Timeline for Grammatically correct synonym for "level of catastrophicness"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 18, 2012 at 9:43 | comment | added | J.R. | I see you've already accepted an answer, so this might be a little late, but I'm wondering about the perceived scope of the negative effects. In other words, from the software point of view, perhaps the "highest level of catastrophicness" is causing the machine to lock up in need of a reboot. However, if you're asking about the user's point of view, we might be talking about severe safety issues, such as a malfunctioning braking system. I ask because I might use different wording depending on the intent (e.g., the word havoc works well for the latter but maybe not so much the former.) | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 8:38 | comment | added | RegDwigнt | Just a quick note: there is nothing, whatsoever, incorrect about this grammar. You can say that it's not good style, but other than that "relative level of catastrophicness" follows the rules of English syntax and morphology to a tee. Whether or not there are better stylistical options, and there always are, doesn't change the fact that it is perfectly grammatical. | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 5:44 | answer | added | James Waldby - jwpat7 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 1:34 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackEnglish/status/225403247131770882 | ||
| Jul 18, 2012 at 1:07 | comment | added | Robusto | "We have developed a strategy to numerically rate the consequences of a potential catastrophic hardware failure." | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 1:07 | vote | accept | solvingPuzzles | ||
| Jul 18, 2012 at 0:50 | comment | added | Bobbi Bennett | I think if you clearly set out how you arrive at this numeric rating, you may find a more appropriate term. As is is presented now, it is as informative as 'relative level of badness'. For instance, use 'scope' for how many people are affected, 'severity' for how long it will take to fix, 'extent' for how much it will cost to fix, 'depth' for the ratio of that cost to the total worth of the company. | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 0:37 | answer | added | user21701 | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 0:22 | comment | added | Kit Z. Fox♦ | I think the problem is that "catastrophic" is already expressing a level of severity. "Catastrophy" is rather boolean; it is or it isn't. | |
| Jul 18, 2012 at 0:11 | answer | added | Andrew Leach♦ | timeline score: 8 | |
| Jul 17, 2012 at 23:50 | history | asked | solvingPuzzles | CC BY-SA 3.0 |