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

[Gregory Ewing]

Sturla Molden wrote:
> I can assure you that in a veterinary sence, Yersey cows will produce a
> milk with higher fat content.

There, "a milk" is really an abbreviation for "a type of milk".

But people who talk about "a code" don't mean "a type of code",
they're using it the way we would say "a program" or "a library".

> What if I say "this file contains a long Fortran code"? Or what if I say
> "this file contains one long Fortran code"? There is a subtile difference
> in meaning here.

There is, but the number of codes/pieces of code being referenced
still equals 1. The difference is more that "this file contains
a long Fortran code" suggests the file may contain other things
as well, whereas "this file contains one long Fortran code"
suggests that's the only thing it contains.

Isn't English wonderful?

-- 
Greg