From: Karl von Laudermann <doodpants@...>
Date: 2006-10-23T22:25:12+09:00
Subject: Re: A Comparison Of Dynamic and Static Languiges


Paul Robinson wrote:
> On 23 Oct 2006, at 09:25, Paul Lutus wrote:
>
> Bearing in mind we here on rubytalk are using a programming language
> that was designed and given to us by a man whose first language is
> not English we should be especially tolerant of people for whom
> English is a second language.

I agree completely. However, your mistake is in assuming that the OP is
someone for whom English is a second language. I've been reading Usenet
for well over a decade, and have seen many examples of posts written by
people who don't speak English natively, and I agree with Paul Lutus'
assessment that this isn't one of them. Most non-native English
speakers use unusual word ordering, or idioms translated from their
native language into English (e.g. "since many years" instead of "for
many years"). The OP's sentence structure is just fine, but a few words
are grossly misspelled, specifically by using the wrong vowel. This
quite clearly indicates a high school or college student who is too
lazy to proof read or spell check his/her post. This same type of
laziness might also lead someone to post their homework assignment to a
programming newsgroup. Thus, I agree that Paul Lutus' post was
warranted, as well as those which brought up the homework issue.

I have no problem being patient with non-native speakers. But trying to
decipher the writings of a native English speaker who won't take the
effort required to put together a coherent message, especially when
asking for something from others, isn't worth my time.