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A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French,
nouns, unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as
masculine or feminine. "House," in French, is feminine--"la
maison." "Pencil," in French, is masculine--"le
crayon." One puzzled student asked, "What gender is computer?"
The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary. So for
fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough, by gender, and
asked them to decide whether "computer" should be a masculine or
feminine noun. Both groups were required to give four reasons for their
recommendation. The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of
the feminine gender ("la computer"), because: 1. No one but their
creator understands their internal logic; 2. The native language they use to
communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else; 3. Even
the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for possible later
retrieval; and 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your pay check on accessories for it. The women's group, however,
concluded that computers should be masculine ("le computer"),
because: 1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on; 2.
They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves; 3. They are
supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem;
and 4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little
longer, you could have gotten a better model. The women won. |
