HI Evelyn, I thought this was cute. 'What gender is '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.
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