Anselmo Pérez Serrada wrote:
"Now that you're talking about drainage inclinations, I'd like to pose a
lexical question:
Which is the difference between 'inclination' and 'slope'?
As far as I can see, I gather that in English both are interchangeable
terms that denote so the angle between some plane with the vertical line
as also the angle made with the (horizontal) ground. You can only notice
the difference through the context.
In Spanish (and I suppose in other Latin languages) there is a
difference, not always observed, between 'inclinacion' (=inclination?)
and 'pendiente' (=slope?): the first one is the angle between the plane
and the vertical line and the second one is its complementary. That's
why we talk about 'La torre inclinada de Pisa' (the leaning tower of
Pisa) but not 'La torre pendiente de Pisa'. ..."
Anselmo, you have taught us all something. In English, too, we would
never say "the inclining tower of Pisa" :-)
Like much language use in English we don't know why, but you have given
us an explanation.
Maria Brandl
149deg E 34degS (roughly :-)
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