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32 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
32 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
* Printing a number of something
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(Exact numbers replaced with vague quantifiers; Prolegomena)
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Replacing precise numbers with "some" or other quantifiers when too many objects are clustered together for the player to count at a glance.
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Room descriptions often make the player character out to be a bit of a savant, able to count whole stacks of items at a glance: "You see 27 paper clips here."
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We can adjust this behavior to our liking, though, with the printing a number... activity, as follows:
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{*} "Prolegomena"
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The Editor's Office is a room. The desk is a supporter in the Editor's Office.
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A red pencil is a kind of thing. 12 red pencils are on the desk.
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A letter is a kind of thing. 12 letters are on the desk. Understand "correspondence" as a letter.
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Rule for printing the plural name of a letter:
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if the listing group size is greater than 7, say "correspondence";
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otherwise say "letters".
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Rule for printing a number of something (called the target) when the listing group size is greater than 7:
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say "[one of]some [or]various [or]an assortment of [at random]";
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carry out the printing the plural name activity with the target.
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This general rule can of course be overridden by more specific ones; for instance, if we want to take the opportunity to comment on the viewpoint character's appetite for instruments of correction:
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{**}Rule for printing a number of red pencils (called the target) when the listing group size is greater than 10:
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carry out the printing the plural name activity with the target;
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say " in nearly-sufficient quantity".
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Test me with "get two letters / look / get a pencil / i / get pencil / g / g / look / i / get all / i".
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