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 masculinem 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.
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.
|