Ask a physicist anything. (3)

[Cabal]

They talk funny too. "Maths"?

Well, it is mathematicS.

 

[Chesterton]

Well, it is mathematicS.

True. But if I'm eating from a plate containing meat, vegetables and bread, it sounds better to say "I'm eating food", rather than "I'm eating foods".

 

[Cabal]

True. But if I'm eating from a plate containing meat, vegetables and bread, it sounds better to say "I'm eating food", rather than "I'm eating foods".

Except food isn't an informal contraction of a word, which tend to pluralise with an s.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Except food isn't an informal contraction of a word, which tend to pluralise with an s.

And mathematics is?

We say "billion", but they say "million" -- or something like that.

I've heard that a lot, but I've never met a Briton who uses 'million' to mean anything other than 1,000,000 - i.e., the scientific standard.

 

[Cabal]

And mathematics is?

Maths is.

 

[AV1611VET]

Uh...no.

Well, not anymore, at any rate.

From answers.com:

• The cardinal number equal to 10 to the 9th power.
• Chiefly British. The cardinal number equal to 10 to the 12th power.

 

[Gracchus]

And mathematics is?


I've heard that a lot, but I've never met a Briton who uses 'million' to mean anything other than 1,000,000 - i.e., the scientific standard.

"bil·lion (b

l

y

n) n.
1. The cardinal number equal to 10[sup]9[/sup].
2. Chiefly British The cardinal number equal to 10[sup]12[/sup].
3. An indefinitely large number.

[French, a million million : blend of bi-, second power; see bi-1 and million.]
bil

lion adj."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

What Americans call a "billion", Brits call a "thousand million".

 

[Cabal]

From answers.com:

Right, "chiefly British" however doesn't imply "regularly used by British".

I've also never encountered anyone saying million, billion or trillion who didn't mean 10^6, 10^9, and 10^12 respectively.

What Americans call a "billion", Brits call a "thousand million".

What we actually say is "billion"

 

[Gracchus]

Right, "chiefly British" however doesn't imply "regularly used by British".

I've also never encountered anyone saying million, billion or trillion who didn't mean 10^6, 10^9, and 10^12 respectively.

What we actually say is "billion"

I would never accuse an Irishman of being British.

 

[Cabal]

I would never accuse an Irishman of being British.

Well, you can, seeing as the English used is near-identical and I'm half-British. I just play up the Irish half because who doesn't love the Irish and you're less likely to get shot by hijackers

(but yes, generally a wise policy )

 

[Chesterton]

I also remember reading some old British stuff where they referred to, say, "millions" where an American would refer to "million". The English would say America is a nation of 300 millions, but we would say it's a nation of 300 million. I think they're correct on that.

But I apologize for derailing onto the most boring trivia (trivias?) (trivium?) possible.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

From answers.com:

"bil·lion (b

l

y

n) n.
1. The cardinal number equal to 10[sup]9[/sup].
2. Chiefly British The cardinal number equal to 10[sup]12[/sup].
3. An indefinitely large number.

[French, a million million : blend of bi-, second power; see bi-1 and million.]
bil

lion adj."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

What Americans call a "billion", Brits call a "thousand million".

Dictionaries can say what they like.

Most people who say 'million' instead of 'billion', are indeed British, but they are a tiny minority of actual Britons. It's like saying that the Texan accent is chiefly a US phenomenon; that doesn't mean most US people have a Texan accent. I've also only seen the phrase 'thousand million' in the textbook definitions of 'billion', and only then used in parentheses.

Unless you'd like to profess a greater knowledge of British English than the British

 

[Wiccan_Child]

I also remember reading some old British stuff where they referred to, say, "millions" where an American would refer to "million". The English would say America is a nation of 300 millions, but we would say it's a nation of 300 million. I think they're correct on that.

But I apologize for derailing onto the most boring trivia (trivias?) (trivium?) possible.

I've seen 'peoples' used, but only when talking about, say, the Iberian peoples (i.e., one group of people, the Spaniards, and another group of people, the Portuguese, are together two groups of peoples). I've only heard 'millions' in phrases like "There's millions of them!", and even Americans use that!

 

[Chesterton]

Peoples, not people.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Peoples, not people.

Because there are several disctinct peoples in Britain Angles, Saxons, Celts, Welsh, English, Scots, Cornish, Kentish, etc, etc, etc.

I realised about a year ago that the entire American accent (from north Canada to south US) is just a mutation of Irish. Mind = blown.

 

[Cabal]

Because there are several disctinct peoples in Britain Angles, Saxons, Celts, Welsh, English, Scots, Cornish, Kentish, etc, etc, etc.

I realised about a year ago that the entire American accent (from north Canada to south US) is just a mutation of Irish. Mind = blown.

And I thought the Northern Irish sounded weird.

 

[AV1611VET]

Unless you'd like to profess a greater knowledge of British English than the British

That's okay -- I meant it in jest, anyway.

 

[AV1611VET]

Because there are several disctinct peoples in Britain Angles, Saxons, Celts, Welsh, English, Scots, Cornish, Kentish, etc, etc, etc.

I realised about a year ago that the entire American accent (from north Canada to south US) is just a mutation of Irish. Mind = blown.

Didn't even Darwin write a book called, in its short form, The Preservation of Favoured Races?

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Didn't even Darwin write a book called, in its short form, The Preservation of Favoured Races?

Did he? I've never heard of it... *cough* release the hounds *cough*

 

[TemperateSeaIsland]

Didn't even Darwin write a book called, in its short form, The Preservation of Favoured Races?

That was part of the original title of "On the Origin of species". The full title is

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

Bit of a mouthfull, races in this context seems to refer to variety or type so there are whole load of races considering all the species exist.