4 ms·

Even if you think STL means St Louis, you can't make that sentence confusing becasue none of those other potential uses work in this place. eg "The St Louis" i

Even if you think STL means St Louis, you can't make that sentence confusing becasue none of those other potential uses work in this place. eg "The St Louis" is only a possible construction if you put another noun after it like "How the STL cardinals handle the pressure of big games" (I don't know, I don't really do sports but you get the idea that's a valid sentence). You can't have a sentence "How the STL uses explicit" be at all confusing with any of the examples you gave.

saghm 2y ago
At least grammatically "the St. Louis" could make sense if you read it as referring to the namesake of the city. "Who was that guy using explicit contstructors, King Louis XIV?" "No, it was the _Saint_ Louis!" I assume that no one named Louis has been canonized since C++ was invented though, and even if it was, using "the" might not be enough to disambiguate in some contexts.
- seanhunter 2y ago
  ...but do we know how the Saint Louis uses explicit? Catholic would-be C++ experts are dying to know.
  - saghm 2y ago
    There's probably no way of knowing, unfortunately; when the meek inherit the earth, they don't have access to the constructors of the parent class.
- tialaramex 2y ago
  I feel like you're obliged to omit "Louis" here? Certainly I would feel I can't add this superfluous word, whereas in some cases such words are optional I don't think one is here. I can say "No, it was the Saint" and "No, it was Saint Louis" but I don't think I'd utter "No, it was the Saint Louis" except as a speech error, maybe prompted by rushing like a Colemanball (commonly sports commentators mix metaphors or change their minds about intent midway through an utterance as of course they're live and events are unfolding as they speak, e.g. "That was a decisive mistake although nothing is decided yet").
  - saghm 2y ago
    > I can say "No, it was the Saint" and "No, it was Saint Louis" but I don't think I'd utter "No, it was the Saint Louis" except as a speech error I don't think you're wrong per se, but this seems more like a personal style of speaking rather than a matter of correctness; some people might prefer conciseness, whereas others might speak more formally and avoid any implicitness. I think it also can feel quite a bit different depending on how the words are emphasized; I italicized "the" in my previous comment since it was the word being questioned, but it doesn't feel super jarring to me to add "the" when "Saint" is emphasized in your quote above. I can totally imagine myself or someone else being confused for a bit and after in the relief of finally understanding dragging out the words a bit like "ohhhhh, it was the _Saint_ Louis, I thought you meant the _other_ one".
- _old_dude_ 2y ago
  BTW, Saint Louis is the common name of Louis IX not Louis XIV (the Sun King). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France
  - saghm 2y ago
    Interesting, I didn't even realize that Saint Louis was one of the French kings; I guess I got lucky I didn't accidentally pick the same one twice!
geerlingguy 2y ago
Most people from St. Louis are used to hearing the phrasings "the STL", or "the Lou" when referring to the city.

saghm 2y ago

At least grammatically "the St. Louis" could make sense if you read it as referring to the namesake of the city. "Who was that guy using explicit contstructors, King Louis XIV?" "No, it was the _Saint_ Louis!" I assume that no one named Louis has been canonized since C++ was invented though, and even if it was, using "the" might not be enough to disambiguate in some contexts.

seanhunter 2y ago
...but do we know how the Saint Louis uses explicit? Catholic would-be C++ experts are dying to know.
- saghm 2y ago
  There's probably no way of knowing, unfortunately; when the meek inherit the earth, they don't have access to the constructors of the parent class.
tialaramex 2y ago
I feel like you're obliged to omit "Louis" here? Certainly I would feel I can't add this superfluous word, whereas in some cases such words are optional I don't think one is here. I can say "No, it was the Saint" and "No, it was Saint Louis" but I don't think I'd utter "No, it was the Saint Louis" except as a speech error, maybe prompted by rushing like a Colemanball (commonly sports commentators mix metaphors or change their minds about intent midway through an utterance as of course they're live and events are unfolding as they speak, e.g. "That was a decisive mistake although nothing is decided yet").
- saghm 2y ago
  > I can say "No, it was the Saint" and "No, it was Saint Louis" but I don't think I'd utter "No, it was the Saint Louis" except as a speech error I don't think you're wrong per se, but this seems more like a personal style of speaking rather than a matter of correctness; some people might prefer conciseness, whereas others might speak more formally and avoid any implicitness. I think it also can feel quite a bit different depending on how the words are emphasized; I italicized "the" in my previous comment since it was the word being questioned, but it doesn't feel super jarring to me to add "the" when "Saint" is emphasized in your quote above. I can totally imagine myself or someone else being confused for a bit and after in the relief of finally understanding dragging out the words a bit like "ohhhhh, it was the _Saint_ Louis, I thought you meant the _other_ one".
_old_dude_ 2y ago
BTW, Saint Louis is the common name of Louis IX not Louis XIV (the Sun King). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France
- saghm 2y ago
  Interesting, I didn't even realize that Saint Louis was one of the French kings; I guess I got lucky I didn't accidentally pick the same one twice!

geerlingguy 2y ago

Most people from St. Louis are used to hearing the phrasings "the STL", or "the Lou" when referring to the city.