2008/8/27 Kevin Kinsey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote: >> >> Kevin Kinsey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >>> >>> But FreeBSD might not be a car[1]. Maybe it's a piano. And a piano >>> that can play just as beautifully, in tune, and even loudly (and yes, >>> that was the pianoforte's strong point in 1709) as any modern piano, >> >> Quite the opposite, the pianoforte's forte was its ability to play >> piano. >> >> DES > > Well, I suppose that it could play any dynamics at all. Clavs > and harpsichords weren't so good at it, but, also, if you banged > them as hard as some of the Romantics did, you'd have knocked them > to bits. > > So, you're correct, in 1709, it was probably "piano" that was > noticeable, but by 1860, maybe the other way'round? At any rate, thanks > for an excellent contribution to the thread, and a wonderful example > of the complexities of the English language (gotta love reading that > one out "forte" seven times quickly) :-) >
I like the (unintentional, perhaps) pun with "strong point". http://www.wordreference.com/iten/forte http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=forte -- -- _______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-chat To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
