Who do you like best out of Alex and Mandieta6?

[ShiftyPowers]

I have not read the back and forth between you and Alex because I am positive it will be a waste of time. I am watching this stupid Republican Debate tonight.

 

[Mandieta6]

This is a better debate and its result will impact you far nearer and harder.

 

[Alex]

Math is never plural.

In the US it isn't, in the UK and Australia (and most Commonwealth nations except Canada I believe) it is.

Mathematics becomes Maths...We abbreviate the ematic, but not the s.

 

[Bobby]

If you ever become a republic like us you have to start calling it math and driving on the correct side of the road.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Do you call Economics Econs?

 

[Alex]

If you ever become a republic like us you have to start calling it math and driving on the correct side of the road.

Ha. Why do Canada do all of that already? Traitors.

 

[Alex]

Do you call Economics Econs?

We don't abbreviate it at all.

 

[Bobby]

Ha. Why do Canada do all of that already? Traitors.

Pretty good country.

 

[Alex]

Mathematics is a singular subject made up of several sub-topics (algebra, trigonometry etc).

It's a plural in the same way as physics, economics, statistics are plural. ie. The subject is made up of a group of smaller areas. You don't speak of a single "mathematic" - because you simply say the area of study instead.

I abbreviate statistics to stats for this same reason.

You have "an economic concept", "a mathematic concept" (which is equally as correct as mathematical) etc

I would say "a math concept" if I was abbreviating too. But when speaking of the subject, it's maths, as it's mathematics.

 

[Alex]

Not sure if you care, I actually find this stuff interesting, but I found this:

Quote from http://grammarist.com/spelling/math-maths/
You’re getting confused, perhaps because “mathematics” can be used in two different ways.

Mathematics is the study of all the mathematical sciences. But as a label, it denotes a subject of study, and the subject itself is singular. But the target of the label is plural. If the analysis of all radishes was deemed sufficiently important to become a subject in its own right, “radishes” would be a subject, and we might say, “I hate radishes; it sucks”. In that context we are treating “radishes” as a subject, and it is a singular in that regard. If you wanted to contract “radishes”, you could go the American route and simply contract the label itself to “rad”, or you could go the British route and create a label pointing to a contraction of the target of the label, the radishes themselves (a plural), and end up with “rads”, which maintains the plurality.

Incidentally, Americans tend to use similar logic when discussing rock groups and sporting teams: they will conjugate based on the label, not on the target of the label. The British always conjugate based on the target (and they treat all groups and teams as being plural). If an American is talking about the Miami Dolphins, they might say:

“Miami sucks.”

“The dolphins suck.”

If a Brit is talking about Blackburn Rovers, they might say:

“Blackburn are doing well this year.”

“Rovers are doing well this year.”

The consistency comes from the fact that it is the target of the label being used in both cases, and the label itself is irrelevant.

Of interest: if you look up the Wikipedia page of any British rock band where the name/label is a singular, it will always treat them as a plural, e.g. “Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968”. If you do the same for any US rock band, it will always treat them as a singular, e.g. “Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987.” This reflects the different rule systems used in the two different countries.

The Nirvana and Led Zep example was still the case when I just checked Wiki 2 mins ago. Quite interesting, and something I didn't realise but makes sense now I've read it.

 

[Mandieta6]

He's filibustering.

 

[Bobby]

Why do you call pickups "utes"?

 

[Alex]

Why do you call pickups "utes"?

Utilities. Or Utility Vehicles is the origin I believe

Utes aren't always pickups though. Our (traditionally) most popular 4 door sedans (Hoden Commodore and Ford Falcon) do utes too, and they're a long way from a pick up truck. They're like a sedan with the end cut off and replaced with a tray, and are owned by a majority of tradies, especially in cities:

 

[Bobby]

Oh so they're like El Caminos and Rancheros then. Neat.

 

[Alex]

Oh so they're like El Caminos and Rancheros then. Neat.

Yep. But a ute can also be a pickup like you said before. This is a Landcruiser ute, which is one of the more popular types of 4WD utes people have here:

 

[ShiftyPowers]

A utility vehicle is an SUV, which is not a pickup.

 

[poet11]

Voted for Az despite our differences because he has interesting stuff to say. Whether we agree or disagree there is something to learn.

And speaking of intellect, just mastering a/any subject or whatever isn't a sign of special intelligence if it doesn't serve a purpose, preferably, a positive development in its field or any field. Science/Maths/Psychology or whatever mastery has to contribute beyond filling up empty spaces in our brains.

And knowledge/intelligence is just endless and hard to put into an explanation.

Person X knows shit load about many things but can't swim gets on a boat rowed by Person Y who knows how to swim and a storm comes in the middle of the lake....

 

[Theodorakis]

I'm confident saying I'm better at maths, physics, chemistry and computer science than you. IF you disagree, great, I think you're wrong. I'm not going to give you a list of accomplishments because you don't know what they mean, you don't understand their context, and in any case - doing doesn't necessarily have anything to do with intellect.

this is a great statue of ignorance, which is the source of your confidence.. no true intellectual - or a man that possesses a reasonable knowledge either at maths, physics, chemistry or computer science would have said that..

speaking of which; az is a stubborn goat, also he's very good at bending words which makes him extremely annoying in a debate. he's reasonable most of the time but he has that middle eastern blood in him.

I'm loving the fact that almost everything said here is the truth.

 

[Mandieta6]

Axis of Evil has spoken (Finland, Turkey,... .... Bangladesh? ?).

 

[poet11]

I thought Theodorakis was Greek! Fuck you, intellect!