* Keith C. Ivey ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) [19 Sep 2003 23:34]: > Rafael Garcia-Suarez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Iain Truskett wrote in perl.perlfaq.workers : > > > Style note: I note the FAQ takes the correct approach > > > and calls it 'the CPAN'. Contemporary usage has it as > > > just 'CPAN'. I assume 'correct' is favoured over > > > 'popular'? > > > > 'popular' has a well-known tendency to become 'correct'. > > Ask any linguist :)
=) > I was wondering about how Iain was defining "correct" as > well. Am I incorrect because I refer to the US television > networks as ABC, CBS, and NBC instead of the ABC, the CBS, > and the NBC? Interestingly, here in Australia, our ABC is usually called the ABC, though SBS is just called SBS. 'Correct' was the wrong word for me to use. Perhaps 'original' would've been better? > And what about the NASA? It seems to me that some such > abbreviations are assumed to include the "the" and some > aren't (and some are treated differently by different > people). The only way to know is to see how people use > them. Evidently some abbreviations attract 'the', some don't. So what do people use? On IRC, people usually just say 'CPAN' and are referring to any of search.cpan.org, CPAN.pm, CPAN as a whole, or even PAUSE =) Though I should note that I've seen the odd fleeting instance of 'the CPAN'. Picking random Perl books from my shelves, it's mostly 'CPAN' rather than 'the CPAN'. cheers, -- Iain.
