On Nov 22, 2013, at 2:29 PM, Rolf Turner <r.tur...@auckland.ac.nz> wrote:
> On 11/23/13 10:17, inode0 wrote: >> On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 2:54 PM, Rolf Turner <r.tur...@auckland.ac.nz> wrote: >>> Just read some stuff on this list about "spins", a concept which had >>> not previously impinged itself upon my consciousness. So I went and >>> had a look at the spins.fedoraproject.org page. It started off by saying >>> "What is a spin? Fedora spins are alternate version of Fedora, tailored >>> ...". >>> >>> For God's sake, people!!! That's "alternative versions"!!! Alternate >>> means "every other" or "every second". Alternative means "available as >>> another possibility". Saying "alternate" when you mean "alternative" is >>> sloppy, lazy thinking and irritates and confuses the reader. >>> >>> Why can't computer geeks learn to write English correctly? >> In American usage this is acceptable and common. > But wrong nevertheless. It conflates two quite distinct ideas, blurs > the meaning and diminishes the language. Nope, you're wrong. Find a copy of New Oxford American Dictionary and look up the words and usage. I seriously doubt even Oxford English makes such a big distinction between two words that share the same etymology and have no good reason for meaning different things. Chris Murphy -- users mailing list users@lists.fedoraproject.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Fedora Code of Conduct: http://fedoraproject.org/code-of-conduct Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
