From the email as usual
enjoy
>
> A French teacher was explaining to her class that in
> French, unlike
> English, nouns are designated as either masculine or
> feminine.
> "House" is feminine-"la maison." "Pencil" is
> masculine-"le crayon."
>
> 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 their
> recommendation.
>
> The men's group decided that "computer" should
> definitely be of the
> feminine gender ("la computer"), 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 review; and
> 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find
> yourself spending half
> your salary on accessories for it.
>
> The women's group, however, concluded that computers
> should be masculine
> ("le computer") 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 ...
note: of course i disagree [img]tongue.gif[/img] .