Re: Arguing for a nilp function and where to put it

[Roland Winkler]

On Mon, Apr 03 2023, Emanuel Berg wrote:
> As you know, but it's interesting to those who don't ...
>
> (info "(eintr) Strange Names")
>
>   The name of the cons function is not unreasonable: it is an
>   abbreviation of the word "construct". The origins of the
>   names for car and cdr, on the other hand, are esoteric: car
>   is an acronym from the phrase "Contents of the Address part
>   of the Register"; and cdr (pronounced "could-er") is an
>   acronym from the phrase "Contents of the Decrement part of
>   the Register". These phrases refer to specific pieces of
>   hardware on the very early computer on which the original
>   Lisp was developed.
>
> Hm ... That was in 1958? What kind of machine was that?

But (info "(eintr) Strange Names") goes on:

  Besides being obsolete, the phrases have been completely irrelevant
  for more than 25 years to anyone thinking about Lisp.

When was this written?  Maybe 25 years ago?  Maybe the number should be
updated.