MSGID: 1:153/716.0 10b5f0c0   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 60def07a   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Anton!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AH>  While many sources regard "period" & "full stop" as   
   AH>  synonymous, BTW, my inclination is to think of a period   
   AH>  as a punctuation mark (.) which is used in various ways   
   AH>  but may be called a "full stop" at the end of a sentence.   
      
   AS>  This distiction between the punctuation character and one    
   AS>  of its functions is very useful, do hold on fast to it.   
      
      
             Thank you.  I intend to....  :-)   
      
      
      
   AS>  We must strive to use words that best express the tints,   
   AS>  shades, and nuaces of our intended meaning, lest we lose    
   AS>  those fine niceties -- first from our thoughts, and then   
   AS>  from our language.   
      
      
             Yes.  The English language is like a fine musical instrument capable   
   of great precision & sublety in the hands of a skilled player, but in order to   
   become a skilled player one must develop an ear for such niceties & be willing   
   to work at improving one's skill.  Fuzzy thinking & imprecise language do seem   
   to go together as often as not.  At times I wonder which came first.  However,   
   once I've learned the name of something (or someone) I begin to notice details   
   which might otherwise have escaped me... and I know how to look it up.   
      
             Others may ignore such niceties to "fit in".  I just read an article   
   in which, after devoting four paragraphs to explaining the differences between   
   yams & sweet potatoes, the author reverts to the nomenclature older members of   
   her family used as soon as she introduces them & their favourite recipes.  She   
   justifies this by saying the terms are "generally interchangeable" in the USA,   
   but "many Black cooks" still make the distinction (as do Canadians, BTW).  :-)   
      
      
      
   AH>  However, it seems I am often overruled because double    
   AH>  spacing isn't allowed in programming jargon.   
      
   AS>  Do you mean double spacing between sentences?    
      
      
             Yes.  Opinions are divided nowadays WRT the issue, but it matters to   
   me because my audience in E_T includes many people who are not native speakers   
   of English & for whom the added white space could be helpful.  I hear from the   
   employees at the bank & other local businesses that they often feel frustrated   
   because whoever compiled the software they're using has never done *their* job   
   ... and I find myself in much the same position.  Yes, I know what others mean   
   either way.  Like you, however, I don't give up on traditional methods without   
   learning how they worked & how they might still be of use to us.  Years ago my   
   parents taught me to "reduce, re-use, and recycle" before we had a slogan like   
   that to induce whomever to accept what their elders could have told them.  :-Q   
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)   
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