A
Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English,
nouns are designated as
either masculine or feminine.
'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la
casa.''Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'
A student asked,
'What gender is 'computer'?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher
split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide
for themselves whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each
group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The
men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender
( 'la computadora' ), 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 yourselfspending half
your paycheck on accessories for it
.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group, however, concluded that
computers should be Masculine ( 'el computador' ), because:
1. In order
to do anything with them, you have to turn them
on; 2. They have a
lot of
data but still can't think for themselves;
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 had waited a little longer,
you could have gotten a better model.
For hundreds of years the aloe plant has been known
for its amazing properties. Today this knowledge has
been harnessed into a range of Wellness and Skin care
products that are created from this "lily of the desert".
The soothing and .....
Featured Article
