From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S264426AbTDXEY6 (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Apr 2003 00:24:58 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S264424AbTDXEYx (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Apr 2003 00:24:53 -0400 Received: from TYO202.gate.nec.co.jp ([202.32.8.202]:46498 "EHLO TYO202.gate.nec.co.jp") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S264414AbTDXEXc (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Apr 2003 00:23:32 -0400 To: ruschein@mail-infomine.ucr.edu (Johannes Ruscheinski) Cc: Steven Cole , Chuck Ebbert <76306.1226@compuserve.com>, linux-kernel , Linus Torvalds Subject: Re: How did the Spelling Police miss this one? References: <200304230936_MC3-1-35AA-864B@compuserve.com> <1051109635.29423.20.camel@spc9.esa.lanl.gov> <20030424033913.GA32423@mail-infomine.ucr.edu> <20030424041632.GB32423@mail-infomine.ucr.edu> Reply-To: Miles Bader System-Type: i686-pc-linux-gnu Blat: Foop From: Miles Bader Date: 24 Apr 2003 13:34:22 +0900 In-Reply-To: <20030424041632.GB32423@mail-infomine.ucr.edu> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org ruschein@mail-infomine.ucr.edu (Johannes Ruscheinski) writes: > > Call it a neologism; it's quite widely used among programmers, anyway. > > Most programmers don't know how to spell either. Btw., I've been a > programmer for over 20 years. Just because people don't know any > better does not necessarily make it correct. Well, actually, it does -- that's the nature of language. Anyway, the real point is (1) whether or not people understand what it means, and (2) is it a `gratuitous' invention, in the sense that its being used by only a very few people in place of a more commonly accepted word, _only_ because of ignorance. I don't think (1) is an issue, since canonicalize is a straight-forward construction; indeed, since the usual meaning of `canonize' is the one I quoted, I guarantee that using it to mean `make canonical' will get you a few puzzled looks. As for (2), I can't speak for the wider population, but as I said, I've heard `canonicalize' used by programmers quite often, whereas I've never, ever, heard `canonize' used in this context. I think one reason for its popularity is that it has a sort of charmingly tongue-twisting sound to it, and I suspect many people use it because of that even though they realize it's `not quite right.' IOW, there's a good reason for its use, beyond the mere ignorance of a few. Anyway, my take: keep canonicalize, it's hip, it's now. :-| -Miles -- Next to fried food, the South has suffered most from oratory. -- Walter Hines Page