http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=181738


in reply to "regular expressions" need a new name

This is very true. "Regular expressions" should be named something else. I am Lithuanian, so my native language is Lithuanian. The English phrase "regular expression" sounds OK with me, because I have accustomed to this meaning, but whenever someone tries to translate this term into Lithuanian things start to go plain weird.

The problem is that there is no direct translation, and everyone tries to translate it word by word. And so you get weird phrases like "paprastosios išraiškos" which roughly means "simple expressions" (and everyone knows they are very far from being simple!) or "reguliarioji išraiška", which I immediately associate with an expression that repeats regularly in time.

So this powerful tool must get a proper name, even if it was an abbreviation that would not be translated into any languages (that might even be the only sane solution)

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Re: Re: "regular expressions" need a new name
by little (Curate) on Jul 15, 2002 at 11:47 UTC

    regula (lat.) :-)

    So its more an semantic short and highly abtsract expression of rules based upon strict logic, a "ruleset" that describes best what you're looking for :-)

    Have a nice day
    All decision is left to your taste