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A language instructor was explaining to her class that, in French, nouns are
grammatically designated as masculine or feminine.
"House" in French is feminine. "La Maison"
"Pencil" in French is masculine. "Le Crayon"
One puzzled student asked "What gender is computer?" The teacher did not
know...and the word was not in her French dictionary. So for fun, she split the
class into 2 groups (appropriately enough, by gender) and asked them to decide
whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Both groups were
required to give 4 reasons for their recommendation.
The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the feminine
gender - "la computer" - because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with to other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smalled mistakes are stowed in long term memory for
possible later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending
half your paycheck on accessories for it.
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be
masculine - "Le computer" - because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but they are essentially clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but in half the
time they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd only
waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
THE WOMEN WON!
grammatically designated as masculine or feminine.
"House" in French is feminine. "La Maison"
"Pencil" in French is masculine. "Le Crayon"
One puzzled student asked "What gender is computer?" The teacher did not
know...and the word was not in her French dictionary. So for fun, she split the
class into 2 groups (appropriately enough, by gender) and asked them to decide
whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Both groups were
required to give 4 reasons for their recommendation.
The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the feminine
gender - "la computer" - because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with to other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smalled mistakes are stowed in long term memory for
possible later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending
half your paycheck on accessories for it.
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be
masculine - "Le computer" - because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but they are essentially clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but in half the
time they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd only
waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
THE WOMEN WON!
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