Lojban Joke

Although I have not faced any major difficulties with English, I wouldn't deny that my usage of the language is culturally influenced. I notice this when I speak with people whose mother tongue is English. Leave aside the grammar, the vocabulary and the accent; there is still a subtle difference with the choice of words.

The other day, I was to read a document and reply with my comments. My e-mail said something like "I will peruse the document and revert". It seemed absolutely normal usage to me till one of my colleagues pointed out that my usage of revert was incorrect. It took me a while to be convinced that "revert" should never be used to mean "get back". It should always have a precedent or a backwards connotation to it. Having understood this, I also learnt about the Logan joke.

Now that you see how we face so many problems with English, How would you expect a computer to understand an English statement. The Lojban Language was created based on strict grammar rules so that the meaning of a sentence is always predictable and does not have different meanings based on the context.

So here goes the joke...

Q: How many lojbanists does it take to change a broken light bulb?

A: Two, one to figure out what to change it into, and another to figure out what kind of light bulb emits broken light.

Would you change a bulb or replace it ??

Strict speaking, broken should refer to the light and not the bulb. This is because it is of the form Adv, Adj, Noun where Adv qualifies the Adj and Adj qualifies the noun. One way to fix this would be to say broken light-bulb. But then such usage is not possible all the time.

No doubt, Computers prefer Lojban to English.