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Art_XIV
<P><i>Is there a difference between Trinary, Ternary (in operator specific context).</i></P>
<P>No. Ternary is the more common term for the ? : operator, though.
<P><i>Why is Trinary used primarily in the Camel.</i></P>
<P>I suspect that one of the writers of the Camel book was engaging in some word-play, or was taking a 'dig' at someone/something, or it was an expression of a pet peeve. Maybe [merlyn] will see this node and can shed some light on this.</P>
<P><i>How could two very knowledgeable people not know of such a term.</i></P>
<P>People with expansive vocabularies can still not know of the word 'trinary'. Just because a person doesn't know it doesn't mean that it is not a 'real' word, though. An entomologist may not know the etymology of 'entomologist'. You can google it or check dictionary.com. Or one of those dead-tree word-looker-upper thingies at the library or bookstore. ;)
<P><i>Possibly some background history on the terms themselves.</i></P>
<P>The two words are pretty much synonymous, though 'ternary' enjoys more popular use. Both words have Latin roots... 'tri-' and 'tern-' both mean 'three'. Blame it on those darned Romans.</P>
<div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-113117">
<i>Hanlon's Razor - "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"</i>
</div></div>
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