Back in my Army days there was an interesting bit of nomenclature; you were never to refer to a shoulder-fired rifle as a gun, although artillery rifles and automatic rifles were called guns. There is even an urban legend about a poem (used by Kubrick) that recruits are forced to recite if they use the wrong word, although I never heard it in boot camp.
AFAIK all branches of the military use the term gun for pistols and for naval artillery. Disc versus disk, anybody? -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [[email protected]] on behalf of Bob Bridges [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 10:42 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: "A Rexx" (or "A REXX") Shmuel says it differently but I think he and I agree. I value clarity in writing, and therefore I like words that make distinctions clear. I adopted "whom" once I understood it. I use "datum" (and also "criterion", "bacterium" and the like). I eventually learned the difference between "compose" and "comprise". I don't "reverence" something, I revere it. I fire a gun but shoot the target. I stanch the wound of a staunch friend. And so on. This tempts me to snobbery ("knowledge puffeth up", the Bible warns us). Nevertheless. --- Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313 /* An armed society is a polite society. -Robert A. Heinlein */ -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Seymour J Metz Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 07:55 Youy can't do only one thing. The ignorance of correct usage leads to circumlocutions by people who don't know the form "datum". Eschew obfuscation. ________________________________________ From: Nash, Jonathan S. [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 7:50 AM Yes but we arent Romans so I think its acceptable to use data for a single piece of data. If enough people use a word incorectly doesnt it become acceptable? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
