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Subject:Re: This just appeared ! From:Vicki Rosenzweig <murphy!acmcr!vr -at- UUNET -dot- UU -dot- NET> Date:Tue, 31 May 1994 11:14:58 EDT
What I would mean by "the book appeared on the kitchen table"
is "I don't know how it got there." I'm not necessarily
implying that it appeared through non-physical means. My sister
referred this weekend to a blouse that had "appeared" in her
closet, because neither she nor her husband remembers buying
or being given it. We don't really think elves snuck in and
gave her a blouse, and that wasn't the intended meaning. On
the other hand, since "appeared" can imply a mysterious agency
if only in the sense that detective novels are called
"mysteries," i.e. unknown rather than supernatural, I can see
where it might be inappropriate in documentation. It might also
be very appropriate, if the reader isn't likely to care how the`
image got there.
Vicki Rosenzweig
vr%acmcr -dot- uucp -at- murphy -dot- com
New York, NY
