[Gansan]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

"cyclostyle", we had this in our school for quickly printing question papers. my maths teacher used to write those by hand on stencil and then print copies, and then he would go home and send his clothes for drycleaning

I think they were also called "Roneo" copies, though I can't remember the reason.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thatword I had forgotten.

There was another duplicating system too, that produced copies with a blueish-purplish print. Some sort of spirit in the process (as in chemical, not ghost --- although the result was often a bit blurred!) --- anyone remember that?

I think you are referring to the Ammonia print - used nowadays only by engineers and architects for 'building drawings' and other engineering drawings.

Coming to Xerox - the word becoming a generic name for photocopying used to be a case study in b-schools. Even Western management books mentioned it. So I think even the English speaking countries had, at one point, used Xerox as a generic name till Canon entered and bettered Xerox (as all Japanese do eventually - we car lovers know that )

[Thad E Ginathom]

Roneo --- I remember the name; will google.

I think Xerox had an iron grip on their market until their patent expired

<a few minutes later...>

Spirit Duplicator. This is the one I remember with the distinctive purple colour. Note the remarks about the smell too.


.

[mallumowgli]

never heard that name. so thats why they say, following in letter and spirit!

Ammonia prints too had that awful ammonia smell

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Not sure what you're trying to say!
X for Xerox is wrong but G for Google is correct! Am I missing something?

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

How is it wrong?
......

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

Not sure what you're trying to say!

Why should it be wrong...it is ,of course, correct.

It is wrong because the first syllable phoenetic sound is of a 'Z'. Xerox is pronounced as though the word begins with a 'Z'.
You may just as well then teach a child that X is for Zebra!
Xylophone may have been the commonly used word in books attempting to teach children, but that was actually wrong for the same reason - the first syllable sound was as though it were a 'Z'! The first syllable MUST 'sound' right to a child to understand the phoenetic sound of the letter.

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

nope, it's christmas.

from wikipedia
"Xmas" is a common abbreviation of the word "Christmas".

Just because the word is an abbreviation does not disqualify it. And do note that it is a commonly used abbreviation!
And it demonstrates the sound of 'X' admirably!

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

.....
There was another duplicating system too, that produced copies with a blueish-purplish print. --- anyone remember that?

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

I think you are referring to the Ammonia print - used nowadays only by engineers and architects for 'building drawings' and other engineering drawings.
.....

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

....
Spirit Duplicator. This is the one I remember with the distinctive purple colour. Note the remarks about the smell too.

Thad, I think it must be the ammonia print that you are referring to. Here in India, I too never heard the term Spirit Duplicator. However, this does not mean there was no such 'copier'; there are some technologies that never did make it to India for some reason or the other.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

It is wrong because the first syllable phoenetic sound is of a 'Z'. Xerox is pronounced as though the word begins with a 'Z'.
You may just as well then teach a child that X is for Zebra!
Xylophone may have been the commonly used word in books attempting to teach children, but that was actually wrong for the same reason - the first syllable sound was as though it were a 'Z'! The first syllable MUST 'sound' right to a child to understand the phoenetic sound of the letter.

Maybe it's best for the child to learn early in life that English not a phonetic language.
You see sir, I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English, I can run English, because English is such a funny language. Bhairo becomes Byron because their minds are very narrow.

[Thad E Ginathom]

X is for X-ray.

That should satisfy everybody?

But... X for "Z"erox, is no more wrong than X fo "Z"ylophone, which is what I grew up with, I think.

Spirit copier: It was a link. I'm sure I remember the machine in the first photo of that wiki page.

[Edsel Rulez!]

Ah, cyclostyled copies. During important school exams in the late 70s we used to get cyclostyled question papers. They had a funny (but not unpleasant) smell. It still reminds me of examination halls whenever I get a whiff -- though the technology has all but vanished.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

X is for X-ray.

That should satisfy everybody?

But... X for "Z"erox, is no more wrong than X fo "Z"ylophone, which is what I grew up with, I think.
.....

In which case Z for Xerox and Z for Xylophone should not be wrong.

However, I suspect that the original intention was to link each letter of the alphabet with a real object, something palpable, that a child might touch and feel.

X for Xrays, G for Google and X for Xmas thus get disqualified; even though they are not wrong, per se.

[Edsel Rulez!]

What's wrong with "X for Xylophone"? I'm assuming the child is being taught to recognise letters (that is, the focus is on spelling and not pronunciation). If "X for Xylophone" is wrong, by the same logic "C for Cat" is just as absurd because the pronunciation of the letter C doesn't sound anything like the initial letter of "Cat. Anti-Xylophoners would have to agree that "C for City" or "C for Civilisation" would be a better choice!

[Thad E Ginathom]

I think that the person who commented that English is not a F-is-for-phonetic language hit the core of the issue!

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I think that the person who commented that English is not a F-is-for-phonetic language hit the core of the issue!

And with that astute insight from Carboy, let us move on!
What next?
Or should that be what's next?

[DerAlte]

Or should that be "Next is what", Mathur-saheb? The sub-continent is not the only place where English is "improvized" (South Indian English for "improved" ), it is pretty much all over the globe.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

.... The sub-continent is not the only place where English is "improvized" (South Indian English for "improved" ), it is pretty much all over the globe.

Hehe, you will have to improvise your English.
You mean it is same same all over the globe!

[echo77]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The sub-continent is not the only place where English is "improvized" (South Indian English for "improved" ), it is pretty much all over the globe.

Improvise is a proper English word and does not exactly mean "improve"

Improvise means to do something without having a plan to do so, often in circumstances where you have to do something at the spur of the moment.