<div dir="ltr"><div>Return is all about providing a value *when used transitively*. When used intransitively, it's about moving yourself. There's nothing about the latter sense that implies providing a value.<br>
<br></div>Which is not to say Richard did not overstate the case - "return needn't necessarily (in English) suggest providing a value" would be more correct, but isn't that far from a charitable interpretation of what he'd said.<br>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 7:56 AM, Donn Cave <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:donn@avvanta.com" target="_blank">donn@avvanta.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
quoth Richard A. O'Keefe,<br>
...<br>
<div class="im">> If you're familiar with *English* rather than, say, the C family of<br>
> programming languages, "return" isn't _that_ bad, there is certainly<br>
> nothing about the word that suggests providing a value.<br>
<br>
</div>The RFC822 headers of your email suggest that you use a Macintosh computer,<br>
so apart from the apparently disputable question of whether you're familiar<br>
with English, you have the same online dictionary as mine. Second definition:<br>
"give, put, or send (something) back to a place or person", with examples<br>
"she returned his kiss", usage from tennis and football, verdicts, etc.<br>
Third definition: "yield or make a profit", fourth (re)elect a person or party.<br>
"Return" is all about providing a value, in English.<br>
<br>
When a term like "return" is used in a computer programming language in<br>
a sense that confounds any prior expectation based on English or other<br>
programming languages, that's the opposite of "intuitive". It "is what<br>
it is", and it's silly to talk about changing it at this point, but that<br>
doesn't mean that we have to turn the notion of "intuitive" on its head.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
Donn<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
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