Is a computer male of female?
A
language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns - unlike
their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or
feminine. For example, "House", in French, is feminine (la
maison). "Pencil", in French, is masculine (le crayon).
One student asked "What gender is computer?"
The teacher didn't know and the word wasn't in her
English/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 decided that "computer" should be feminine
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 paycheck on accessories for it.
The women decided that "computer should be masculine
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.