Is this a British thing or something? People trying to be cute?

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The discussion centers around the terminology used for mathematics, specifically the difference between "math" and "maths." Participants assert that "maths" is the British English term, while "math" is the American English equivalent. The conversation highlights cultural perceptions and the historical context of language evolution, with references to figures like James Grime and Andrew Wiles. The debate reveals a strong preference among British users for "maths," while some Canadians express flexibility in usage.

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  • #31


Jimmy Snyder said:
I can't say. Hooters is too expensive for me.

Don't you mean "are", or are you referring to the establishment?

Oh hell, I have to log off now. As a last thought, it always seemed to me that the term "maths" indicated several different branches of mathematics, such as trig, algebra, etc. combined.
 
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  • #32


Jimmy Snyder said:
Would you say mathematics is beautiful, or mathematics are beautiful?

That's an interesting question. In my experience, mathematics is typically referred to as a single entity, governing all fields/subjects. Since the word can also be used when referring to a single field, it seems that the verb "are" would be permissible in certain cases. I guess its use, in that sense, would be contextually dependent.
 
  • #33


Dembadon said:
That's an interesting question. In my experience, mathematics is typically referred to as a single entity, governing all fields/subjects. Since the word can also be used when referring to a single field, it seems that the verb "are" would be permissible in certain cases. I guess its use, in that sense, would be contextually dependent.

People only use the word 'are' when trying to justify their usage of the word "maths"
 
  • #34


I'm English and I use "maths" as short for "mathematics" and "math" as short for "mathematical", for example as in "math symbol", "math notation" or "math font".

(At school, we called it "mathma" anyway).
 
  • #35


I am going to do math real quick.
I am going to write some maths real quick.

Here is some math I am doing on the subject.
Here are some maths I produced on the subject.

I enjoy learning more about all of mathematics, and I think it is a beautiful subject.

I think of math as more of a verb, to math is the act of producing maths.


For geek speak I like to say "I'm going to math it up in here" or whatnot, or jokingly "thems was some real purdy maths you made thur" in a redneck-y accent.
 
  • #36


I've been looking at lots of stuff on the Internet tonight. I'm going to go up to my room alone now to math off.
 

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