Subject: Re: PART TWO: winning industrial-use of lisp: Re: Norvig's latest paper on Lisp From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net> Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 20:26:13 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3233679973026336@naggum.net> * anonymized | Since you're examples of old literature This is another curious thing about native English speakers, which I seldom see in people who have had the luxury of studying the language. It is one thing for people to write "Why has Gene Wolfe never one a Hugo award?" but another when they confuse "its" and "it's", "your" and "you're", "their" and "they're", etc. One way to get rid of this sign of illiteracy is to avoid contractions in writing. It makes for a more formal appearance, but it also encourages a better flow and sentence structure -- some things work only when contracted and sound silly when not, and sometimes vice versa. Historically, the turn "have got" became useful because "I've" was insufficient alone, and it is therefore sufficient to write "I have" while you would say "I've got". [ Native speakers who only "feel" their way around their own language sloppily will probably object very strongly to any comment I can possibly make about the English language. Consider it pre-objected and pre-ignored. OK? ] -- Guide to non-spammers: If you want to send me a business proposal, please be specific and do not put "business proposal" in the Subject header. If it is urgent, do not use the word "urgent". If you need an immediate answer, give me a reason, do not shout "for your immediate attention". Thank you.