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

[Joel Goldstick]

I like "Old Tricks". I learn lots of British english idioms.  I'm from NYC

On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 10:45 AM, Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
> --
> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list



-- 
Joel Goldstick
http://joelgoldstick.com