Guest guest Posted February 4, 2002 Report Share Posted February 4, 2002 > > A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns > unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as > masculine or feminine. > > > > " House, " in French, is feminine- " la maison. " > " Pencil, " in French, is masculine- " le crayon. " > One puzzled student asked, " What gender is computer? " > > > > The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her > French dictionary. > > > > So for fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough, by > gender and asked them to decide whether > " computer " should be a masculine or feminine noun. Both groups were required > to give four reasons for their recommendation. > > > > The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the feminine > gender ( " la computer " ), because: > 1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic > 2. The native language they use to communicate with > other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else. > 3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term > memory for possible later retrieval > 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one you find yourself spending > half your pay check on accessories for it. > > > > The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine > ( " le computer " ), because: > 1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn > them on; > 2. They have a lot of data but they are still clueless > 3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE > the problem > 4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if > you'd waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model. > > > > The women won. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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