<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>I think I derailed the list. Sorry!<br><br>On Feb 18, 2011, at 10:40 AM, Ian Woollard <<a href="mailto:ian.woollard@gmail.com">ian.woollard@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
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<p>Actually, no the inuit didn't:<br>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow</a></a><br>
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On 18/02/2011, <a href="mailto:tb%40tcltalk.ath.cx"><a href="mailto:tb@tcltalk.ath.cx">tb@tcltalk.ath.cx</a></a> <<a href="mailto:tb%40tcltalk.ath.cx"><a href="mailto:tb@tcltalk.ath.cx">tb@tcltalk.ath.cx</a></a>> wrote:<br>
> Casey Ransberger schrieb:<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> In linguistics there was a longstanding debate about whether or not the<br>
>> languages one spoke affected what sorts of thoughts were available to<br>
>> one; it was a big theme in Orwell's 1984, for example.<br>
>><br>
>> Before Ruby and then Smalltalk, (until Ruby I hadn't really looked at<br>
>> any functional programming seriously,) I wouldn't know how to use a<br>
>> closure. I might not even have known the term.<br>
>><br>
>> In general it seems that linguists have largely abandoned this notion,<br>
>> but it sure does seem pertinent to programming, doesn't it?<br>
>><br>
><br>
> IMO it does, definitely. It's a matter of categories. The Inuit had more<br>
> than twenty words for snow, because they where in need of a detailed<br>
> description of their environment to survive.<br>
><br>
> Thomas<br>
><br>
><br>
> ------------------------------------<br>
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-- <br>
-Ian Woollard<br>
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