Mary Anne > very sorry now that she didn't just say vtam screen.
As I said before, no apology is needed. John Eells has assured us that IBM development formally approves of the way you expressed yourself and Ed Finnell has found the relevant document for us: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/globalization/terminology/index.jsp There is also some strong testimony in my post to Eric Bielefeld. You caused an important point to be raised. The topic was also raised a couple of years ago, June 2007, and some of the problem is that the lesson from the misinterpretation of your perfectly correct post hasn't been picked up by the "usual suspects". They are assuming the same issue as last time when only ambiguity was highlighted as the problem. This time there is no ambiguity, just what should be unnecessary misunderstanding. In time the lesson might be learned. We live in hope. Chris Mason On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:32:42 -0400, Mary Anne Matyaz <maryanne4...@gmail.com> wrote: >5) A Pittsburgh Penguin Hockey player, who probably wouldn't be amused by >being misinterpreted as a female swan. :) >Mary Anne, very sorry now that she didn't just say vtam screen. > > > >On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 10:07 PM, john gilmore <john_w_gilm...@msn.com>wrote: > >> Guy Gardoit's point is the important one: Acronyms and indeed words are >> often overloaded. >> >> >> >> Is, for example, the denotation of an instance of the token 'pen' in a >> particular context that of >> >> >> >> 1) a writing instrument? >> >> >> >> 2) an animal enclosure or the like? >> >> >> >> 3) a truncation of >>penitentiary<< with semantic contamination from 2)? >> >> >> >> 4) a female swan? >> >> >> >> etc., etc. (consult the OED)? >> >> >> >> Semantic ambiguity is indeed a terrible problem for programs. AI has >> founderd on it. >> >> >> >> For people, on the other hand, it is seldom a problem. We are >> extraordinarily good at using implicit contextual clues to resolve it. >> When, for example, was the last time you were unsure of the denotation of >> an instance of 'pen'? >> >> >> >> Semantic ambiguities won't go away, and railing against them is a mug's >> game. >> >> >> >> Historically, preoccupation with a particular, notionally illegitimate use >> of a word or acronym has almost always reflected obsolescence. It has meant >> that a quondam legitimate use was being supplanted rapidly by the new, >> illegitimate one being deplored. >> >> >> >> We bother to deplore only improprieties that we judge threatening. >> >> >> John Gilmore Ashland, MA 01721-1817 USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
