On my way to Reno I tried to imagine what Wirth would be like. I had a few clues: there’s a famous story about his reply when asked how to pronounce his name.
“You can call me by name, or you can call me by value,” he is supposed to have answered. “If you call me by name, it is ‘VIRT.’ If you call me by value, it is ‘Worth.’ ”
I can’t confirm that Wirth ever actually said anything like that. I think I do not know another pun that exploits three languages (German, English, and Pascal).…