>
>
>
>
>
>
> Happy holidays,



Peter







>
> A language instructor was explaining to
> > her class that French
> nouns,
> >
> unlike their English counterparts, are
> > grammatically designated
> as
> >
> masculine or feminine. Things like
> > "chalk" or "pencil," she
> described,
> >
> would have a gender association - even
> > though in English, these
> words
> >
> were
> neutral.
> >
> >
> Puzzled, one student raised his hand and
> > asked, "What gender is
> a
> >
> computer?"
> >
> >
> The teacher wasn't certain, so divided
> > the class into two groups
> and
> >
> asked them to decide if a computer
> > should be masculine or
> feminine.
> >
> One group was composed of the women in
> > the class, and the other,
> of
> >
> men. Both groups were asked to give four
> > reasons for
> their
> >
> recommendation.
> >
> >
> The group of women concluded that
> > computers should be referred to
> in
> >
> the masculine gender
> because:
> >
> >
> 1. In order to get their attention, you
> > have to turn them
> on.
> >
> 2. They have a lot of data but are still
> >
> clueless.
> >
> 3. They are supposed to help you solve
> > your problems, but half
> the
> >
> time they _are_ the
> problem.
> >
> 4. As soon as you commit to one, you
> > realize that, if you had waited
> a
> >
> little longer, you could have had a
> > better
> model.
> >
> >
> The men, on the other hand, decided that
> > computers should
> definitely
> >
> be referred to as the feminine gender
> >
> 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 your smallest mistakes are
> > stored in long-term memory for later
> retrireview.
> >
> 4. As soon as you make a commitment to
> > one, you find yourself spending
> half your
> paycheck
> >
> on accessories for it.
>
>
> AIM JPodsim1
> MSN IM <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
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>
>


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