I was corrected by another individual when describing the solution to a problem as a "math calculation". Is math implied when using calculation in a sentence therefore making my statement redundant?
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3You should have said a "mathematical calculation."– think_meaning_buildßCommented Dec 6, 2013 at 18:00
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1It would be rash to say that a word pair is ALWAYS redundant and therefore should ALWAYS be avoided. The "math calculation" duo is rare, and the Ngram shows it was non-existent for a long time, but there are instances (many of them in books talking about either word processors or measuring learning aptitude, so it may be jargon). I did find this in a book (and have no problem with it): Modern calculators can do many calculations quickly. A complicated math calculation no longer is a big problem.– J.R.Commented Dec 6, 2013 at 18:54
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2 Answers
It depends on the context. calculation can mean
careful planning or forethought, esp for selfish motives
or
an estimation of probability; forecast
It isn't necessarily redundant, per se, but I'd say that you'd be hard-pressed to produce an example in which it wasn't redundant if the context of math is understood. If a math context wasn't previously understood, then it likely isn't redundant (there is possible ambiguity as to the aforementioned usages). In those situations, though, it's likely that qualifying with "mathematical" is just excessive or pedantic. I'd only use it if it's truly useful to.
To calculate is to determine a value mathematically, so I would say that "math calculation" is indeed redundant.
To be thorough, there are other definitions for calculate that take the general concept in a more colloquial direction: his often-stated support for environmental protection always seemed very calculated. In those cases, though, it's usually pretty obvious that you're not talking about mathematics, so it should rarely if ever be necessary to qualify a statement about mathematical calculation.
