Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 12:12:10 -0500

From: Robert Kelly kelly[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LEVY.BARD.EDU

Subject: Re: ADS-L Digest - 27 Jan 1994 to 28 Jan 1994



There may be a basic rule or two of American savvy (or superstition) about

restaurants at work here.



If the Rule 1 is: eat at diners where the trucks are parked,



then Rule 2 must be: avoid any French or Italian restaurant whose name is

understandable to those who do NOT know Fr. or It., thus avoid The Tower of

Pisa or the Eiffel Tower or La Rive Gauche or The Gondola or The Rialto,

whereas it's safe to go to La Grenouille or Gerbe d'Or or Il Maialino.



Thus readying us for Rule 3: avoid any restaurant bearing the name of a

famous city (unless you're in the city). ALL NY pizzas, Paris bakeries,

Vienna sausage shops, London fish & chips, ALL will be terrible. Avoid

Pekings and Tokyos and Bangkoks and Athenses.



So these infrastructure rules may prepare us for whatever linguistic rule is

lurking in the names on the Net we're concerned with.



Affably,

R