sorting...is it just me?

[Mark Smith]

On 6 Oct 2004, at 15:07, use-revolution-request at lists.runrev.com wrote:

>    sort cards of stack "aStack" \
>         by the name of the current card
> --
> This version does exactly the same, but its purpose is
> much clearer, isn't it ?

Well, no, to be honest....

I think the reason I find it so unintuitive is that I want to sort all 
of the cards (plural) in a stack, and the current syntax  - 'by the 
name of  this card' or 'the current card' seems to suggest, bizarrely,  
that only the current card would get sorted, which is why it didn't 
occur to me, though it's a nicely zen idea. :)

I suppose that 'this cd' refers to each card as it gets sorted, but, 
well, 'each' would seem more descriptive...

I suppose it's as much a use of english issue as anything else, but 
then what can we expect of a language capable of encompassing these 
statements:

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. (A grammatical english 
sentence, believe it or not!)

No head injury is too trivial to ignore. (Taken from a first-aid 
manual. No strange grammar, but actually means the opposite of what's 
intended)

:)

Mark