Sunday, October 05, 2014
Language update - Special edition modulo October
Professor Polistra decided to run a Language Update for one especially interesting word, tacking on a couple other observations at the end.
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Modulo:
Traditional math term, meaning the remainder of a division regardless of the quotient. Often used in dial-like situations where the quotient is physically unavailable. The reading on an odometer is the total mileage modulo 100k.
Recently spreading to a broader non-math meaning.
(1) "I think this is an interesting point (modulo the remark made elsewhere about assuring success)."
(2) "The process should eventually be a deterministic and terminating method where we only have to check if the two terms are indeed the same modulo our theory."
The meaning in these cases does fit the notion of remainder, but it's sort of backwards to the real math.
Recasting the above examples: (1) After you strip off the remark made elsewhere, what remains is an interesting point. (2) After you apply our theory, what remains is a terminating method.
But what remains here is more like the quotient or integral part, not the remainder or fractional part. It's the seed without the pod, the candy without the wrapper.
In actual math,
25 mod 4 = 1
But in the metaphor,
25 modulo 4 = 6
What part of speech is modulo in this loose sense? It looks somewhat like a preposition or a conjunction, but Prof P concludes that it's actually a gerund.
"Modulo the remark" = "Having accounted for the remark"
"Modulo our theory" = "Allowing for the effects of our theory."
Or from another angle: Modulo is an improved replacement for the Latin gerund phrase mutatis mutandis. The Latin version is indefinite: "Allowing for whatever needs to be allowed for". Modulo is more definite or transitive: "Allowing for our theory".
A truly strange specimen!
= = = = =
Modicum:
While thinking about modulo, Prof P was reminded of modicum.
It doesn't seem to contain any roots that would imply a little bit or small amount.
Turns out to be another truly strange specimen. Comes from Latin modus meaning measure, which is also the root for modulo and modular.
Modicum was simply the neuter nominative form of modicus, a familiar -ic adjective meaning something like measurable or measure-ish. Latin -icus typically becomes plain old -ic in English, and remains adjectival. But modicum turned the wrong way. For unknown reasons the neuter form stuck in English and became a noun meaning a unit. Later it specialized to mean a small unit.
Modic as adjective would be a useful word. We don't have a simple way of saying 'pertaining to measure'. Metrological would cover the correct meaning, but it's too technical and sounds too much like meteorological.
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And a couple of unrelated observations....
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Manned personnel:
News about stricter security at the White House after two veterans managed to get all the way inside without permission.
"There will be no unlocked doors without manned personnel guarding them."
Who are these "manned personnel"? Manly dykes? Eunuch drones piloted by a man?
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Yeah-no:
An odd verbal twitch, spreading among radio talkers of both partisanities.
As in
"Yeah-no, you've got a problem."
"Yeah-no, I was thinking along the same lines."
It's not spoken as a two-syllable word; it's slow and 'pensive', with the intonation pattern Prof P has sketched on the board.
This is a recent variant on a longer and broader trend toward starting positive statements with a simple No, as in "No, I think that's exactly right." There are circumstances where the No would make sense, as in answering a rather tangled double-negative question, but it usually happens in a context where it's completely uncalled for.
Pretty good signs of a totally confused and self-cancelling culture.
Update: Heard in real life outside radio. Two Safeway employees chatting about scheduling: "Yeah-no, I see what he means."
Professor Polistra decided to run a Language Update for one especially interesting word, tacking on a couple other observations at the end.
= = = = =
Modulo:
Traditional math term, meaning the remainder of a division regardless of the quotient. Often used in dial-like situations where the quotient is physically unavailable. The reading on an odometer is the total mileage modulo 100k.
Recently spreading to a broader non-math meaning.
(1) "I think this is an interesting point (modulo the remark made elsewhere about assuring success)."
(2) "The process should eventually be a deterministic and terminating method where we only have to check if the two terms are indeed the same modulo our theory."
The meaning in these cases does fit the notion of remainder, but it's sort of backwards to the real math.
Recasting the above examples: (1) After you strip off the remark made elsewhere, what remains is an interesting point. (2) After you apply our theory, what remains is a terminating method.
But what remains here is more like the quotient or integral part, not the remainder or fractional part. It's the seed without the pod, the candy without the wrapper.
In actual math,
25 mod 4 = 1
But in the metaphor,
25 modulo 4 = 6
What part of speech is modulo in this loose sense? It looks somewhat like a preposition or a conjunction, but Prof P concludes that it's actually a gerund.
"Modulo the remark" = "Having accounted for the remark"
"Modulo our theory" = "Allowing for the effects of our theory."
Or from another angle: Modulo is an improved replacement for the Latin gerund phrase mutatis mutandis. The Latin version is indefinite: "Allowing for whatever needs to be allowed for". Modulo is more definite or transitive: "Allowing for our theory".
A truly strange specimen!
= = = = =
Modicum:
While thinking about modulo, Prof P was reminded of modicum.
It doesn't seem to contain any roots that would imply a little bit or small amount.
Turns out to be another truly strange specimen. Comes from Latin modus meaning measure, which is also the root for modulo and modular.
Modicum was simply the neuter nominative form of modicus, a familiar -ic adjective meaning something like measurable or measure-ish. Latin -icus typically becomes plain old -ic in English, and remains adjectival. But modicum turned the wrong way. For unknown reasons the neuter form stuck in English and became a noun meaning a unit. Later it specialized to mean a small unit.
Modic as adjective would be a useful word. We don't have a simple way of saying 'pertaining to measure'. Metrological would cover the correct meaning, but it's too technical and sounds too much like meteorological.
= = = = =
And a couple of unrelated observations....
= = = = =
Manned personnel:
News about stricter security at the White House after two veterans managed to get all the way inside without permission.
"There will be no unlocked doors without manned personnel guarding them."
Who are these "manned personnel"? Manly dykes? Eunuch drones piloted by a man?
= = = = =
Yeah-no:
An odd verbal twitch, spreading among radio talkers of both partisanities.
As in
"Yeah-no, you've got a problem."
"Yeah-no, I was thinking along the same lines."
It's not spoken as a two-syllable word; it's slow and 'pensive', with the intonation pattern Prof P has sketched on the board.
This is a recent variant on a longer and broader trend toward starting positive statements with a simple No, as in "No, I think that's exactly right." There are circumstances where the No would make sense, as in answering a rather tangled double-negative question, but it usually happens in a context where it's completely uncalled for.
Pretty good signs of a totally confused and self-cancelling culture.
Update: Heard in real life outside radio. Two Safeway employees chatting about scheduling: "Yeah-no, I see what he means."Labels: Language update, Metrology
¶ 5:01 AM
