Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

macintologist · Jun 6, 2006, 11:44 PM

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and,

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

d4nth3m4n · Jun 7, 2006, 02:53 AM

OMG I JUST EMAILED MY WHOLE ADDRESSBOOK!

seriously though, i did laugh.

CharlesS · Jun 7, 2006, 03:23 AM

Wow, I've never heard that one before!

</sarcasm>

sabrejim · Jun 7, 2006, 08:23 AM

We did that in my class too. I didn't understand that we got to vote?

eltrut · Jun 7, 2006, 08:37 AM

Didn't that make the email rounds in 1997 ?

FireWire · Jun 7, 2006, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Wow, I've never heard that one before!

As a matter of fact, I read it in the funny jokes thread yesterday (as well as many years ago)

Salty · Jun 7, 2006, 05:11 PM

Desktops are boys
Notebooks are girls.

Why? Desktops have power chords.

zmcgill · Jun 7, 2006, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by Salty

Desktops are boys
Notebooks are girls.

Why? Desktops have power chords.

My iBook has a power cord...I don't get it.

And yes, I think this joke has been around since before computers even existed. Cowboys on the range in the 1800s were sitting around the campfire coming up with possible technological advancements and then making jokes regarding them. When this one came up, they each sent it to all of their friends and family members via Pony Express.