
 my will to provide for her law-school training in the event I should go
 to my reward.  But, if you need fuel for your sin-induced doubts, think
 of this: what if the Dapper Dozen in Cambridge Square all agreed to
 report her presence there, protect the identity of the perpetrator,
 and otherwise continue the foul ruse?  It's not beyond the reach of an
 inflamed imagination.

bog
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Mon, 6 Apr 1992 13:40:26 CDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         "Natalie Maynor" <maynor%RA.MSSTATE.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject: Re: BWP Stats 4/4/92
Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu

>      Don't worry, Dr. Maynor.  I have to go off the air at 4:00 p.m. MDT,
> which is in about 2.5 hours.  You have all night to put me in my place.

But I didn't know until this morning that mail to the list was actually
being posted!  Nothing started coming in until about 11 this morning --
in one strange, large heap that I'm now plodding through.
   --Natalie (maynor@ra.msstate.edu)
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Envelope-to: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.EDU
X-VMS-To: IN%"WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.EDU"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Mon, 13 Apr 1992 10:02:00 EST
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         "The harder I work, the behinder I get"
 <TRAVEN%VMS.CIS.PITT.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Brazilian gleanings?
Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.EDU

Welcome aboard, Admir!

>I am talking from Brazil and for ages have been studying English,
>American English.
>So I have run into some American words and idioms which have really been
>a spanner in the works when I try to talk to someone from The
   ^^^^^^^
   don't you mean 'wrench'?

>Commomwealth.
>They've told me that such words would be hard to be gotten even by
>Americans...
>I would like anyone out there to try to explain me if such idioms are
>widely used in the U.S.A. and their correct meaning. Here they are:

>NEW LOW;

	Without a reference, this has no meaning.  It sounds like a very small
	slice of advertising copy.

>TO ZAP IT TO YA;

	Well, to 'zap' usually means to heat in a microwave oven.  Another
	possibility, taking into account the 'to ya' portion, would refer to
	the speed with which e-mail or a fax gets to its intended recipient.

>ETH'ED

	???

>FAITH 'N' BEGORRA.

	This is Irish, not American.  Or at least, it's what Americans say to
	each other on St. Patrick's Day when they're pretending to be Irish.

>On the far (but not outlying) So. America.

	Oh good, another dot for the words-l t-shirt!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
neal	traven@pittvms			Bitnet		412-624-0097 (office)
	traven@vms.cis.pitt.edu  	Internet	412-624-0110 (fax)
			"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America
			 had better learn baseball."	-- Jacques Barzun
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Original-From: hlwpk!ktw (Kenneth T Wolman +1 201 564 2866)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Mon, 6 Apr 1992 15:41:00 EDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         ktw%HLWPK.ATT.COM@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Re: Gleanings 38 1) Louis Mayer/Pat Riley (Ken W.)
Comments: To: English Language Discussion Group <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>

Not my day.  Subject lines eat topic lines.
I run variant paragraphs in one posting.

Is there a direct flight to Ulan Bator I can catch?

Ken
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Mon, 6 Apr 1992 16:27:12 -0400
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         droby%NOVA.TCS.TUFTS.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Re: BWP Stats 4/4/92
Comments: To: English Language Discussion Group <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>
              06 Apr 92 13:40:26 CDT." <9204061607.aa23175@Nova.TCS.Tufts.EDU>

Says "Natalie Maynor" <maynor@RA.MSSTATE.EDU>:
>But I didn't know until this morning that mail to the list was actually
>being posted!  Nothing started coming in until about 11 this morning --
>in one strange, large heap that I'm now plodding through.
>   --Natalie (maynor@ra.msstate.edu)

	I too had a dearth of WORDS-L mail this morning, but I sent some
important replies to the list anyway, knowing I was way behind some of the
more eminent bwp's.  And of course, I had to continue the mathematical
enlightment of the group.

- Don R
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Fri, 10 Apr 1992 10:22:02 EST
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         GUBERT%UKCC.UKY.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      AIDS response

Said:         DBFABAK@CFRVM.BITNET


:*** Resending note of 04/10/92 08:41
:
:>The "meaning" of 'good ole boy' is contextual -- even here in the South.:
:
:>I agree that no one who has contracted AIDS deserved to contract it.
:>I do not care how stupid, reckless or ignorant they have been.
:
:>JAG

:I hope no one inferred that I meant Magic "deserves" his fate.  No one
:"deserves" such a fate, but what I did say it was "easier" to relate to
:someone whose misfortune was in no way thru their actions, as opposed to
:one who helped gain that misfortune by their own actions.  Stupidity,
:ignorance and compulsive behavior are not normally criminal activities.
:And I don't think any Yankee can ever be a "good ole boy" in the South.

The fact that you are willing to differentiate between
"innocent" victims and other "non-innocent" victims of AIDS says to me
that there is some shred of 'just desserts' in your view, even if it is
non-conscious.

As for a Yankee being a good ole boy in the South.  It would depend upon
what you meant by being a good ole boy.  I have never been one, although
I'm a native of The South.  Yet, I would clearly class one of my
brothers-in-law as a good ole boy because of his attitudes and behaviors.
He was born and educated in NYC suburban New Jersey.  In addition, some
of the clearest examples of both "rednecks" and "good ole boys" I ever
met were natives of Eastern Washington State.

While I would not necessarily agree with the original poster's use of
'good ole boy' as a negative stereotype, I do not think he necessarily
misunderstands its meaning.


JAG
^bwp
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Original_To:  BITNET%"WORDS-L@UGA.BITNET"
Original_cc:  WHITERJ
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Fri, 10 Apr 1992 15:37:00 MDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         The Ronin <WHITERJ%MSCD.BITNET@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Pedant's Corner (was Russian speakers

Sayeth        "815 Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980" <TA0SHK1@NIU.BITNET>

> Spiketh the Ronin:
>
> : I thought it was laws that so many things uneconomic.(sic)
>
> Put "made" before "so" and it's a not very funny one liner.
>
> Steve Karlson

     Make it 'that made so'.  And I would agree if I did not have so
perverse a sense of humor.

The Ronin
From: haycock@marley.think.com (Anne Haycock)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Subject: Re: Understatement of the Year
Date: 13 Apr 92 08:53:39
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: marley.think.com
In-reply-to: "PLOTKIN, ALEC DAVID"'s message of Mon, 13 Apr 1992 00:49:00 EDT

Alec mourns:

   Natalie,
   I travelled to France last may. All my stuff was searched and all passports
   stamps were checked. I was travelling alone. I am 25, so that might have been
   part of the problem. It was in New York. The thing that bothered me was that
   I carrying goat cheese for my mother and they took it.
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sorry, Alec, no
sympathy here.  1) You tried to bring in something which is perishable; and
2) I see no mention of wine in the above paragraph.  You could have brought
in two bottles of a Grand Cru Classe without fear ... as long as you're
twenty-one (if not, you would have seen it go down the toilet).

   I hate customs. Also when I finished a Rhine trip through Germany which ended
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Although customs can be a pain, there are more than a few good reasons for
it.  I agree that agents often randomly hassle indiscriminantly -- but then
again, often they have prior cause for their perceptions -- especially re:
young people touring Europe & SE Asia.  

    in Switzerland, we were met by machine gun toting customs agents. The
   agents harasses the Swiss like they were criminals and left the
   others alone.

My thought on this last one is that ... so what?  I wouldn't doubt the
Swiss give as good as they get (the prices in Switzerland are enough to
harass anyone.)

   later

Much.

//anne, just feeling a little chatty this morning//



Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Tue, 7 Apr 1992 10:29:51 +0200
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         torkel%SICS.SE@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Re: Gleanings (38)
Comments: To: English Language Discussion Group <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>
              06 Apr 92 18:56:00 -0400. <9204062350.AA13870@sics.se>

  Aaron writes about Asterix:

> basically, it's set in ancient Greece, where
>Asterix is this short little gladiator who gets into lots of
>misadventures with his friends.

  You've been misled by a particular story. Asterix and Obelix are
Gauls, and the basic story line is that they live in the one village
in France that has not been occupied by the Romans (thanks to the
magical potion brewed by the druid Miraculix).
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Fri, 17 Apr 1992 16:11:15 EST
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         Karen Kay <LL23%NEMOMUS.BITNET%UGA.CC.UGA.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Mother Teresa
Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu

> P.S.  Karen, I didn't say Mother Theresa was a great speaker, only
> that she had something worth saying.  You want entertaining, get
> Robin Williams.

No, Bill, I don't Mother Teresa (is there a t or not?) to entertain me,
but I have this idea that speakers, particularly commencement speakers,
should tailor their speech to the audience, and be interestingas well.

I am particularly adamant on this point because I've been to two conf-
erences in the past two weeks where people did not give talks, but read
papers...which always makes me feel like I wish I had an uzi.  (Although
Mother Teresa would get off w/ a warning if she promised never to give
a talk in public again.)

Karen
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Mon, 13 Apr 1992 12:09:20 -0400
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         Steve Portigal <stevep%SNOWHITE.CIS.UOGUELPH.CA@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Dress like Rita, cheaply
Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu

(not to imply that Rita is cheap or that she dresses cheap, nor would
I really know either)
                       -==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-

             ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION OFFERS T-SHIRTS

For a $10 donation, EFF will send you a spiffy 100% cotton white T-shirt
with the new black and red EFF logo tastefully displayed on front, and the
following on the back:

                          ELECTRONIC FRONTIER
                               FOUNDATION
                              eff@eff.org

                        (50's style graphic with
                    large building sitting on world)

                     Serving Cyberspace since 1990

They come in sizes XL and child's S only. Send your $10 check or

money order to

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
ATT:  Rita/ T-Shirts
155 Second Street
Cambridge MA  02141

"What a DEAL!  People will be hard-pressed to find a shirt of the same
quality with such fantastic silk-screening for less than $20 in any
T-shirt store in the country.  (You can quote me on that.)"
    -- Brendan Kehoe <brendan@cs.widener.edu> upon receiving his shirt.

*** Mention that you are an EFFector Online reader, and we will ***
             waive all shipping and handling charges!




[quoted without permission from the latest issue of EFFector Online]
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Mon, 13 Apr 1992 18:19:36 -0500
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         Nancy Harwood <harwood%TENET.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: pencils (was re: TV)
Comments: To: English Language Discussion Group <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Comments: cc: Multiple recipients of list WORDS-L <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>

On Mon, 13 Apr 1992, BUHITELA@sunyjcc.bitnet wrote:
... I view handwriting analysis with about the same
> skepticism as newspaper horoscopes, but the "insights" might be amusing.

I was skeptical, too, until the handwriting analyst pointed out the
signs which indicated procrastination...then I thought there just might
be something to it...I have this procrastination habit! :-)
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Wed, 8 Apr 1992 18:26:00 EDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         "PLOTKIN, ALEC DAVID" <185422285%UCIS.VILL.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Odder and Odder
Comments: To: words-l <words-l@uga.cc.uga.edu>

Heard something awful today, Arthur Ashe has AIDS. I did not hear the details.




later

alec
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Thu, 9 Apr 1992 14:44:10 +0200
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         torkel%SICS.SE@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU
Subject:      Re: ODDS 'N' ENDS
Comments: To: English Language Discussion Group <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>
              09 Apr 92 06:55:47 -0500. <9204091157.AA04066@sics.se>

  Natalie argues, in gracious response to my question what she knows as
a linguist that implies that there is nothing wrong with changes in
grammar:

>language change is inevitable in a living
>language and thus can't be considered "wrong";

  The fact that change is inevitable does not imply that there is
nothing wrong with any change. Are you perhaps saying that there
cannot be anything wrong with something that is inevitable, and that
any and all changes that occur in language are in fact inevitable?

>languages evolve to meet
>the needs of the speakers; if communication is occurring without problem,
>the grammar is serving its purpose;

  There must be some missing steps here. In so far as I understand you,
you're saying there is nothing wrong with any linguistic change as
long as people communicate without problem. But this doesn't tell us
much as long as you haven't said anything about what constitutes
communication. Taken literally, your comments imply that there is
nothing wrong with a change whereby people communicate by means of
grunts, since language always evolves to meet the "needs" of the
speakers. Are you speaking of "needs" in some objective sense, or of
what people perceive as their "needs"? What are these needs, and
why isn't there anything wrong with such a change?
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Wed, 15 Apr 1992 21:21:22 CDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         "Natalie Maynor" <maynor%RA.MSSTATE.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Goodbye

> >---can't you just dial in to a local computer center and use the
> >network for free?
>
> I know that works most places, but NYU made sure it won't work here.
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Betcha that's not true anymore.  People have gotten pretty security
conscious most places.

> There is a TELNET command on the dial-up, but it only lets you telnet to
> NYU's own computers.  This, of course, makes no sense, since it only
> lets you do what you can do anyway, and you have to add two extra steps
> at that.

It makes sense in that it's how you connect to the mainframe at NYU.
   --Natalie (maynor@ra.msstate.edu)
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Wed, 15 Apr 1992 13:17:32 CDT
 <WORDS-L%UGA.bitnet@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
From:         "Natalie Maynor" <maynor%RA.MSSTATE.EDU@VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: ODDS 'N' ENDS

>   Well, what I found baffling was the statement that we learn from
> linguistics that the negation of the statement is true. Do you mean
> that it is only from linguistics that we learn that the statement
> "there is something wrong with linguistic change" (where "linguistic
> change" has been carefully separated from "cultural change") is pretty
> meaningless?

Now we're into the problem of defining linguistics.  If the question is
whether one has to study linguistics formally in order to reach the
conclusion that language change isn't bad, the answer is no.  And there
is also a problem with how we're using "meaningless."  If we're talking
in formal terms of logic, I agree that meaninglessness of a positive
statement makes arguing about its negative also meaningless.  I can't
remember now how the idea of the meaninglessness of the statement got
into our discussion.  I think it might have been in the looser sense
of meaning something like impossible and therefore silly to talk about?
   --Natalie (maynor@ra.msstate.edu)
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU