Date: Wed, 2 Apr 1997 10:10:28 +-100 From: Nigel Hurneyman <NHurneyman@softwar1.demon.co.uk> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1233$foo@default> Subject: Use Of Tongues
There seems to have been a recent escalation of non-English
contributions to the listserver. If you are a Martian and you
want to publicise meetings of the Martian Carnivorous Plant
Society it seems eminently sensible to send the text in Martian;
there will be a high hit rate with the intended target audience
and the non-Martian speakers will save time by jumping to the
next article. However, if you are a Martian and want advice on
how to grow x Utricutonia vulgarnica, submitting the question
in Martian will mean that most of the potential responders
will not be able to understand the question. English is the
principal language of most subscribers and the de facto lingua
franca of the listserver. If a correspondent has gone to the
trouble to translate an article from first language to English
and it falls within my area of interest, I am quite happy to pick
my way through poor grammar and spelling in order to help.
This isn't meant to be a demand for everything to be submitted
in English, just a reminder to bear in mind the purpose of your
contribution when choosing the language.
Good growing, NigelH
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