A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns unlike
their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or
feminine.
"House," in French, is feminine-"la mansion."
"Pencil," in French, is masculine - "le crayon."
One puzzled student asked, "...What gender is computer?..."
The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary.
So for fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough, by gender,
and asked them to decide whether "computer" should be a masculine or feminine
noun.
Both groups were required to give four 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 other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for possible later
retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your
pay check 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 still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems but half the time they ARE the
problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little
longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The women won.
their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or
feminine.
"House," in French, is feminine-"la mansion."
"Pencil," in French, is masculine - "le crayon."
One puzzled student asked, "...What gender is computer?..."
The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary.
So for fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough, by gender,
and asked them to decide whether "computer" should be a masculine or feminine
noun.
Both groups were required to give four 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 other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for possible later
retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your
pay check 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 still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems but half the time they ARE the
problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little
longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The women won.
