formulae vs. formula??

[Jon von der Heyden]

You say tom-ay-to I say tom-aaaaaaah-to!

 

[SuperFerret]

You say tom-ay-to I say tom-aaaaaaah-to!

And in my area it's tu'marter

I prefer Formulas...I once used formulae and got a chorus of "Ooooh 'ark at you!" from my colleagues... now I only use it to the management

 

[JamesW]

The formulae for bringing ancient threads back to life is very simple, yet it still boggles my mind...

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

And in my area it's tu'marter

Yeh and there's something else about your area people here should know. All the men call each other 'love' (pronounced loov) and 'duck' (pronounced dook)...

I lived there for about 6 months. Good rock-climbing area though.

 

[SuperFerret]

Yeh and there's something else about your area people here should know. All the men call each other 'love' (pronounced loov) and 'duck' (pronounced dook)...

I lived there for about 6 months. Good rock-climbing area though.

Yes...the problem is even within the confines of Yorkshire you get different pronunciations and words, choc'let or chotlet, snicket or ginnel (or gennel?!), and the one that my parents still correct each other on: chimn'y or chimly

I used to love rock-climbing, but I am completely useless at it now

 

[Domski]

now I only use it to the management

Whose looks go from blank to utterly vacant?

I'm still not sure if there's a difference between snicket and ginnel and I've lived here nearly 20 years!

 

[Jonmo1]

Formulas vs Formulae ?
I say both are correct, but I prefer formulas


Scientists making up big fancy words for something simple.
I reckon it was the Big Fancy words that came first.
And it was actually the Layman who made up the simpler words.

We need the big fancy words, because they are specific.
Someone mentioned why do we need a big fancy word for Tiger?
Because there are more than 1 kind of Tiger.


Do we really want our Doctors and Scientists using laymans terms??
I think not.
We need them to be fluent in the big fancy scientific terms.
A doctor using a layman's term for something more specific could be the difference between a kidney transplant, and an Eye Transplant.
An unlikely example, but you get the idea.

In order for Doctors and Scientists to maintain fluency in those terms, they need to use them often.
So if my doctor tends to talk above my knowledge level, so be it.
I will gladly ask for clarification as needed.
And I'm sure my doctor doesn't mind doing that.


Can't believe I read that whole thread, there's an hour of my life I won't get back...

 

[RobMatthews]

I don't know what either a snicket or a ginnel is...

 

[mikerickson]

"Snicket" a small stifled laugh; snicker+ette >> snicket

"Ginnel" a famous female drunk from San Francisco; gin+Nell >> ginnel

 

[xenou]

I suppose these are scientific terms ...