From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.9 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU,HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,HTML_MESSAGE, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [50.116.15.146]) by inbox.vuxu.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BAD6C26C72 for ; Fri, 1 Mar 2024 16:50:17 +0100 (CET) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D37DB4318C; Sat, 2 Mar 2024 01:50:07 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-vs1-xe2b.google.com (mail-vs1-xe2b.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4864:20::e2b]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 17D804318B for ; Sat, 2 Mar 2024 01:50:00 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-vs1-xe2b.google.com with SMTP id ada2fe7eead31-472807a1d59so524247137.2 for ; Fri, 01 Mar 2024 07:50:00 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=dartmouth.edu; s=google1; t=1709308199; x=1709912999; darn=tuhs.org; h=to:subject:message-id:date:from:mime-version:from:to:cc:subject :date:message-id:reply-to; bh=MxUgO1uEfjOxOAa7Zg+kZ3H+vmPlWW2khWKBTJ9BcKc=; b=gopKgzGFRRAb8AjDU+nmN4Max+XZ0APy9oVxJ/RrFL7C8YpAZgEy3gMJcsT2HQ5WoW AcPwEwRX8x3RY/vUwTiURvlAXp9+valhLR7a8Yn8ZMMi4EpLMLf7RdqLb7/DSGrPir9j hj27KTzfL2X1Vy0TcIpIsGpr+hB4w4QNpfpWjMYZ7XOIW7YidBMJDy98vD+7lUba4Vi6 +RsBjZZyUSyN7U2NSV/Hi6IxWCJdYv967rTXFoZPM6NwzwaBJql/KknSk1VXpiKWnVZ+ HneeQPuEtWvebWqoh769N2MrVMSDXhMC3CKiB2IA/+fCt3AOxVyv4KTaVSOW9Oci3fOp TcIg== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20230601; t=1709308199; x=1709912999; h=to:subject:message-id:date:from:mime-version:x-gm-message-state :from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id:reply-to; bh=MxUgO1uEfjOxOAa7Zg+kZ3H+vmPlWW2khWKBTJ9BcKc=; b=YkmWvvspTdeyaQ1vU5+46JevzQEnvVRwYiAwvSqQ4eX4o9IN17wG1Vu14foD9XbTDs ZfDgZYjCWFFItmEp0wXFXP1kVNeGBT/VN27k0SaOFQ86mk/Y2mPjTEe+mE7Y+VyAj9J7 sGk8ncFHb/INPnMoHeSlU90ReFyt90fwCvj+1KfBOPuC8CUZScasrGohAEL/rFOuM4K+ G5RiBB9E1V5VUhktcfDQKSs4NwIDSESFzwGAI4HTphs7kSRTGjPlHDrDopB+fn1VfyiK T92i3LcDzESC9kgfm9bgPQpt5MSoYlrE70Q5S0VCZvGOz8P9X57dtJ0RREnppfpUAE7T tgMA== X-Gm-Message-State: AOJu0YzerrKJ/wHUS0r1ddug72MiZpTVUTFXZYMGw57kZfYWUaNDkg0B +srxa380FT+DHUvnmrpF9BJvVKyTgEXNQ74d6WQAmnnGWDGZbh4qekVZOcWXa4mL5W+jWKur1FZ gZyDTFmda1MepLbOpPHWds2vP/R8GbAtuw35yYtHLZA+0hrV22wI= X-Google-Smtp-Source: AGHT+IG6h9ybPcg/sENgJYhsY4hWryE/dq8Q3cZVhBmaRBDlF3mvQLy+Mu5yGEfHfb5ycj4EOzks1CavCMayaFTPP4o= X-Received: by 2002:a05:6102:dd1:b0:472:60b3:d4aa with SMTP id e17-20020a0561020dd100b0047260b3d4aamr1871294vst.9.1709308198807; Fri, 01 Mar 2024 07:49:58 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 From: Douglas McIlroy Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2024 10:49:42 -0500 Message-ID: To: TUHS main list Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="000000000000009b1e06129b549a" Message-ID-Hash: AYA77PTG5RH7Z25ZWWZ7HCY4JGREVD3O X-Message-ID-Hash: AYA77PTG5RH7Z25ZWWZ7HCY4JGREVD3O X-MailFrom: douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Of flags and keyletters List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: --000000000000009b1e06129b549a Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > why did AT&T refer to "flags" as "keyletters" in its SysV documentation? Bureaucracies beget bureaucratese--polysyllabic obfuscation, witness APPLICATION USAGE in place of BUGS. One might argue that replacing "flag" by "option", thus doubling the number of syllables, was a small step in that direction. In fact it was a deliberate attempt to discard jargon in favor of normal English usage. Doug --000000000000009b1e06129b549a Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> why did AT&T refer to "flag= s" as "keyletters" in its SysV documentation?

Bureaucracies beget bureaucratese--polysyllabic obf= uscation, witness APPLICATION USAGE in place of BUGS.

<= div>One might argue that replacing "flag" by "option", = thus doubling the number of syllables, was a small step in that direction. = In fact it was a deliberate=C2=A0attempt to discard jargon in favor of norm= al English usage.

Doug
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