My recollection is that in the era of punched cards the more common
usage by programmers/operators was just "card", "cards", or "card deck"
and others more often than not called them "IBM cards" because typically
"IBM" was printed somewhere on the cards and people understood they were
associated with IBM computers. Adding a modifier of "punch", "punched"
or "punchable" in the context of typical discussions would have been
totally redundant and wasted effort because other types of cards didn't
make sense in the context of IBM unit record equipment.
Today when knowledge of the old unit record context can't be assumed, I
think there is a legitimate argument for both "punch card" (a card
intended for use in IBM "card punch" equipment) and "punched card" (a
card in which holes could be or have been punched). It seems unduly
limiting to insist that the modifier could not be a descriptor of the
device for which the card was intended (and the official names of those
devices were indeed something like "model nnnn Card Punch"). The
meanings are subtly different, but I see both as able to convey the
concept of a punched/punchable card that was punched using IBM Card
Punch unit record equipment.
"Iced Tea" is no doubt a lost cause, because when said quickly the "d"
and "t" merge and listeners only hear "ice tea" no matter what -- and
"tea with ice" is just too much to say when you're thirsty:)
Joel C. Ewing
On 07/30/2012 10:11 AM, John Gilmore wrote:
English can be wielded with great precision; but it, and American
English in particular, often is not. The term 'ice tea' has now, for
example, largely supplanted 'iced tea' among the subliterate; etc.,
etc., ad nauseam.
When punched cards were in wide use 'punch cards' was avoided, but
those who wish to use 'punch cards' are of course free to do so, as I
am free to deprecate it.
--jg
...
--
Joel C. Ewing, Bentonville, AR jcew...@acm.org
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