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GeneralRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
Herman<T>.Instance13-Sep-17 2:26
Herman<T>.Instance13-Sep-17 2:26 
GeneralRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
MadMyche13-Sep-17 1:31
professionalMadMyche13-Sep-17 1:31 
GeneralRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter13-Sep-17 1:36
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter13-Sep-17 1:36 
PraiseRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
megaadam13-Sep-17 1:44
professionalmegaadam13-Sep-17 1:44 
GeneralRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
Ron Anders13-Sep-17 2:58
Ron Anders13-Sep-17 2:58 
GeneralRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
Andrew Kirillov13-Sep-17 3:01
Andrew Kirillov13-Sep-17 3:01 
GeneralRe: 0x100 - Happy Programmer's Day Pin
Marc Clifton13-Sep-17 3:48
mvaMarc Clifton13-Sep-17 3:48 
GeneralBring back whiches Pin
The pompey12-Sep-17 23:30
The pompey12-Sep-17 23:30 
Consider the sentences "There once was a man who owned a car." and "There once was a company which owned a car.". You use "who" for the man, because he's a person, but "which" for the company, because it's not a person.

Now consider the sentence "This is the man whose car was stolen.". What's the equivalent for a company?

What it should be is "This is the company whiches car was stolen", but there's no such word in English. Instead, you either have to go with "whose" (and so imply that the company is a person, which it's not) or to take the same route as languages that don't have possessives and say "This is the company, the car of which was stolen". Given that the latter is clumsy, people tend to use the former; I myself go with the latter as I feel it undermines the word "who" if people use "whose" in reference to inanimate objects. Also, it jars even more when used for abstract nouns ("I liked her attitude, whose forthrightness I found refreshing.").

What I really want is a "whiches".

What's annoying about this is that Middle English did have the word "whiches" in the sense that I want to use it. There's a record of a 1387 sermon by Thomas Wimbledon that includes the line: "Kyng Achab slow þe pore man Nabyoth, for he wolde nouȝt sille hym his vyneȝerd Vpon whiches processe þus seiþ Seynt Ambrose, 'How fer wole ȝe riche men strecche ȝoure coueytise?'. ". [Translation: King Achab slew the poor man Nabyoth, for he would not sell him his vineyard, upon the process of which said Saint Ambrose, 'How far will you rich men stretch your covetousness?'.] That "whiches" is exactly what I want, but I had to translate "whiches process" to "the process of which". Somewhere along the line, Middle English's common-sense word was lost and we had to use an ill-fitting word instead or rephrase the sentence.

I also want a word that means the same as "where" but that doesn't suggest it's referring to a place, so I don't see "This is the episode where Tyrion gets slapped."; "in which" is, sadly, two words, and therefore a word too long for most people.

There is actually a word "whiches" in modern English, but it means more than one occurrence of the word "which", as in "How many whiches were there in that book?".

I feel the language is deliberately mocking me.
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
OriginalGriff12-Sep-17 23:40
mveOriginalGriff12-Sep-17 23:40 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
W Balboos, GHB13-Sep-17 1:09
W Balboos, GHB13-Sep-17 1:09 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
OriginalGriff13-Sep-17 1:25
mveOriginalGriff13-Sep-17 1:25 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
David O'Neil12-Sep-17 23:49
professionalDavid O'Neil12-Sep-17 23:49 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
Roland M Smith13-Sep-17 2:58
Roland M Smith13-Sep-17 2:58 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
BillWoodruff13-Sep-17 3:48
professionalBillWoodruff13-Sep-17 3:48 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
The pompey13-Sep-17 5:17
The pompey13-Sep-17 5:17 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
BillWoodruff15-Sep-17 7:05
professionalBillWoodruff15-Sep-17 7:05 
GeneralRe: Bring back whiches Pin
Munchies_Matt13-Sep-17 3:51
Munchies_Matt13-Sep-17 3:51 
GeneralProblems and their Solutions Pin
CodeWraith12-Sep-17 22:56
CodeWraith12-Sep-17 22:56 
GeneralRe: Problems and their Solutions Pin
kmoorevs13-Sep-17 3:19
kmoorevs13-Sep-17 3:19 
GeneralRe: Problems and their Solutions Pin
CodeWraith13-Sep-17 3:27
CodeWraith13-Sep-17 3:27 
GeneralRe: Problems and their Solutions Pin
kmoorevs13-Sep-17 3:38
kmoorevs13-Sep-17 3:38 
JokeRe: Problems and their Solutions Pin
Daniel Pfeffer13-Sep-17 3:35
professionalDaniel Pfeffer13-Sep-17 3:35 
GeneralRe: Problems and their Solutions Pin
CodeWraith13-Sep-17 3:48
CodeWraith13-Sep-17 3:48 
GeneralAm I done? Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter12-Sep-17 22:40
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter12-Sep-17 22:40 
GeneralRe: Am I done? Pin
OriginalGriff12-Sep-17 22:48
mveOriginalGriff12-Sep-17 22:48 

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