On Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 10:38:46 PM UTC+5:30, Steven D'Aprano wrote: > On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 10:46 pm, Rustom Mody wrote: > > > On Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 11:57:01 AM UTC+5:30, Ben Finney wrote: > > >> You've clearly committed to some ontology that just doesn't match the > >> Python data model. > > > > How about lay-English ontology in which "point to" and "refer to" are > > fairly synonymous? > > "Pointer" in English is also a synonym for > > - a type of dog; > - an instrument which pierces (as used by engravers, lace workers, etc); > - an item of private information; > - a hint or tip; > - a caution or warning; > - a recommendation; > - the index finger; > - a cricketer fielding at a specific position; > - the hour/minute/second hand on a timepiece; > - a compass needle; > - two specific stars in the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major); > - diagonal braces fastened across the hold of a ship; > - the small icon whose movement across the screen follows that of the > mouse, trackball or other pointing device; > - a signpost or milepost; > > and more. I don't think that arguing on the basis of lay-English or plain > English terms is going to be terribly useful.
So if someone's ontology disagrees with yours its not very useful. You're welcome to that view of course Its called "Humpty-Dumpty" (in Alice ontology). We could have had a more 'useful' discussion if alongside the meanings of "pointer" you had provided meanings of "reference" as well -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
