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Re: semantics in schema (xsd)

• To: 'XML DEV' <xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: Re: semantics in schema (xsd)
• From: Michael Champion <mc@x...>
• Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 11:28:30 -0500
• In-reply-to: <403F6A0E.4F038C3D@b...>
• References: <001701c3fd49$5d3a5610$0201a8c0@IRENE> <403F6A0E.4F038C3D@b...>

On Feb 27, 2004, at 11:02 AM, Chiusano Joseph wrote:

> Irene Polikoff wrote:
> [snip]
>> What you are bringing up is that in some countries a husband may be 
>> also a male.
>
> Sorry to be picky, but wouldn't this be in all countries (a "husband" 
> is
> never female)? :)
>

Do you *know* that Rosie O'Donnell's new spouse does not consider her a 
"husband"? <duck>  Somebody out there (presumably in California) is 
going to enter "husband" to describe a woman before long, it's going to 
violate constraints built into software, and some poor geek is going to 
have to take political heat for it.  I don't want to be in that 
position.

  http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=husband says that the Old 
Norse had a feminine form that didn't survive into English; maybe it 
will be resurrected!  Think of the verb form definition " To use 
sparingly or economically; conserve".  Females can do that, and one can 
imagine some future evolution of the language defining "husband" in 
terms of the roles people play in a marriage irrespective of sex.

My only point is that what may be true in all countries today may not 
be something you want to bake deeply into your software or data schema, 
unless you really really get more benefit from the rigidity than you 
will pay down the road if your assumption is relaxed.

• Follow-Ups:
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    • From: Alan <alan-xml-dev@e...>

• References:
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    • From: "Irene Polikoff" <Irene@t...>
  • Re: semantics in schema (xsd)
    • From: "Chiusano Joseph" <chiusano_joseph@b...>

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