The `-P' convention

The `-P' convention
---------------------

Turning a word into a question by appending the syllable `P'; from the
LISP convention of appending the letter `P' to denote a predicate (a
boolean-valued function).  The question should expect a yes/no answer,
though it needn't.  (See {T} and {NIL}.)

         At dinnertime:
               Q: "Foodp?"
               A: "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." or "T!"

         At any time:
               Q: "State-of-the-world-P?"
               A: (Straight) "I'm about to go home."
               A: (Humorous) "Yes, the world has a state."

         On the phone to Florida:
               Q: "State-p Florida?"
               A: "Been reading JARGON.TXT again, eh?"

[One of the best of these is a {Gosperism}.  Once, when we were at a
Chinese restaurant, Bill Gosper wanted to know whether someone would
like to share with him a two-person-sized bowl of soup.  His inquiry
was: "Split-p soup?" -- GLS]