Re: Feature request for V

On Apr 29, 12:26 am, R. Dan Henry <danhe...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 18:30:41 -0700, Chris Wesling



<wesl...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
R. Dan Henry wrote:
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:40:18 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Doull
<andrewdo...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 2007-04-27 01:10:04, R. Dan Henry <danhe...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Yes, it does. It *can* also be a reference to Swift intended, like his,
to be ironic, but the default interpretation must be the literal one.
This is exactly the sort of thing that doesn't work well in text
communications.
Which is why Swift didn't write his proposal down anywhere.

Okay, okay. In short, unnuanced text communications. Swift had to write
a full essay (and there were people who did react as if he was serious).
There wasn't any clear indication of ironic intent in

:This feature is tentatively scheduled in V3.0.8, as a modest proposal.

That's where I would disagree. I have yet to see *anyone* use the term
"modest proposal" without meaning it in the Swiftian sense, so as far as I'm
concerned simply using that term is an "indication of ironic intent."

Likely so since "modest" is so rarely used in that sense any more at
all; it almost always used to refer to a person's relationship with his
or her ego. The richness of a vocabulary full of multiple words with
similar meanings in different shades has been lost to most of the
English speaking world as technological vocabulary has moved in.

But if the original sense has truly generally been lost, that is a
shame, if only because the irony of Swift's title has then lost all
force.

No, people still use modest in the original sense, just not attached
to "proposal," unless they are being self-consciously cute. "Modest
suggestion" or "modest contribution" generally retain their original
meaning. (As in "Einstein made a modest contribution to the field of
modern physics.")

Anyway, back to Angband... has any variant added any _Gulliver's
Travels_ references?

No; I think Swift was just a little too early to make it into
Steamband, although that would be the likeliest place.

.

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