This tag is for questions about the usage and meaning of mathematical terminology and the names for mathematical entities in English.
45
votes
8answers
4k views
Is -1 singular or plural?
Do we say "-1 thing" or "-1 things"?
Edit: I am interested in both of these cases: "two things minus one thing(s)" and the quantity "minus/negative one thing(s)."
Bounty: While there are some good ...
11
votes
5answers
4k views
Does “either A or B ” preclude “both A and B”?
In mathematics, "A or B" includes "A and B".
Does "either" mean "A or B but not (A and B)" or does it include the possibility of "A and B"?
The context might be mathematics, formal logic or ordinary ...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
How can I form a word like “quadruple” for any number I want?
I'm not sure what these are called, but how can I form a word like "quadruple" for any number I want? Like 5× as much is quintuple, what is 31× as much or 147× as much? I want to know how they are ...
20
votes
7answers
988 views
(k+1)th or (k+1)st?
Mathematicians commonly have to form ordinals from variables: you might look at the kth element of a sequence, for example. When the variable is a single letter, the ordinal is always formed with the ...
14
votes
9answers
2k views
Why do we say “lowest common denominator” when we mean “greatest common divisor”?
For example, we could say HTML is the lowest common denominator on the web", because one can be sure all web browsers are able to render HTML (but not Flash or Java). If I want my web page to show ...
11
votes
5answers
3k views
Difference between “computation” and “calculation”
If the words computation and calculation are not perfect synonyms what is the difference between them? Which one describes more accurately what is done by a person computing or calculating something ...
9
votes
2answers
5k views
Should I use the singular or plural verb in mathematical formulae (“Two and two make/makes four”)?
I remember somebody correcting me once when I said, "Two and two makes four", since the conjunction and would imply the use of a plural verb. They would prefer I said:
Two and two make four.
...
4
votes
3answers
239 views
Why is the common meaning of logical terms ('and', 'or') incongruous from that in math?
If someone wrote that they want "nuts and bolts", they would get a bunch of hardware they could attach things with. If this was software or math, they would only receive nothing, because things are ...
96
votes
12answers
6k views
What do you call a disk with a hole in the middle?
Compact Discs, washers and Aerobie frisbees are all disks with a hole in the middle. Is there a word (either mathematical or not) to describe this shape? I mean the specific case of a round hole in a ...
28
votes
6answers
11k views
Use of “I”, “we” and the passive voice in a scientific thesis [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Style Question: Use of “we” vs. “I” vs. passive voice in a dissertation
When the first person voice is used in scientific writing it is mostly ...
8
votes
5answers
789 views
Is there a word for a class of circular shapes?
I'm not sure if this belongs here, but I'm wondering if there is a word for a class of circular shapes?
Thinking about this hierarchically:
* Shape
* Polygon
* Square
* Rectangle
* ...
8
votes
3answers
10k views
Are there any differences between “oval” and “ellipse”?
Are there any differences between "oval" and "ellipse"?
4
votes
2answers
416 views
What's the grammatically correct usage of the word “modulo”?
I was wondering how should I rephrase the below sentence such that it is grammatically correct (accepted in standard American English):
10 modulo 3 equals 1.
Initially, I'd thought that it is ...
1
vote
4answers
2k views
“Lower number” vs. “smaller number”
Is −9 a smaller number than −8?
And is −9 a lower number than −8?
What is the difference between lower and smaller here?
