From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:12:55 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Change 'Deltifying objects' to 'Delta compressing objects'
Message-ID: <20071019021255.GD3290@coredump.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <20071019004527.GA12930@spearce.org>

On Thu, Oct 18, 2007 at 08:45:27PM -0400, Shawn O. Pearce wrote:

> Recently I was referred to the Grammar Police as the git-pack-objects
> progress message 'Deltifying %u objects' is considered to be not
> proper English to at least some small but vocal segment of the
> English speaking population.  Techncially we are applying delta
> compression to these objects at this stage, so the new term is
> slightly more acceptable to the Grammar Police but is also just
> as correct.

Boo. I _like_ "deltifying". Sure, it's probably not in the dictionary,
but that's how languages change: saying "delta compressing" all the time
will get awkward, so people invent a new word using existing rules to
explain a common phenomenon.

Anyway, if you want to please the Grammar Police, should it not be
"Delta-compressing"?  "Delta" is not an adverb here, but rather the
phrase acts as a compound verb (i.e., the two words work in place of a
single verb). Although "Delta-compressing objects" just looks stupid.

-Peff