Dotan Cohen wrote:
On 2/23/06, Mike McCarty <mike.mccarty@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thumbs are digits, but they are not fingers. Toes are also
digits. But if you ask someone "How many fingers do you have?",
the answer is ten. In aggregate, thumbs are fingers, but
individually, they are not. Some aspects of English are pretty
confusing. Like to discuss uniplurals? Or words which have
two different forms for the plural, but with different meanings?
How about verbs which have different conjugations depending
on what the object of the action is? How about words which
are their own antonyms? (That's one of my favorite categories.)
By the way, if you hold one hand in front of the other, you can hold
up ten fingers with only eight gaps between them!
Heck, I can hold up my fingers with *no* gaps between them! Beat that!
Mike
I doubt that you can do it with no gaps. I though about it, but there
will be microscopic gaps that you could not avoid. I figured that in a
discussion with Mike McCarty, I had better be as accurate as possible.
So, the idea that the thumb is not a finger is specific to the English
language. Indeed, in Hebrew it is a finger- as are the toes! So while
English speakers have 8 fingers, Hebrew speakers have 20.
How about words which are their own antonyms?
I'd love to see some examples. I love word games- and this may be
valuable. In an attempt to keep this On Topic, are there any computer
(or linux) related ones?
Pseudo-on-topic "boot" is almost its own antonym.
As in "boot that computer" can mean to start it up, or
throw it away.
Mike
--
p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}
This message made from 100% recycled bits.
You have found the bank of Larn.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!
