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by dasmoth 3340 days ago
I realise moderation is tough an never pleases everyone, but have to say I'm disappointed here: in some circles, "esoteric" carries some quite strong negative connotations, which I think are unwarranted here.

Some of these languages are definitely suitable for "serious" usage. And I'm not sure I'd count SQL (or Prolog, for that matter) as esoteric at all!

2 comments

  > "esoteric" carries some quite strong negative connotations
What? It didn't strike me that way. (And for what's it's worth, I'm a native English speaker; I was a communication major, an English minor, and a technical writer; since college I have continued to dabble in writing and linguistics for over 15 years; and as you can see I even know how to use a semicolon. :)

Had they said "eccentric," maybe I would have agreed. Esoteric, to me, has more the connotation of a secret society of sages.

Anyway, the article itself uses "esoteric."

By they way, I'm so glad that they declickbaited the headline. Thank you, editor!

That's a good point. We'll happily update the title again if someone can suggest a better one still using the author's language.
The suggestion from 'pitaj' that started this comment thread was perfect.