Issue 3364: An ortographical typo in Zen of Python text (original) (raw)

Issue3364

Created on 2008-07-15 15:23 by cheDu, last changed 2022-04-11 14:56 by admin. This issue is now closed.

Messages (4)
msg69688 - (view)	Author: Chester (cheDu)	Date: 2008-07-15 15:23
I hope I chose the correct component type for this issue report. Anyway, if you do import this in the Python 3.x interactive interpreter, you get the Zen of Python by Tim Peters. This text has a line which has an ortographical typo in it. Please look at this line of text from the Zen of Python: There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it. Now this line has the typo I am talking about, and the typo is the lack of a space before the first dash (actually before the double-hyphen) and the space after the second dash (or double-hyphen). Please note that the dash punctuation mark is by ortographical rules separated from the words, so there are two spaces separating a dash from the surrounding words. By writing the dashes in the way that are in the above sentence from the Zen of Python, we don't achieve any effect as sometimes ortographical rules can be broken to create some special effect in the sentence (like in a line that uses the asteriskes to emphasize the word 'right' with writing it as *right*), but here in the above line it is clearly a normal sentence, not needing any special effect, which is also incorrect from this point of view. So please fix the above line like this: There should be one -- and preferably only one -- obvious way to do it. Consider the fact that the last sentence is written correctly and that the dash in it is separated from the surrounding words as the ortographic rules demand. So having one line of text with an incorrectly used dash and some other line with the correctly used dash, makes the whole text either inconsistent or just bad. Okay, it isn't *really* bad but it's incorrect and it needs a little fix. And it's not too much trouble to add two missing spaces in that line of text. I think that ortography is our friend in the Python world. ;)
msg69689 - (view)	Author: Benjamin Peterson (benjamin.peterson) *	Date: 2008-07-15 15:30
I'm sorry, but syntax is part of poetry, too. Please stop misusing the tracker.
msg69712 - (view)	Author: Tim Peters (tim.peters) *	Date: 2008-07-15 19:35
I'm afraid you missed the joke ;-) While you believe spaces are required on both sides of an em dash, there is no consensus on this point. For example, most (but not all) American authorities say /no/ spaces should be used. That's the joke. In writing a line about "only one way to do it", I used a device (em dash) for which at least two ways to do it (with spaces, without spaces) are commonly used, neither of which is obvious -- and deliberately picked a third way just to rub it in. This will never change ;-)
msg69881 - (view)	Author: Chester (cheDu)	Date: 2008-07-17 14:05
You're a strange man, Mr. Peters, a strange man... On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:35 PM, Tim Peters <report@bugs.python.org> wrote: > > Tim Peters <tim.peters@gmail.com> added the comment: > > I'm afraid you missed the joke ;-) While you believe spaces are > required on both sides of an em dash, there is no consensus on this > point. For example, most (but not all) American authorities say /no/ > spaces should be used. That's the joke. In writing a line about "only > one way to do it", I used a device (em dash) for which at least two ways > to do it (with spaces, without spaces) are commonly used, neither of > which is obvious -- and deliberately picked a third way just to rub it in. > > This will never change ;-) > > ---------- > nosy: +tim_one > > _______________________________________ > Python tracker <report@bugs.python.org> > <http://bugs.python.org/issue3364> > _______________________________________ >