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A comment on Server Retired After 18 Years Running on FreeBSD 2.2.1 and a Pentium 200MHZ. Parent comment

Re:Server Retired After 18 Years Running on FreeBSD 2.2.1 an... by unethical_ban on Friday January 22, 2016 @09:47AM (#10952967)
When I hear "You may recall...", I don't think of it as asking for permission. I think of it as saying "You might be able to, or maybe not".

Just saying to recall the previous conversation is an indicator that previous context is required.

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Re:Server Retired After 18 Years Running on FreeBSD 2.2.1 an... by timthorn on Friday January 22, 2016 @10:15AM (#10953136)
Indeed - the loss of precision over may, can, might & could is a pet peeve of mine. Often language evolves, but with these words meaning is being lost - and sometimes inverted. I recently disagreed with someone who said that "you may not do something" (because you were allowed to), but it turned out that she meant might.

She was a teacher, too. :(

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