Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 18:28:09 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: wilko@yedi.iaf.nl (Wilko Bulte) Cc: terry@lambert.org, msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au, ejs@bfd.com, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Who needs Perl? We do! Message-ID: <199611200128.SAA10034@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <199611192020.VAA01808@yedi.iaf.nl> from "Wilko Bulte" at Nov 19, 96 09:20:36 pm
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> > > A point to consider : I _loathe_ Perl. Reading it gives me a > > > headache, and I would sooner snort powdered lithium than program in > > > it. Understand that I think Perl is relevant for what it is, and not > > > what I feel about it. > > > > At STP, Lithium is a gas. 8-). > > Interesting. Very soft greyish metal the last time I saw it... If you don't want the boring details, or you want to figure the joke out for yourself, don't read the rest of this message. It probably belongs on -chat anyway. If you are a great fan of PERL and don't want to be annoyed, well, you've been warned. 8-). This was a 3-level English pun based on a single initial English pun used to back-handedly reference PERL. (1) At STP, diatomic Lithium the metal is a solid (someone claimed all diatomic metals, except Mercury, are solid at STP; Hydrogen isn't. 8-)). (2) This forces a reinterpretation of "is a gas" as a colloquialism instead of a direct interpretation. The use of the colloquialism is a bit archaic (tantamount to using the word "groovy", I suppose); however, there is a Rolling Stones song "Jumpin' Jack Flash", in which they use it "Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas, gas, gas...", and it was The Clue in a Whoopie Goldberg movie, titled after the song. (3) How can Lithium be "a gas" in the colloquial sense? Lithium salts are used psychopharmacologically in the moderation of N-dopamine uptake. A chronically mentally ill person with Schitzophrenia is most likely suffering from: (1) a genetic predisposition to having fewer than is considered normal N-dopamine receptors, or (2) smaller than is considered normal N-dopamine production, or (3) has a chemical imbalance interfering with N-dopamine uptake. Item (3) can be environmental poisoning -- for instance, Aspartame (Nutrasweet) bonds to N-dopamine receptors. Do not drink most diet sodas if you are borderline Schitzophrenic, or change the amount you drink if you are already on medication. In a "normal" person, Lithium use would result in reduced brain function. So we see that if he "would sooner snort powdered lithium", he is probably referring to it's psychotropic properties... implyimg that, though Lithium reduces brain function, it does not reduce it so much as programming in PERL might... hence the second order pun. You can send fan-mail to my regular address. 8-P. Regards, Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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