Posted by Charlie S (206.159.163.164) on June 20, 2001 at 03:04:44:
I got this sent to me through an online group I belong to and HAD to
>pass it on!! :-)!!! ~ Lee ~ =============
>
>
>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 maison." "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; and
> 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; and
> 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.
Smiles.......Charlie S :^)