> On 21 May 2014, at 19:29, Barbara Beeton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 20 May 2014, Chris Rowley wrote:
> 
>    [...]
> 
>    But we may need to distinguish operators from variables.  The variable case would include the case of 'variable names' that include spaces (I find it difficult to imagine an operator name with spaces but who knows?)
> 
> counter-examples from the texbook:
> \liminf (lim\,inf) and \limsup (lim\,sup).

Ah yes (not that I ever wrote them with a space way back in the days when I wrote (yes, on paper) such things).  But are those 'word spaces'??


> 
>    [...]
> 
>    PS: the term 'identifier' is not, at least not until quite recently, ever used by math folk.
> 
> not until some of us had to get into
> the font business.  sorry 'bout that.
>                         

Nothing for you to apologise for, blame the takeover by computing anoraks:-).

Chris