From: Joel VanderWerf Date: 2007-11-03T04:40:41+09:00 Subject: Re: JRuby performance questions answered Mauricio Fernandez wrote: > On Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 09:35:44AM +0900, Charles Oliver Nutter wrote: >> William James wrote: >>> On Oct 31, 11:24 pm, Charles Oliver Nutter >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Neither JRuby nor XRuby nor IronRuby nor Ruby.NET will support >>> "Neither ... nor ..." is for two alternatives. Perhaps this will >>> suffice. >>> >>> None of JRuby or XRuby or IronRuby or Ruby.NET will support >> Perhaps >> >> JRuby, XRuby, IronRuby, Ruby.NET; none of them will support >> >> Too poetic? > > The original polysyndeton conveyed the intended meaning effectively IMO. > How thin is the line between a deliberate figure of speech and a grammatical > accident! I agree, and thanks for teaching me a new word. > This doesn't sound too bad to me, but I'm no native speaker: > "Neither JRuby nor XRuby, IronRuby or Ruby.NET will ..." That could sound like the "Neither ... nor ..." clause modifies IronRuby. As in: Neither fish nor fowl, greens or libertarians will be the first choice of voters who are repelled by two-party politics. It might not even be grammatical, but it is clear that we are not talking about electing ducks and sturgeons. I'd rewrite it anyway. > "Or" must bind more tightly than "nor" there in order for the corresponding > logical proposition to be correct: I don't think it works that way, at least as I hear it. -- vjoel : Joel VanderWerf : path berkeley edu : 510 665 3407