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I am a marketing writer and am working on a product description, which would be as follows:

We track cool metrics like location, duration, speed and steepness.

Is that use of the word correct? Any insight would be wonderful.

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3  
Cool metrics? While you're editing, you might want to change that word, too. Consider useful, informative, or interesting instead. – J.R. Mar 21 '12 at 21:09
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Just don't use stepth. – GEdgar Mar 21 '12 at 21:14
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There are no "cool" metrics. Especially not location or duration. – Robusto Mar 21 '12 at 21:53
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Temperature could be cool – Matt Эллен Mar 21 '12 at 22:07
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General Reference. Of course it's a word, except in the context of tracked metrics you'd probably refer to gradient (and you probably wouldn't call metrics "cool"). – FumbleFingers Mar 21 '12 at 23:36
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closed as general reference by FumbleFingers, Daniel δ, kiamlaluno, jwpat7, Mitch Mar 27 '12 at 15:24

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

4 Answers

up vote 7 down vote

I humbly suggest degree of incline or just slope:

The grade (also called slope, incline, gradient, pitch or rise) of a physical feature, topographic landform or constructed element, refers to the amount of inclination of that surface to the horizontal.

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up vote 1 down vote

Grade is what they call it in civil engineering and by bicyclists.

Article about San Francisco hills and grades

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But the word may not be familiar to people outside those fields. – Colin Fine Mar 22 '12 at 0:25
Or inside them. I trained as a civil engineer (many years ago now) and it took me ages to realise what a "grade-separated junction" actually meant. Gradient is a better word in the OP's context. – Andrew Leach Mar 22 '12 at 0:30
I'm betting that someone who would buy something that 'tracks cool metrics' would know the word grade. I respectfully disagree that gradient is a better word. Gradient has so many other meanings in mathematics and biology. Even when you look up gradient in Wikipedia it says "For the measure of steepness of a road, see Grade." – JLG Mar 22 '12 at 2:09
up vote 1 down vote

I don't really see why steepness shouldn't be treated as a valid word. It's basic sense is: how steep something is. It is not necessarily asking the degree of incline, or the type of slope. The primary sense is how much an object possesses the quality of being steep.

The OED also defines it as such:

The quality or condition of being steep.

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up vote 0 down vote

I'm making an assumption here, but it sounds like this might be used to explain some kind of software that can track a person's movements in some way or another?

If that's the case, then maybe altitude would work? Because if you track movement and the altitude changes over time, then you will likely be able to calculate the steepness (which is also a valid word) between two points.

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