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Subject:Re: The Illuminating Question From:Richard Frederick <Fred_Ri -at- CENTRAL -dot- PRINTRONIX -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 13 Jul 1998 13:15:42 -0700
Doug,
I thought I would share with you something I used to do back in my
college days. When given a reading assignment in an anthology, I would
just read it, without research of the author or subject. It did two
things for me. It made the reading a little more interesting and it gave
me the chance to guess at the time frame of the writing.
Point is, in 1913 most places were still gas and you had to "open the
light" in order to get it to start. Once your grandmother learned that
expression, she had no reason at all to re-think the process.
This is the real growth of the language.
Sincerely,
Richard Frederick
Senior Technical Writer
Printronix Inc.
Irvine, CA