Timeline for What does “and counting” in “Bits of plastic in oceans: 5.25 trillion and counting” mean?

Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0

8 events

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Dec 12, 2014 at 15:38	comment	added	JamesRyan		It is more like we are counting the bits of plastic as they come in and we are still counting (so they are still coming in).
Dec 11, 2014 at 18:53	history	edited	Joel Mellon	CC BY-SA 3.0	changed emphasis to reflect the original phase in my example phrase
Dec 11, 2014 at 18:52	comment	added	Joel Mellon		Firstly, I said `you can imagine it like` not `this is literally what it means.` Regardless, the article doesn't make it clear if it's simply increasing or if it's not completely counted. I think it can (and often does) mean both. It sounds like people here are arguing for the idea that ecologists have completely counted all of the bits of plastic in the ocean...while more plastic is added everyday. They are probably literally still counting plastic...as in, "We'll never catch up. It's perpetual." It's a nuance that other answers didn't include, so I added it.
Dec 11, 2014 at 17:44	comment	added	Davor		No, that is simply wrong. We know (estimated) count, and `and counting` part means that that count is increasing in time, not that we are still counting.
Dec 11, 2014 at 15:35	comment	added	BrianH		This does seem to change the meaning significantly. When voting day is over and people are counting ballots, you could say "...and we're still counting", as in "this is how much we've counted so far". But "...and counting" in this case means that the thing being counted is itself increasing, regardless of the efficiency of your counting method.
Dec 11, 2014 at 12:49	comment	added	Loren Pechtel		I disagree. We don't have a situation where part of the pile has been counted but we haven't finished the pile.
Dec 10, 2014 at 22:53	review	First posts
Dec 10, 2014 at 23:19
Dec 10, 2014 at 22:49	history	answered	Joel Mellon	CC BY-SA 3.0