Gender of a Computer

A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns, unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or feminine.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"House," in French, is feminine - "la maison."
"Pencil," in French, is masculine - "le crayon."[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One puzzled student asked, "What gender is computer?"[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary. So for fun she split the class into two groups (appropriately enough, by gender) and asked them to decide whether "computer" should be a masculine or feminine noun.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Both groups were required to give four reasons for their recommendation. The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computer"), because:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]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.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending.half your pay check on accessories for it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("le computer"), because:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data but they are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The women won.[/FONT]

 

In Spanish has two genres:
- "El ordenador" (masculine), used mainly in Spain
- "La computadora" (feminine), used mainly in South-America

 

Nice and Interesting.

My Favorite

 

Going by this comment, I consider it is definitely feminine

 

nice thread for only your 150th post.
That was funny

 

most computers are females no doubt though
they moan and yell most times and noisy

 

Computers are hermaphrodites. They have in-bits and out-bits

 

Haha, very good thread

+ Rep

 

Hahaha! Hilarious.

 

lol actually I think it was my 144th post...made several posts in other spots since then, that's why I'm up to 150...well 151 now

 

Nice read

 

Computers are male? Aww crap... does that mean I cant call mine Delilah anymore?

Is it just me or is there a surge in threads related to pitching the sexes against each other?

 

have read it before but still good to read.

 

I think it's just you

 

Giving nouns a sex was something I found difficult when learning French because you always had to remember what things use le or la depending on the sex of the object.

 

I wont insult you coz I'm shit scared of guys with trucks

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=800888

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=795325

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=795062

 

lmao...truck drivers aren't that bad

 

hmmm let me guess.. bisexual? LOL

 

This one is really funny (true also)!! Nice post.