Comment on Can someone explain why authors do this?

Turun@feddit.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• ValiantDust@feddit.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Not only more readable than A and B but I would argue it’s also easier to remember who did what a few sentences or paragraphs earlier since Alice and Bob invoke slightly less generic mental images than A and B. For example one is a woman and the other one is a man, maybe even some person or character you know.

  And now that I’m thinking about it, the different gender also makes it easier to keep track of who does what because different pronouns are used (at least in English and many other languages).

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  • CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If you ever go to r/relationship_advice and read posts where their friend T did S with P and then A (23 F) got into with G, then yeah…Alice and Bob suddenly makes a lot of sense.

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    • sawdustprophet@midwest.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      T did S with P and then A (23 F) got into with G

      “This B needs a C in her A”

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      • EatATaco@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Old guy moment here. . .why the fuck is the camera moving all over in the place in that video? Literally unwatchable to me.

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  • exocrinous@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Fun fact: the problem this is a solution to is known as the gay spock problem

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    • jnplch@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I tried to look this up and while there were many many results, none of them seemed to really fit with OP’s question, so would you kindly tell us more about the gay Spock problem?

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      • exocrinous@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        The gay spock problem is when you have two characters interacting who have the same pronouns, and it gets confusing. For example,

        He brushed his hair aside and spoke gently into his ear, “you are my one true love, my light and laughter, my reason to live.”

        Who’s the one speaking? Kirk or Spock?

        Likewise, if Alice and Barbara or Adam and Bob are your two example people, you’ll run into the gay spock problem.

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    • ValiantDust@feddit.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’m afraid I’m not following. The solution to what?

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      • charolastra@programming.dev ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Took me a few reads

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  • reverendsteveii@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    this, but doubly so with Eve. You’ll notice that we often skip over Cindy and Dave and go right to Eve, so often that I don’t even know off the top of my head whether Charlie and Deandra are the conventional names for persons 3 and 4 in this construct. That’s because this construct is used a lot when talking about secure communications and the convention is that “evil” “eavesdropping” Eve is the person trying to destroy, intercept or alter the communication between Alice and Bob. Her role is built into her name.

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