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numeric predicates

    Date: 24 Feb 1986  20:56 EST (Mon)
    From: Bill Rozas <JINX%OZ.AI.MIT.EDU@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU>

    How come we have 2 versions of every possible predicate (> and >?,
    etc.)?  It seems silly to me.  Could we drop one of the two?  Does
    anybody feel strongly about this?

This is a good excuse for me to put in my two cents' worth, a few years
too late:  I think that putting "?" in the names of all the predicates
is a TERRIBLE idea.  Why?  Because they make it much harder to read code
out loud.  The "-P" convention is at least pronounceable, if visually
bizarre (but I would do away with that too if I could).  I will not
entertain counterarguments of the form "But English uses `?' and not
`P'" because English does NOT lump the "?" in with the spelling of the
verb; it is a marker on the entire sentence.
--Guy