HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jpo@pfbs.philips.se (James Poole)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Disc/Disk (was Re: Presently)
Date: 27 Jan 93 17:41:54 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment BCFI AB, Sweden

judson@watserv.ucr.edu (Mike Judson) writes:
: In article <3066@eram.esi.COM.AU> dave@eram.esi.COM.AU (Dave Horsfall) writes:
: > In article <1993Jan18.043428.13684@news.columbia.edu>,
: >     gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes:
: > 
: > | The specification calls them compact discs, the audio industry calls them
: > | compact discs, and the New York Times calls them compact disks, and I don't
: > | know why, but it annoys everyone in the audio industry.
: 
: I think the New York Times is in error.  A Compact Disc (though I can't
: cite it) is (I think) a patented name, whereas compact disk is not.
: Whoever designed the compact disc wanted it to be distinguished from
: a regular disk and hence spelled it with a "c."

The use of the word Disk seems to come from that other charming American
invention "The Diskette". The only computer company which still seems to
use the word disc is Amstrad on its CPC computers.

--
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Disclaimer
I'm not sure these are my views, let alone anyone else's.

"But ours go up to eleven" Nigel Tuffnel, Spinal Tap
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal)
Subject: Re: a question for all readers
Organization: Cuddlehogs Anonymous
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 01:03:12 GMT

In article <1993Jan27.195436.2483@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> mcronin@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Michael T Cronin) writes:
:     How has your use of the English language changed with the technology?

I learned how to write incredibly long sentences without using a single newline thus rendering them completely unreadable except to kiddies who use mickey-mouse bulletin-board systems with auto-line-wrapping editors...

G
From: solar@fsrg.fsrg.bear.com (William del Solar)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Metric and Imperial Units (was Canadian English)
Summary: Units of measurement in Manhattan
Keywords: block
Date: 23 Jan 93 00:12:04 GMT
Organization: Bear Stearns & Company, New York, NY

In article <C17MHz.KBM@fs7.ece.cmu.edu> sds@henry.ece.cmu.edu (Sherwood D. Silliman) writes:

>Like in Manhattan, where the block is a very specific unit of distance.

Not so:  It depends upon which way you are going.

East-West there are fewer blocks per mile than North-South.  Some say 8
and 20, respectively.  However, the part of Manhattan with straight
streets is an irregular grid:  Some East-West blocks between some avenues
(the North-South streets) are considerably longer than other East-West
blocks.

It also depends on which part of Manhattan you have in mind:  The old
Dutch, Southern tip of the island which is definitely not a grid has very
short, shorter still, and tiny blocks although most of them are quickly
disappearing under new buildings. :)

Wm del Solar
____________________________________________________________________________
My opinions are not my employer's opinions:  I do not speak for my employer.
From: prh@essence.demon.co.uk ("Peter R. Humphrey")
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Words that are Opposites...
Date: 27 Jan 93 23:06:27 GMT
Reply-To: prh@essence.demon.co.uk
Distribution: alt
Organization: Organization?  What organization?
X-Mailer: cppnews $Revision: 1.30 $

In article <3098@eram.esi.COM.AU> dave@eram.esi.COM.AU (Dave Horsfall) writes:

>"fairly good" (or "quite good") can mean "very good" or "not very good".
>I suppose it comes from the classical British understatement...

Once upon a time, "quite" meant "completely".  I even find myself using 
it that way from time to time.

-- 
Rgds

Peter Humphrey  |  prh@essence.demon.co.uk         | Voice 0932-343158
Woking, UK.     |  unionjack@cix.compulink.co.uk   | Data  0932-353948
From: chabotaa@vax1.bham.ac.uk
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Will vs. Shall
Date: 28 Jan 93 18:06:43 GMT
Organization: University of Birmingham
NNTP-Posting-Host: vax1.bham.ac.uk

> 
> And very few English too. The sensible thing is to adopt the simple
> Scots usage, which is probably the de facto US usage, and which even
> the confused English are beginning to adopt:
> 
> 	Use "will" throughout for simple futurity.
> 
> 	Use "shall" throughout for command, obligation, determination,
> 	or non-specific futurity.
> 

	From `The Complete Plain Words'/Sir Ernest Gowers:

	"But the idiom of the Celts is different [from the English].
	They have never recognised `I shall go'. For them `I will go'
	is the plain future. The story is a very old one of the drowning
	Scot who was misunderstood by English onlookers and left to his
	fate because he cried, `I will drown and nobody shall save me'."


	He then goes on to say

	"American practice follows the Celtic ..."

	I will not comment ...

Tony Chabot
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: scotty@netcom.com (J Scott Peter)
Subject: Re: Words that are Opposites...
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 10:17:08 GMT

Also, the phrase `in general' means both `always' (particularly in
mathematical texts) and `not always'.
-- 
J Scott Peter XXXIII  // "Instantiating new solutions in the emerging arena
scotty@netcom.com    // of transcending the de-facto horizons of industry-
Las Anjealous       // standard open paradigms."
From: Cannam@sc.ZIB-Berlin.de (Chris Cannam)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Hi Fi etc, and ice cream
Date: 28 Jan 93 11:19:26
Organization: Konrad Zuse Zentrum fuer Informationstechnik Berlin
Distribution: alt
NNTP-Posting-Host: borodin.zib-berlin.de
In-reply-to: gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk's message of Tue, 26 Jan 1993 23:34:53 +0000


In article <9301262334.AA18472@pizzabox.demon.co.uk>
gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal) writes:

   [...]  So I guess we're both right.  It's just I've
   never heard that variant.  Say, do you pronounce finance differently from
   financial, by any chance?

Well no, but I hear people pronounce financial differently from how I
pronounce finance.  (Apart from the extra syllable, I mean.)

   (Mind you, I'm the sort of luddite who stresses the first syllable of
   Thes-au-rus, so what do I know...)

This gets me on to my little question.  Does anyone out there stress
the word `ice' when saying `ice cream'?  I lay roughly equal stress on
both words; my girlfriend, who talks about ice cream quite a lot,
always stresses the word ice, and it really annoys me for some reason.

							Chris.

--
           on sighting mathematicians it should unhook the algebra from their
             minds and replace it with poetry;  on sighting poets it should
               unhook poetry from their minds and replace it with algebra
From: TSOS@uni-duesseldorf.de (Detlef Lannert)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: discs, was Re: Presently
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 08:04:43 GMT
Organization: Universitaetsrechenzentrum, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet, Duesseldorf
NNTP-Posting-Host: lannert.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de

In article <8350@tekig7.PEN.TEK.COM> briand@tekig5.pen.tek.com (Brian D Diehm) writes:

>>And what about the new "RISC" computers? Should they be "RISK"?
>
>I presume you are making a joke here, but on the off chance that you are
>serious:
>
>RISC is an acronym (not just an initialism) for "Reduced Instruction Set
>Computer." Thus, until we spell it "komputer," it remains RISC.
>
>Anyone here from Germany who votes to change "computer" to "komputer"?

I don't (fwiw). Btw, the korrekt spelling should be "Kompjuter", and all 
acronyms would have to be changed ("PK"; "Kuh" for "kompjuterunter-
stuetzte Herstellung"="computer-aided manufacturing")...

Of course CD would be renamed as KP = "kompakte Platte" -- no, this used 
to stand for "communist party" -- sorry, that's out.

But come to think of it, I shouldn't be too sure that these things won't 
happen. Years ago some highly relevant institution decided that the German 
pronunciation for "hi-fi" ought to be `hi-fee' because the first vowel 
in "fidelity" is pronounced as an `ee' [well, not really, but sort of]. 
And all those nitwits on radio and TV seem to follow this rule.

To my ears, hi-fee sounds ridiculous. Or would anyone in the English-
speaking world say so??
[It was not intended to allude to the usually high prices of hi-fi 
equipment ...]
--
Detlef Lannert      DC3EK      E-Mail: tsos@rz.uni-duesseldorf.de
"Gedanken sind nicht stets parat,
man schreibt auch, wenn man keine hat."             Wilhelm Busch
From: murtaza@ecf.toronto.edu (MURTAZA HASAN)
Newsgroups: alt.tasteless.jokes,alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: The word FUCK
Date: 21 Jan 93 18:55:33 GMT
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility

B

B
A
Followup-To: 
Distribution: 
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Keywords: 


	I've heard from an artsie friend that the original inhabitants of Britain 
(the Angles and Saxons) used the word FUCK as a normal part of their language. When the 
Normans came over and conquered, English went underground and was spoken only in the fields, 
with French in the castles and palaces.  therefore, Fuck became LOW class. 

	So the word is merely an anachronism.  Feel free to use it.
-- 
----------------------------------------

	The Meaning of life : RoadKill.
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: mcoffin@IASTATE.EDU (Marie Coffin)
Subject: Re: Query: semiliterate quotation marks
Reply-To: mcoffin@IASTATE.EDU (Marie Coffin)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 04:48:27 GMT

In article <EMCOOP.93Jan22173140@bcars148.bnr.ca>, emcoop@bnr.ca (hume smith)
writes:
> In article <C19yqJ.4JG@demon.co.uk> gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal)
writes:
> 
>    ARGH!!!!!!!!
> 
>    Jeez, the short term memory on this group is getting as bad as a.f.u
> 
>    Even if Mark finishes the FAQ file, he's going to have to post it daily
:-(
> 
>    G
> 
> oh, so sorry.  but not everyone has been reading this group as long as
> you have.  short-term memory is all i have so far.  if there's such
> desperate need for a FAQ in your opinion, you'd better throw some effort
> into it yourself, instead of blasting the firat innocent trying to
> improve his understanding of the language.
> 
> this explanation of apostrophe usage was quite new to me.  no-one else
> i've ever mentioned it to had heard of it.  it sounded plausible to me,
> but i wanted some more information before i decided to store it under
> "facts" in my mind, if you will.  did i misjudge the potential of this
> newsgroup?  is it merely for flaming others for using grammar different
> from yours, spelling words incorrectly by accident, or trying to separate
> fact from fiction?  i thought perhaps someone here might have some modicum
> of knowledge about the matter.  or at least intellectual curiosity.  perhaps
> i was mistaken.
> 
> now: does someone out there have something USEFUL to say?

Oh, get off your high horse.  We talked about this only last week.  The 
answer is no:  Hume's question is not a contraction of Hume his question.

Now cut out the sentence fragments, stop spelling "no one" as "no-one", and
don't bite your nails.


Marie Coffin

Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: charlie@umnstat.stat.umn.edu (Charles Geyer)
Subject: Re: Words that are Opposites...
Organization: School of Statistics, University of Minnesota
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 23:35:25 GMT

In article <C1IznI.ACM@dcs.ed.ac.uk> pdc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Paul Crowley) writes:

> Actually, a precise definition of what "in general" means in
> mathematical texts would be much appreciated by me, since I often find
> myself using context and severe subtlety to extract the meaning.  It
> doesn't seem to mean always, it seems you're allowed a few exceptions.
> "This is in general impossible" means that it's impossible for most
> problem instances.

Mathematicians are very literal minded.  "In general" means just what it
says, i. e. in the general case or instance.

To say that something is not true in general, means that it does not hold
in each and every case of whatever is under discussion.

"This is in general impossible" means that it's impossible for *at least
one instance* of the problem.  I. e., the problem has no general solution.

-- 
Charles Geyer
School of Statistics
University of Minnesota
charlie@umnstat.stat.umn.edu
From: briand@tekig5.pen.tek.com (Brian D Diehm)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: "Have a Nice Day"
Date: 21 Jan 93 19:56:23 GMT
Reply-To: briand@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.

>Try this. When someone asks "How are you", or some variation on this,
>answer in an indifferent tone, "Terrible". You'd be surprised how often
>you get a nice, cheery response.
>
>Does this crap happen only in English? Is it cultural--does it happen on
>the other side of the Atlantic? Or is it universal?

I once had a friend from San Francisco, who had a great reply when some
shop clerk or bureaucrat was giving him the runaround. He'd say "Fuck you
very much" as he was leaving, but he'd say it so fast the person would
think it was "Thank you very much." Try it yourself; you don't have to slur
it very much to get the effect. Perhaps the smile with which he delivered it
helped carry it.

He once told another lady about this technique of "tiny revenge." She liked
it a lot, and tried to put it into practice. Unfortunately, prevarication
is a skill, and her expression came out slowly, and at the top of her voice.
Needless to say, her revenge was NOT subtle.

-Brian
--
Brian Diehm
Tektronix, Inc.                (503) 627-3437         briand@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM
P.O. Box 500, M/S 19-286
Beaverton, OR   97077
From: emcoop@bnr.ca (hume smith)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Query: semiliterate quotation marks
Date: 22 Jan 93 22:31:40 GMT
	<EMCOOP.93Jan22113626@bcars148.bnr.ca> <C19yqJ.4JG@demon.co.uk>
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada

In article <C19yqJ.4JG@demon.co.uk> gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal) writes:

   ARGH!!!!!!!!

   Jeez, the short term memory on this group is getting as bad as a.f.u

   Even if Mark finishes the FAQ file, he's going to have to post it daily :-(

   G

oh, so sorry.  but not everyone has been reading this group as long as
you have.  short-term memory is all i have so far.  if there's such
desperate need for a FAQ in your opinion, you'd better throw some effort
into it yourself, instead of blasting the firat innocent trying to
improve his understanding of the language.

this explanation of apostrophe usage was quite new to me.  no-one else
i've ever mentioned it to had heard of it.  it sounded plausible to me,
but i wanted some more information before i decided to store it under
"facts" in my mind, if you will.  did i misjudge the potential of this
newsgroup?  is it merely for flaming others for using grammar different
from yours, spelling words incorrectly by accident, or trying to separate
fact from fiction?  i thought perhaps someone here might have some modicum
of knowledge about the matter.  or at least intellectual curiosity.  perhaps
i was mistaken.

now: does someone out there have something USEFUL to say?
--
Hume Smith                                Honour sick and davey cris-cross
hume.smith@acadiau.ca                     McTruloff sentimie
emcoop@bnr.ca                             A parsnip inner pair threes.
From: gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Guide for Teaching English in Japan
Date: 26 Jan 93 23:30:33 GMT


	I am distributing a booklet called "A Comprehensive Guide For
	Teaching English in Japan".

No you're not, you lying git, you're *selling* it.

	We charge a minimum cost price of US$10 (including S&H expenses).

Must be a new definition of the word 'Minimum' I wasn't previously
aware of.  This is really quite against accepted net etiquette.

Why don't you try one of the 'forsale' groups, and stop trying to
pretend you're doing us a favour... (or if you claim you *are* doing
us a favour, put the file up for free ftp...)

G
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: tdlg9831@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Tracey Dianne Layng)
Subject: Re: Picture window?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 21:14:35 GMT

lionel@cs.city.ac.uk (Lionel Tun) writes:

>What is a `picture window'? Is it a large window which is a
>strong feature of a room and overlooks a magnificent view,
>or is it a window with coloured glass?

>--
>  ________  Lionel Tun, lionel@cs.city.ac.uk  ________
> / /_  __/\       Computer Vision Group      /\ \__  _\
>/___/_/_/\/ City University, London EC1V 0HB \ \___\_\_\
>\___\_\_\/        071-477 8000 ext 3889       \/___/_/_/


A picture window is a large window in a main room, like the living room. It
doesn't necessarily overlook a magnificent view for mine here in Champaign,
Illinois, overlooks the street and the apartment building across the street,
but it is still called a picture window.

Tracey
UIUC
From: benha@castle.ed.ac.uk (Ben Hambidge)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: a/an exceptions
Date: 26 Jan 93 11:31:43 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

.In article <1993Jan25.170300.3332@bmerh85.bnr.ca> nadeau@bnr.ca (Rheal Nadeau) writes:
.>In article <30724@castle.ed.ac.uk> benha@castle.ed.ac.uk (Ben Hambidge) writes:
.>>Indefinite article: a preceds consonants, an preceds vowels
.>>
.>>But:  union, unite, unit, universe, one, europe, hour, heir..
.>>
.>>Anyone know any other exceptions. I think all eu- words follow this
.>>rule. But uni- doesn't: e.g. unintentional.
.>
.>It's a pronounciation rule, not a spelling one.  So silent "h"s don't
.>count - "hour" and "heir" are pronounced "our" and "eir", and thus
.>take "an".  "Union", etc, are not pronounced "u-" but "yu-", thus
.>an implied consonant and "a".
.>
.>       The Rhealist - nadeau@bnr.ca - Speaking only for myself

Thanks, I realize this : but I need a list of words. Any offers?

Ben.
From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Canadian English
Date: 22 Jan 93 16:46:12 GMT
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK

In article <C14CLD.MwG@ecf.toronto.edu> pelton@ecf.toronto.edu (PELTON MATTHEW ALAN) writes:
>  Meter/metre...  Disk/disc...  Jesus.

Jesus/what?

-- 
 `D'ye mind tellin me whit the two o ye are gaun oan aboot?' (The Glasgow
Ivan A Derzhanski  (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk; iad@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu)    Gospel)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,  Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: tom_schwengler@msmgate.mrg.uswest.com (skeptic Frenchman)
Subject: Re: Plurals
XXXDate: Thu, 28 Jan 93 10:55:07 GMT
XUserAgent: Nuntius v1.1.1d8
XXXMessageID: <A78D6C0B8D020123@tom_schwengler.mrg.uswest.com>
Organization: U S West M.R.G.
NntpPostingHost: tom_schwengler.mrg.uswest.com
Date: 28 Jan 93 17:56:28 GMT

In article <C1IKCv.KIq@newcastle.ac.uk> Gareth Suddes,
G.M.Suddes@newcastle.ac.uk writes:
> Something I noticed the other day.
> Why is it we often refer to 'nothing' as a plural?
>
>   eg 0 people                0 men
>      1 person                1 man
>      2 people                2 men
>      3 people....            3 men...
>
>Curiously,
>Gareth

I believe this tendency is a quite modern habit/mistake. The Latin,
Greek, German, French and English gramar have usually associated absence
and singular; that is why noone and nobody are singular.
Also one should say no man, one man, two men...
Nevertheless, I agree with you when it comes to 0 man/men, I am tempted
to use men, even though I think it would be gramatically inapropriate.
Can anyone help me on this one ?

Tom
From: meachem@acsu.buffalo.edu (The Meach)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: between, among
Date: 27 Jan 93 16:17:54 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <hayesstw.230.728130510@risc1.unisa.ac.za> hayesstw@risc1.unisa.ac.za (Steve Hayes) writes:

>You can camp between (not among) the river, the wood and the wall.
>
>You'll have to search among (not between) all those papers to find it.

Although I suspect that when you *do* find it, it will have been between
some of those papers!
;->

--jtm
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: evan@hpl.hp.com (Evan Kirshenbaum)
Subject: Re: Canadian English
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:18:22 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories

In article <1993Jan21.022336.26550@g2syd.genasys.com.au> jonog@g2syd.genasys.com.au (Jonathan Gowland) writes:
>Chew'n'Spew             - Chinese restaurant

In the states (at least the state of Illinois, the north part, at the
very least Chicago (at least when I grew up there)) anything of the
form "X 'n Y" is an inexpensive hamburger or hot dog joint, probably a
drive-in when such still existed.  "X" was usually the name of the
primary food, "Y", the primary beverage, hence "Dog 'n Sudz" (an
actual restaurant) or "Burgers 'n Brew" (a non-perjoritive generic).
"Chew 'n Spew" or "Choke 'n Puke" would be considered takeoffs on this
sort of restaurant.  (I don't think I ever heard either of those
specific names, but we had similar ones which escape me at the
moment.)

I can't think of a common stereotypical name for a Chinese restaurant.

Evan Kirshenbaum		       +------------------------------------
    HP Laboratories		       | Hatred is the most accessible and
    3500 Deer Creek Road, Building 26U | comprehensive of all unifying agents.
    Palo Alto, CA  94304	       | Mass movements can rise and spread
				       | without belief in a God, but never
    kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com	       | without belief in a devil.
    (415)857-7572		       |                   Eric Hoffer
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english