[cctalk] Re: TOP POSTING

[Liam Proven]

On 12 December 2015 at 03:00, Rich Alderson
<RichA at livingcomputermuseum.org> wrote:
> From: Liam Proven
> Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 10:54 AM
>
>> On 10 December 2015 at 20:42, Rich Alderson <RichA at livingcomputermuseum.org> wrote:
>
>>> From: Liam Proven
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 8:33 AM
>
>>>> *I* never delete my emails. I have a trail back to 1994. So?
>
>>> Piker.
>
>> Um. I don't know what that means. In UK English, "pikey" is a highly
>> offensive pejorative term for a person of Gypsy or Romany origin, or
>> these days, more generically, a person of very lower-class origins:
>> "trailer trash". I am guessing you didn't mean that. :-)
>
>> So, what, it means I'm very young? I'm fine with that, given I'm nearing
>> 50. :-D
>
> Two cultures separated by a common language, and all that.

Indeed.

> According to the dictionaries of American English which I just consulted, it is
> refers to small-time gamblers and others who make limited cash outlays.  Hmm.

Oh! OK. New one on me, and I thought I was reasonable at US idioms. I
have probably misheard or misparsed it before now, thought it
strangely out-of-context and moved on.

> In nearly 60 years of reading and watching movies and television program(me)s,
> the internalized definition I have for it is any person who does something in a
> small way.  Usually used jokingly.  Thus, that your collected e-mail is two
> decades' less duration than mine leads to such a description.

That was my general impression, but I read it as age rather than
quantity. Close enough for government work.

> Certainly no offense intended.

Oh, none taken!

>>> On the subject line topic, I read this list via an Exchange/Outlook setup,
>> [...]
>>>  Simple.  Quick.
>
>> This must be some strange new usage of the words "simple" and "quick"
>> that I wasn't previously aware of.
>
> Well, given that I first learned EMACS (to give the TECO spelling) when you
> were all of 8 years old, the method I described *is* simple and quick, for me.

First editor. Hmm. I guess the Commodore full-screen BASIC code editor
on the PET series doesn't really count. But before I used it in any
anger, in Comp Sci class, I got a ZX Spectrum after playing with my
uncle's ZX 81. But the Spectrum barely had an editor, either, so I
mostly used Beta BASIC which was slightly (slightly) richer. (A used
Spectrum 48K cost my parents £80. No idea of exchange rates in
1982-1983: at a total guess ITRO US$ 140-150? That was the most
computer we could afford.)

First actual discrete editor which could load and save files was
probably EDT on a terminal on the University VAX in about 1985. I was
never a master but I could use it. Does that have enough early-editor
kudos? Probably not. :-(

> Isn't this the Old Geezers club? :-)

Well, quite! :-D

-- 
Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk • GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com • Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven
Cell/Mobiles: +44 7939-087884 (UK) • +420 702 829 053 (ČR)