[MPEG-OTSPEC] "font directory" / "offset table" / "table directory"

[Adam Twardoch (Lists)]

Ps. compare "car exhibition" and "car door". First is an exhibition of cars
in the sense that it has cars, second is door of a car in the sense that
the car belongs to the car. For better understanding, "cars exhibition" of
"exhibition of cars" would aid better understanding of the first
expression.

On Mon, 31 Aug 2020 at 17:42, Adam Twardoch (Lists) <list.adam at twardoch.com>
wrote:

> Stylistic note:
>
> noun1+noun2 constructs are object+subject constructs. If in doubt, they
> should be swapped (even in your head) and a preposition should be added,
> eg. home accessory = accessory for home
>
> The most typical prepositions are for and of.
>
> Table directory reads like directory of a table. Font directory reads like
> directory of a font. Tables directory reads like directory of tables.
>
> Those object+subject constructs, even if I swap and add "of", are still
> not always clear, because A of B can mean that B is a property of A or that
> A includes B, typically as a collection.
>
> If I say "point array", it can mean "array that belongs to a point" (like
> in home accessory the accessory belongs to the home), or it can somehow
> mean that it is an array of points. Saying "points array" is a bit more
> clear because it indicates that it's probably an array of points. But
> still, it could be misunderstood.
>
> Take the example of "object records": it can mean that there is an object
> which has some records, or that there are records of the type "object".
>
> English is very poor in that context. The noun serialization may seem
> handy at first but it's full of traps, so at least for clarity we should
> make sure that if there is a plural involved, we pluralize the noun.
>
> So "tables collection" and "records array" is better than "table
> collection" and "record array". And if something like RecordArray is
> historically fixed, we should add "array of records" in parantheses for
> clarification.
>
> If you say "directory of tables" might still be best, rather than either
> font directory or table directory — because in case of collections,
> directories, tables, arrays, lists, it's more important what they contain
> than what they belong to (the latter is implied by where the term is
> described).
>
> A.
>
>
>
>
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