On Thu, Dec 30, 1999 at 08:35:42PM +1100, Jeff Waugh wrote:
> Hey all,
>
>
> > There is no "English convention". English took plural forming
> conventions
> > from many languages, e.g. ox -> oxen from Germanic languages.
>
>
> Which begs the question (one which I've been dying to ask for
> ages):
>
> What is the story behind geeks calling multiple computers "boxen"?
> Could it be that ox is to oxen as box is to boxen?
>
> It seems to be exclusive to geeks (and primarily those of a Unix
> persuasion I might add)!
>
Unices demand linguistic skill;
if I say 'jump', my boxen will.
See also:
The Elements Of Style: UNIX As Literature, by Thomas Scoville
http://www.wenet.net/~scoville/PCarticle.html
Unix as an element of literacy, by Martin Vermeer
http://linuxtoday.com/stories/1846.html
In the Beginning was the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson
http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
:) Conrad.
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