At 22:23:12 on Thu, 3 Jul 2008, Tony Mountifield
<tony@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in <g4jjgg$603$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>In article <486c0ac4$0$35959$4fafbaef@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>ADPUF <flyhunter@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>> Let me try again: if a pipe smoker has three pipes, that smoker
>> can alternate among them.
>
>If I were he (not that I would ever smoke a pipe), I could rotate
>around/among them, but not alternate among/between them.
When there are only two items, "alternate" tells us that the sequence is
A - B - A - B. It is the only possible sequence.
When there are three items, use of "alternate" does not tell us the
sequence. It could be A - B - C - A - B - C, or it could be more
random, e.g. A - B - A - C - B - C- A. The former can be expressed by
"rotate"; the latter by, perhaps "select". But neither can be
expressed by "alternate".
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little tem****ary
safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)
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