[R] The assign(paste(...,i),...) idiom

[Stavros Macrakis]

Judging from the traffic on this mailing list, a lot of R beginners
are trying to write things like

      assign( paste( "myvar", i), ...)

where they really should probably be writing

      myvar[i] <- ...

Do we have any idea where this bizarre habit comes from?

          -s