From: Jukka K. Korpela (jkorpela@cs.tut.fi)
Date: Sun Feb 18 2007 - 03:56:37 CST
On Sun, 18 Feb 2007, Erkki I. Kolehmainen wrote:
> I routinely use the expression UCS/Unicode
I know that it is intended to be more understandable than any of the
components alone, though the main motivation behind it is probably
the desire to make everyone happy - giving tribute both to ISO and to the
Unicode Consortium.
The main problem with it is that it is probably _less_ understandable than
mere "Unicode". Most people have a vague idea of what Unicode is and no
idea of what UCS is, so they get confused with the "UCS/" part.
The solidus (slash) "/" means many different things, including "alias",
"or", "and", "over", subordination, separator between hierarchic parts,
and division, to mention a few meanings. Since "UCS/Unicode" is not an
official expression, it leaves the interpretation open; the reader needs
to know this part of semi-official Unicode jargon in order to _know_ what
the expression means. Usually, I suppose, people just make a guess and
think that it's something somehow related to Unicode.
-- Jukka "Yucca" Korpela, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
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