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CONTENTS
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An English teacher was explaining to his students
the concept of gender association in the English language. He stated
how hurricanes at one time were given feminine names and how ships and
planes were usually referred to as "she." A student raised his hand and
asked: "What gender is a computer?"
The teacher wasn't certain which it was, so he divided the class into
two groups, males in one, females in the other, and asked them to
decide if a computer should be masculine or feminine. Both groups
were asked to give four reasons for their recommendation.
The girls concluded that computers should be referred to in the
masculine gender because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve your problems,
but half the time they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited a
little longer, you could have had a better model.
The boys decided that computers should definitely be referred to in the
feminine gender 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 your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later
retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending
half your paycheck on accessories for it
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times since 20th August 2001
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