sarah1 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 It's not even called math at my son's school. They call it numeracy and English is called literacy.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Like "Burglarized"? And 'Anaesthesiologist' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMoran Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I left school 30 years ago but have 3 children at school and have noticed they now say Math instead of Maths.Anyone know why this is and when it changed? Math Santa Go large All anoying americanisms that have poluted our language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMoran Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 And 'Anaesthesiologist' What about Iloominum (spelt as its said) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redyam Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I was watching the tv program, 'house' (apple freebie) and even Hugh Laurie, who is English, was saying zeeeebra instead of zedbra! I don't understand that, was he told to say it because Americans wouldn't understand otherwise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMoran Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I was watching the tv program, 'house' (apple freebie) and even Hugh Laurie, who is English, was saying zeeeebra instead of zedbra! I don't understand that, was he told to say it because Americans wouldn't understand otherwise? He plays an american. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Dropping an unnecessary extra letter is just good sense. That the Americans thought of it decades before us doesn't make it any less good sense. It's not an extra letter, it's already a contraction of Mathematics which describes a field of study. You'd say Physics and Chemistry as well. Dropping letters from words when they are required is just lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sccsux Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 You do know this is now an anti American thread and will receive the wrath of harley, buck and pops. Mind you, they probably will think it is an anti American thread.:loopy: Dropping an unnecessary extra letter is just good sense. That the Americans thought of it decades before us doesn't make it any less good sense. Why is it good sense? Mathematics covers a multitude of disciplines. It's like saying "those car". Ah, you clearly mean sense as in lack of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky3 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Dropping an unnecessary extra letter is just good sense. That the Americans thought of it decades before us doesn't make it any less good sense. Should we follow the German way of simplifying language then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky1 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 There are logical arguments for both spellings. The word “mathematics” can be considered as a singular and as a plural noun. Both the Oxford and the Merriam-Webster dictionaries say the word is plural – hence the s on the end – but also that it is usually used as if it was a singular noun. So, most people would say “mathematics is my best subject” and not “mathematics are my best subject”. The shortened form “maths”, then, makes sense because the word is still a plural noun and so should still have the “s” on the end. On the other hand, it could be argued, “math” makes sense because it seems wrong to remove the letters “ematic” from the middle of the word and leave the final “s”. There are a number of other plural nouns that are used as if they were singular – for example economics, ethics, politics, gymnastics, measles and dominoes. These words, however, are not habitually shortened, making math/maths rather an unusual word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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