On 18/01/07 8:28 AM, "Martin Vlietstra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> In my first test in the physics class at University we were set a problem > involving Bernoulli's equation of fluid flow. There was a real mish-mash of > units - inches, centimetres, metre/second, pressure in psi, accelatation due > to gravity as 9.8 m/s^2 and so on. The test was to see who had the sense to > reduce everything at a compatible set of units. Very few student got it right > and since we wer ein teh top tutorial group (everybody in our group having gat > an "A" at secondary school) we had a right dressing down from the professor. > I will never forget it. > > I now explain it as "Je ne par mix mon units" or "Ich mussen mir units nicht > mixen" Perhaps the American version would replace the French or German with > Spanish. >> Dear Martin, I had trouble with your explanatory quotations so I ran them past two linguistic friends who responded to my request as follows: ** The subtleties consist firstly of incompatible mixes of languages in each statement. Understanding either of the statements is only possible if one looks beyond the actual language used to the underlying non-linguistic concept implied. Neither statement is in correct French nor German. Each statement uses some French or German language with grammatical errors mixed with English vocabulary, which is itself incorrectly placed, and used ungrammatically. FRENCH Je French (1st person nominative pronoun used grammatically correctly here) means 'I' ne French (first element of negative particle used with verbs second must be included after the verb to give this valid meaning) intended to mean first half of 'not'. par not French maybe English (intended as second mandatory element of negative particle used with verbs must be included after the verb to give valid negative meaning correct word would be pas) no relevant meaning here intended to mean second half of 'not'. mix not French maybe English maybe Franglais, depending on who is using it and why. A perfectly suitable word exists in French but is not used here no relevant meaning in French here. (If this were French the grammatical ending is incorrect. Maybe considered grammatically correct spelling in English or Franglais.) intended to mean 'mix' mon French (The grammatical form is incorrect here as this pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun following it) intended to mean 'my' units not French maybe English maybe Franglais (intended as plural noun) intended to mean 'units' GERMAN Ich German (1st person nominative pronoun used grammatically correctly here) means 'I' mussen German (verb should agree with subject 1st person singular. The grammatical form used is incorrect here and is spelled incorrectly form is plural either 1st, 2nd or 3rd plural) intended to mean 'I must' mir German (should be 1st person plural possessive pronoun must agree with following noun the grammatical form used is incorrect here uses singular form here dative singular form) intended to mean 'my' units not German as far as I know intended to mean 'units' nicht German grammatically correct means 'not' mixen not German as far as I know (uses grammatically correct ending if it were German verb form) intended to mean 'mix' Not withstanding all of the above: if anyone understood all three languages and the concepts which the speaker is addressing the meaning might be understood by rapid intellectual filtering and adjustment! Ergo: Mixing units obfuscates and retards understanding concepts But maybe some people can bypass language structures when communicating mathematically provided the mathematical terms are correctly used TOO HARD BASKET FOR MOST. What a conundrum! Hits the message home by showing that whatever medium is used concepts can be expressed satisfactorily only by correct use of the medium. Try demonstrating the properties of mercury by singing a flowing melody in a Chinese scale into which you insert a phrase from Moussorsky's Promenade and at the same time making each interval either a major or a minor third different from the original key. Clever send up of the use of mixed units in mathematics a real Anna Russell. Cheers, Pat Naughtin PO Box 305, Belmont, 3216 Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter Pat is also recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. He is also editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' section of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual for writers, editors and printers'. He is a Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia and the International Federation for Professional Speakers. See: http://www.metricationmatters.com This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. 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