From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Robert J. Chassell" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Info tutorial is out of date Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:49:18 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: References: Reply-To: bob@rattlesnake.com NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1153140595 3476 80.91.229.2 (17 Jul 2006 12:49:55 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:49:55 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon Jul 17 14:49:54 2006 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by ciao.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1G2SXj-0007bM-R7 for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:49:48 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1G2SXj-000681-Ch for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:49:47 -0400 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1G2SXV-00066C-7c for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:49:33 -0400 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1G2SXU-00064K-5l for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:49:32 -0400 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1G2SXU-000649-0G for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:49:32 -0400 Original-Received: from [69.168.108.225] (helo=rattlesnake.com) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.52) id 1G2Sa9-0007ya-6u for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:52:17 -0400 Original-Received: by rattlesnake.com via sendmail from stdin id (Debian Smail3.2.0.115) Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:49:18 +0000 (UTC) Original-To: emacs-devel@gnu.org In-reply-to: X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:57177 Archived-At: In English, "shortcut" usually carries connotations of something naughty. Not in my English, it doesn't. Maybe that's the problem. Not in American English (to my knowledge); it does not. As with any word, it *can* carry a connotation of naughtiness, depending on the context. That is a difference. I was born an American, am an American, and grew up learning American English. When I was young, I used shortcuts frequently. Their use meant crossing others' fields and empty lots. As a child I got away with a lot, but I learned that I was not supposed to cross others' property without their permission. You had a different experience than me. It is closer to the original American experience (in the states I know of). In England, the presumption was that you were forbidden to walk or hunt on others' property without permission. In contrast, traditionally, in the states I know of in the US, you could walk and hunt on others' property so long as you were not visibly forbidden. This is just the opposite of the English law. Thus, in the US, you were legally permitted to cross a vacant lot so long as it lacked `no tresspassing' signs. My sense is that over the past century or so the culture in the US has changed or is changing. (In many states, the law has not caught up with the culture.) Your experience is old. Mine is an indication of the old English and the new American culture. Thus, for many, the word `shortcut' does suggest badness. Moreover, it is more effective as a term for badness when a person does not think of that. That is to say, the less conscious you are * that the metaphor comes from the notion of crossing someone else's vacant lot or field, and * that in the culture that action is defined as wrong, then the more useful the word is to a writer who wishes to suggest that a `shortcut' is somewhat bad without overtly saying so. A good writer will not even be aware of the reason he picked the word. It will `fit' his task. -- Robert J. Chassell bob@rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8 http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc