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Simon Brunning wrote:
> 2009/11/1 Steven D'Aprano <>:
>
>>The only stupid question is the one you are afraid to ask.
>
>
> I was once asked, and I quote exactly, "are there any fish in the Atlantic sea?"
>
> That's pretty stupid.
>

Are there any fish in the Dead Sea?

~Ethan~

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:59:32 -0800, Ethan Furman <>
wrote:

> Simon Brunning wrote:
>> 2009/11/1 Steven D'Aprano <>:
>>
>>> The only stupid question is the one you are afraid to ask.
>> I was once asked, and I quote exactly, "are there any fish in the
>> Atlantic sea?"
>> That's pretty stupid.
>>
>
> Are there any fish in the Dead Sea?
>

Depends on how you define fish, surely ?



--
Rami Chowdhury
"Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to stupidity" --
Hanlon's Razor
408-597-7068 (US) / 07875-841-046 (UK) / 0189-245544 (BD)

On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:26:49 +0000, Simon Brunning wrote:

> 2009/11/1 Steven D'Aprano <>:
>>
>> The only stupid question is the one you are afraid to ask.
>
> I was once asked, and I quote exactly, "are there any fish in the
> Atlantic sea?"
>
> That's pretty stupid.

Once in the distant past, there were no fish in what would become the
Atlantic Ocean (not sea); and some day in the future there won't be any
fish either. At the rate we're going that day may not be that far away:
fish are being over-fished all over the world, jellyfish are blooming,
and there are areas of the Namibian continental where the dominant
species have flipped from fish to jellyfish:

http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/200.../jellyfish.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0711091411.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0609092057.htm


So, no, not a stupid question at all.



--
Steven

On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 11:26:49 +0000, Simon Brunning
<> declaimed the following in
gmane.comp.python.general:

> I was once asked, and I quote exactly, "are there any fish in the Atlantic sea?"
>
> That's pretty stupid.
>
Perfectly valid answer -- there are no fish as there is no Atlantic
sea <G>
--
Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:
> Perfectly valid answer -- there are no fish as there is no
> Atlantic sea <G>


Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> Once in the distant past, there were no fish in what would become the
> Atlantic Ocean (not sea)

What's with the bias against the word 'sea'?

sea
–noun
1. the salt waters that cover the greater part of the earth's surface.
2. a division of these waters, of considerable extent, more or less
definitely marked off by land boundaries: the North Sea.
3. one of the seven seas; ocean.

I'd say the Atlantic qualifies!

~Ethan~

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:36:46 -0800, Ethan Furman <>
declaimed the following in gmane.comp.python.general:


> What's with the bias against the word 'sea'?
>
> sea
> –noun
> 1. the salt waters that cover the greater part of the earth's surface.
> 2. a division of these waters, of considerable extent, more or less
> definitely marked off by land boundaries: the North Sea.
> 3. one of the seven seas; ocean.
>
In the usages to which I'm accustomed, the Atlantic has always been
"ocean" (two of them: North and South)

"Seas" seemed slightly more land-locked: Black, Caspian, Red,
Baltic, Caribbean, North, Mediterranean -- except for that floating mass
of seaweed: the Sargasso Sea

--
Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

On Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:36:46 -0800, Ethan Furman wrote:

> Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:
> > Perfectly valid answer -- there are no fish as there is no Atlantic
> > sea <G>
>
>
> Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> > Once in the distant past, there were no fish in what would become the
> > Atlantic Ocean (not sea)
>
> What's with the bias against the word 'sea'?

The Atlantic Ocean is named the Atlantic Ocean, not the Atlantic Lake or
Atlantic Puddle or Atlantic Dewdrop or Atlantic Sea.

Otherwise, sea is a perfectly good word, for describing what the Atlantic
Ocean *is* rather than what it is *named*.



--
Steven