Gender [was: Re: Cancel a repeat with a button]

[Jim Bufalini]

Devin Asay wrote:

> Often you can just use "they", when the person referred to is
> unspecified, as in "If the user gets confused they can contact tech
> support." (This usage is cropping up more and more in English, and
> reportedly there are even examples of it in Shakespeare.) But there is
> no good solution when you're referring to a specific, named person.
> Maybe we need to borrow from German "man" or Polish "pan":
> 
> "Ask Robin. Man knows what man's doing." (Hmmmm. Doesn't exactly solve
> the gender-neutral thing, does it.)

This reminds me of when I first started corresponding with Eric I used the
word "handler" to generically refer to commands and functions. He
immediately wrote back and asked what was a handler? I explained, and he
then proceeded to tell me how long he had been involved with transcript and
xtalk and that he had written books on it and there was no such animal as a
"handler" and to kindly be "precise" when corresponding with him and refer
to things by their correct names.

At first I argued and finally gave up the argument, as he was very adamant,
and just used the word when I felt appropriate both to him and on the list,
which pushed his buttons to no end. ;-)

Then I think when Jerry came out with Constellation or maybe later with
Galaxy, he used the word handler and eventually everybody was using the
word. Eventually Eric himself caved and started using the word.

So sometimes you need to just make up a word. Although I do not believe I
made this word up, but it was just a carryover from some other language,
because I honestly don't remember when I first starting using the word. I
just knew that at some point command/function was too long and silly to
type. Similar to the use of "s/he" today.

Aloha from Hawaii

Jim Bufalini