Re: "May", "can", "might"

From: Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us>
To: Andrej Ricnik-Bay <andrej(dot)groups(at)gmail(dot)com>
Cc: PostgreSQL-documentation <pgsql-docs(at)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: Re: "May", "can", "might"
Date: 2007-01-30 17:59:20
Message-ID: 200701301759.l0UHxKI08952@momjian.us
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Andrej Ricnik-Bay wrote:
> On 1/31/07, Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> wrote:
> > Standard English uses "may", "can", and "might" in different ways:
> >
> > may - permission, "You may borrow my rake."
> >
> > can - ability, "I can lift that log."
> >
> > might - possibility, "It might rain today."
> >
> > Unfortunately, in conversational English, their use is often mixed, as
> > in, "You may use this variable to do X", when in fact, "can" is a better
> > choice. Similarly, "It may crash" is better stated, "It might crash".
> >
> > I would like to clean up our documentation to consistently use these
> > words. Objections?
> My full support. :} I like clarity, specially on such important things
> as communication!
>
>
> > (Who says were obsessive?) :-)

Ah, someone already got me with were -> we're. "Who says we're
obsessive?" Perfect!

--
Bruce Momjian bruce(at)momjian(dot)us
EnterpriseDB http://www.enterprisedb.com

+ If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +

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