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Subject:Re: possessives [Ref:C674416] From:"John A. Newman" <johnn -at- OTG -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 24 Dec 1997 11:06:00 -0500
Personally, I just think that the difference is that those others don't
think clearly and precisely and therefore should not be allowed to
operate heavy machinery or drive at night.
JUST KIDDING!
More seriously (but not much more), I don't think it's generational or
regional or international, either. I think it's just a matter of personal
cognitive styles. However, you'll have to decide for yourself which
theory you want to subscribe to in order to explain WHY there are
different cognitive styles among otherwise relatively intelligent people.
John Newman
OTG Software
johnn -at- otgsoftware -dot- com
-----Original Message-----
From: Tracy Boyington [SMTP:tracy_boyington -at- OKVOTECH -dot- ORG]
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 1997 9:50 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: possessives [Ref:C674416]
----------------------------------------------------
> I think what we must have here is a difference in definitions.
Generally
> speaking, a couple of centuries would be 200 years. That's a far cry
from
> 500 to 900 years (12th to 15th centuries). However, I can understand
the
> confusion. Someone near and dear to me views a couple as anything from
> about 2 to 10, whereas I (being much more of an annoying stickler) see
a
> couple as 2, a few as 3 to 5, and several as about 6 to 12.
Once again I am shocked at my own ignorance. I use the same definitions
as John and it never occured to me that not everybody thinks of a couple
as 2 (especially since another definition of "a couple" is "two
people"). Perhaps I should ask someone near and dear to me what *he*
thinks it means... is it a generational difference? Regional?
International?
Tracy
--
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Tracy Boyington tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org
Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education
Stillwater, OK, USA http://www.okvotech.org/cimc/home.htm
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