(Still OT) Nationalism, language and monoculture [was Re: Python Worst Practices]

[Chris Angelico]

On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 1:39 AM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:
> Whereas the comparatively small differences between British and American
> English are all the more important because they distinguish the two. Nobody
> is ever going to mistake Finland and the Finish people for Americans, even
> if you learn to speak American English. But for Britons to use American
> English is, in a way, to cease to be Britons at all.

Which, I suspect, is part of why the pound is still alive and well,
and hasn't been replaced with the euro. Maybe some other countries
don't mind becoming the United States of Europe, but the British
resist the encroachment, and rightly so.

> ... a mass or uncountable noun, like air[3], milk, music and
> housework. You cannot have "three milks", you have to add some sort of unit
> to it: three litres of milk...

And yet, oddly enough, you wouldn't bat an eyelid if someone asks for
"two sugars" in his tea. Or his hot chocolate... mmm, time for me to
go make myself one, I think. Two sugars, a splosh of milk, caramel hot
chocolate powder, and butter. Not "one butter", because that concept
doesn't exist, but very definitely "two sugars", because the sugar
comes in discrete units.

(Not "discreet units", mind, although I do trust my sugar not to blab
about the sorts of drinks I put it in.)

> [1] Yes, I watch as many American movies and television shows as the next
> guy. I'm allowed to take the parts of their culture I approve of and reject
> the parts I don't.

Part of resisting monoculture is accepting other people's cultures,
not just sticking with your own. Embracing that difference. So go
ahead: Watch "McHale's Navy" and "Yes Minister", and appreciate the
comedy of both - decide for yourself which one you find more to your
liking, but know that they both exist, and they represent different
styles.

(Aside: Even in an American TV show like Once Upon A Time, it's
possible for non-American accents to be welcomed. Belle is played by
an Aussie, and her distinctive accent is commented on in-universe.
Somehow, she picked up an accent that's completely different from her
father's and her mother's, but is its own particular style and speech.
Maybe she learned the accent from one of her books.)

We embrace Unicode in Python 3 because it allows us to welcome
Russian, Icelandic, Arabic, and Chinese programmers and allow them to
write variable names in their own languages, using their own scripts
(or, in the case of Icelandic, a script very similar to ours but with
a few additional letters). We should equally embrace American and
British English - and Indian English, and Australian English, and any
other variant that people want to code in. You want to write your code
in North-East Scots? Sure. You want to write your code in Gaelic? No
problem (though personally, I prefer garlic to Gaelic). You want to
use "colour" instead of "color"? Also not a problem, and should be
easy enough for someone to understand who normally spells it the other
way.

ChrisA