From: Douglas Gilbert <dougg@torque.net>
To: Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc: James.Bottomley@HansenPartnership.com,
linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] scsi_error: Fix language abuse.
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:24:00 -0500 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <47AF8790.1040706@torque.net> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20080209135020.6eca03ac@core>
Alan Cox wrote:
> On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:32:54 -0500
> Douglas Gilbert <dougg@torque.net> wrote:
>
>> Alan Cox wrote:
>>> The word "illegal" has a precise dictionary meaning of "prohibited by
>>> law".
>> Also "contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc".
>
> The OED I have here doesn't seem to think so, however if the words are
> the ones used in the T10 documentation then I'm happy to drop the patch.
The OED (Oxford English dictionary) seems to be at odds
with most other online dictionaries with respect to the
word illegal. I find the following 'illegal' entry
(at www.askoxford.com) daft:
"USAGE Both illegal and unlawful can mean 'contrary to
or forbidden by law', but unlawful has a broader meaning
'not permitted by rules': thus handball in soccer is
unlawful, but not illegal."
So if we followed the OED's advice then SCSI's "illegal
request" would become "unlawful request". I'm yet to
see the word "unlawful" in any technical standard ...
Doug Gilbert
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2008-02-10 23:24 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 13+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2008-02-08 15:32 [PATCH] scsi_error: Fix language abuse Alan Cox
2008-02-08 15:57 ` James Bottomley
2008-02-08 15:59 ` Alan Cox
2008-02-08 16:28 ` James Bottomley
2008-02-08 16:07 ` linux-os (Dick Johnson)
2008-02-08 16:27 ` Mark Hounschell
2008-02-11 16:07 ` linux-os (Dick Johnson)
2008-02-11 17:13 ` Benny Halevy
2008-02-09 1:32 ` Douglas Gilbert
2008-02-09 13:50 ` Alan Cox
2008-02-10 23:24 ` Douglas Gilbert [this message]
2008-02-10 23:47 ` Matthew Wilcox
2008-02-09 8:02 ` Luben Tuikov
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