> The Spanish Computer:
> 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 yourself spending
> 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.
> The women won!!!!
> 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 yourself spending
> 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.
> The women won!!!!
