From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Loris Bennett" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: regexp question: match anything but not a group? Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:04:08 +0200 Organization: Freie Universitaet Berlin Message-ID: <87ha69qxdj.fsf@hornfels.zedat.fu-berlin.de> References: <87zjk4louc.fsf@gmail.com> <533BA65E.3030408@easy-emacs.de> <874n2ai4ta.fsf@gmail.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1396602325 858 80.91.229.3 (4 Apr 2014 09:05:25 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2014 09:05:25 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Fri Apr 04 11:05:21 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1WW03r-000302-My for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:05:19 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:48553 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1WW03q-0001Ir-S5 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Fri, 04 Apr 2014 05:05:18 -0400 Original-Path: usenet.stanford.edu!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help Original-Lines: 89 Original-X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de +23jF6io6qXuPAN4Nft2MwxqZSAKBEQAT2oL2Xob6Y8fFm Cancel-Lock: sha1:J2BCJ9MSziWe1kjhow/fe0CO5KM= User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.2 (gnu/linux) Original-Xref: usenet.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:204700 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:96970 Archived-At: Thorsten Jolitz writes: > Stefan Monnier writes: > >>> But it still seems valid to protect against greedyness? >> ^^^^^^^^^^ >> AKA greed, > > I just made it up, but funny enough - it does actually exist (with > slightly different spelling)! > >>>From http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/greediness: > > ,------------------------------------------------------------------- > | greediness (ˈɡriːdɪnɪs) > | > | Definitions > | > | noun > | > | 1. the quality of being greedy > | > | greedy (ˈɡriːdɪ Pronunciation for greedy ) > | > | Definitions > | > | adjective > | > | Word forms: greedier, greediest > | > | 1. excessively desirous of food or wealth, esp in large amounts; > | voracious > | 2. (postpositive) foll by for eager (for) ⇒ `a man greedy for > | success' > | > | Derived Forms > | > | ˈgreedily adverb > | ˈgreediness noun > | > | Word Origin > | > | Old English grǣdig; related to Old Norse grāthugr, Gothic grēdags > | hungry, Old High German grātac > | > | Example Sentences Including 'greediness' > | > | At times his greediness got the better of him but he never let > | his enthusiasm go off the boil. > | > | Sun, News of the World (2004) > | > | Broilers consume lots more feed-there's a good chance that > | greediness has been inadvertently selected for. > | > | New Scientist (1998) > | > | Mr Carman asked him if he had a `streak of greediness " in him > | for money, expensive cars and Rolex watches. > | > | Sun, News of the World (1999) > | > | Thus individuals who do experience strong pulls of greediness > | often go to desperate measures to hide their behaviour. > | > | Knowles, Jane Know Your Own Mind > `------------------------------------------------------------------- If I were you, Thorsten, I wouldn't rely on "The Sun and "NOTW" for particularly nuanced usage of the English language, even if Collins does quote them. "New Scientist" is in a different category, but I think "greed" would be much better in the example given for the following reason: I would say that "greed" is traditionally "a deadly sin", i.e. a moral failing, whereas "greediness" is a (normally) non-fatal display of overindulgence. Bankers may be reviled for their greed, but sticky-faced children told off for their greediness. In "Mastering Regular Expressions", Friedl refers to the "greediness" aspect of regular expressions, which, given the lack of a moral context, seems to me the appropriate choice. Cheers, Loris -- This signature is currently under construction.