The whole distinction between "perl" and "Perl" was a similar declaration on my part during the writing of the initial Camel. I told Larry that the name of the language "disappears" when it is in the middle of the sentence, and we agreed that we could call the language Perl, and the interpreter perl (in a constant font), so that neither of them would disappear in text.

Uggh! It's your fault! :-( Sorry, but I've always hated the capitalization convention, because it breaks English capitalization rules for no good purpose.

How often did you really need to distinguish between the language and the interpreter that translates the language? In the rare case that you did, why could't you use the extra word instead of forcing the reader to remember that when the non-proper noun Perl is capitalized (contrary to the expected rule for capitalization), it is secretly a macro that expands to mean "the perl language", whereas, in all other cases, "perl" means "the perl interpreter", and not "the perl language". This is contrary to what is done with all other computer languages I know of; and contrary to the rules for English, as well.

I guess I'm annoyed because now people on PerlMonks act like I'm the one who's wrong when I don't mis-use the English language standard like everyone else.

It's a real problem. I'm losing my ability to speak my native language, because people keep breaking the few patterns we still have that keep it cohesive and comprehensible. I don't understand the people on my street; they don't speak the same dialect of English that I do. I've watched in bemusement as two foreigners struggle to say two words to each other, because each one mangles their English in an incompatible way.

And when I finally spend time with literate people who should know enough to respect a language, I instead get these kinds of linguistic abuses to contend with. I've got enough legitimate exceptions to remember how to deal with without tripping over deliberately engineered trickiness.

Sorry to rant, but it's just another straw on the camel's back for me.

In reply to Re^2: Another day, another nit by Anonymous Monk
in thread Another day, another nit by hv

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