Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment language is a museum (Score 4, Interesting) 393

Long after things go away, words stay. Examples from telephony:
  • You can "dial" without a dial.
  • You can send SMS using your "phone" without uttering a single phone.
  • According to TFA, you will be able to use your cellphone without cells.


I once read that numbers still reflect the way our ancestors related to number. At first they thought that two and half are two completely separate entities. Soon they discovered that each number is related to its fraction (three --> third, four --> fourth, etc). This is true in English as well as in the other (two) languages I speak.
So let our language reflect the story of telephony too.

Slashdot Top Deals

The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. -- James Baldwin

Working...