Busy Beaver/the Busy Beaver Function %cf%83

Famous quotes containing the words busy, beaver and/or function:

    The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
    With all their lives and cares,
    Are carried downwards by thy flood,
    And lost in following years.

    Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
    Bears all its sons away;
    They fly forgotten, as a dream
    Dies at the opening day.
    Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

    On the top of the Crumpetty Tree
    The Quangle Wangle sat,
    But his face you could not see,
    On account of his Beaver Hat.
    Edward Lear (1812–1888)

    Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.
    Frank Smith (b. 1928)