| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 928.1 | | TROU20::YUEN | OXYdized MORON | Fri Nov 15 1991 11:52 | 10 |
| The British also don't say "period"; they say "full stop". Assuming
an * is still called an asterisk, then *.* is "asterisk full-stop asterisk".
What a mouthful! I guess even "dot" is acceptable in that case. I say
"Star dot star" just because it's easier to say.
Of course, the one-time I told my ten-year-old niece to look for a file
on the computer by the name of BIRTH*.*, she typed BIRTHSTAR.STAR
and she couldn't find the file. 8-)
Duncan.
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| 928.2 | | PENUTS::NOBLE | Those guys! They're so 90s! | Mon Nov 18 1991 07:53 | 11 |
| Yeah, those long-winded British! It's a wonder they ever get ANYTHING
said!
Actually, I don't know if you noticed, but "full stop" has one less
syllable than "period", so they gain some time there. Also, "asterisk"
is by no means a uniquely British affectation, even if it is the
"correct" name for that character. Most British people I know
(including myself) say "star dot star" just like you do. But I don't
think we learnt it from Americans.
...Robert
|
| 928.3 | When in Gaul... | AZUR::HALDANE | Typos to the Trade | Mon Nov 18 1991 08:32 | 6 |
| Mispronunciation rathole:
Is it only among Brits that you hear "asterix", or do Americans and
other English speakers do it too?
Delia
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| 928.4 | | MCIS5::WOOLNER | Photographer is fuzzy, underdeveloped and dense | Mon Nov 18 1991 08:50 | 3 |
| Some Americans say "asterix" and worse (I've heard "axterix")...
Leslie
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| 928.5 | ass-to-RISC | NOTIME::SACKS | Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085 | Mon Nov 18 1991 13:32 | 8 |
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Oops, I just sat on my DECstation's keyboard.
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| 928.6 | | JIT081::DIAMOND | Order temporarily out of personal name | Mon Nov 18 1991 17:51 | 5 |
| Isn't it considered traitorous to use * in Britain?
After all, in the U.S.A., it is the Nathan Hale operator.
He had only one ass to risk for his country.
|
| 928.7 | | PASTIS::MONAHAN | humanity is a trojan horse | Mon Nov 18 1991 23:30 | 17 |
| There is an *old* story from the Basingstoke TSC about the customer
that phoned up and said
"When I push British Rail all I get is a snowflake".
This was (quite reasonably) completely incomprehensible to the
support staff. After all, British Rail frequently needs a bit of a
push, particularly when there is snow about.
It turned out to be a faulty keyboard that was registering "*" when
the "%" key was pushed. "%" bears some resemblance to the British Rail
logo.
There was a long discussion on Internet a year or two ago, with
violent arguments about such things as whether "#" should be called
"splat" or "hash". Anyone remember the Victor Borge piece on how
English would be more intelligible if we pronounced the punctuation?
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| 928.8 | Also see topic 22 | KURTAN::WESTERBACK | Rock'n'roll will never die | Tue Nov 19 1991 03:46 | 1 |
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