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Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
I'm happy to use service as a verb - although in slang term it can relate to people as well as animals here - so use with caution!
It would be normal to service a car or a lawn mower.
I'm not sure about "to factor". In maths it would be to factorise. In estate management in Scotland a factor is an estate manager. It's used in finance as a way of reducing debt - is it used as a verb there?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
yes; you should factor all these elements into your reply. (check the previous link again; I fixed the date...) http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
I have no desire to factor anything.
What's wrong with analyse? I could then analyse all the relevant elements in my reply.
I will, however, accept the definition - to engage in the business of a factor (C15: from Latin; one who acts from facere - to do)
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
intransitive senses : to work as a factor transitive senses 1 : to resolve into factors 2 a : to include or admit as a factor -- used with in or into <factor inflation into our calculations> b : to exclude as a factor -- used with out 2a) is the sense used in my previous: any analysis you do should be transparent to, but factored into, your reply. I think the distinction is that we don't "factorize" in math in the US. This is why (at the link) the writer was chastised for using a crude Americanism. (I'm just factoring here. :) http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
It's wierd. So often the difference between US and UK English is completely illogical. This is an example when a simple word "to factor" is used by Americans when we use a more complicated word "factorise".
I know I rail about the differences but as I've said before it's more like the way some people support one football team over another. You sometimes know that your own team has won less trophies or scores less goals but you just support them out of habit!
In these days of political correctness (see previous discussions) we shy away from having strong views about people from different races or with different coloured skin so the only people left to poke fun at as people who are broadly the same as you but differ in some small way. For me well-off WASP American men fit the bill perfectly. I know they can take it on the chin.
Unfortunately with decreasing sperm counts in the West, increasing suicides amongst men who have had their traditional role of hunter-gatherer-provider taken way from them and the increase in single parenthood as women decide that they don't really need a lifelong male partner to rule the roost I might have to reconsider my stance.
All we'll be left to talk about is the weather. Life can be so boring!
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Posts: 81
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 81 |
I note jmh's use of WASP and wonder if she was thinking white Anglo-Saxon protestant as it is usually quoted. This is one of those redundant thingies since there ain't many black anglo-saxons. I recall Alistair Cook discussing this many years ago and saying the correct form is wealthy anglo-saxon protestant which, of course, makes much more sense. I wonder if the common american habit of denying the existence of a class structure in american society leads to this common tautological version. Certainly I've heard it argued that, in the states, race replaces class as the great social divide and perhaps the tautological variant just reflects this. Any thoughts about, or example of, language reflecting the differences between the social structures of the various english speaking nations.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
jo, there's something very disturbing about your latest post that I can't quite put my finger on... oh, I've got it: it's the way you spelled "wierd"(sic) -- must be some sort of Brit aberration. :-þ http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
No it's just a typo - I can't use the spellchecker as it corrects all my weird Brit spelling to even weirder things so I get cross and don't use it so I get typos
Go on then gloat!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
I'd always thought that the big story(!) about the USA was that it wasn't supposed to matter who your parents were or your racial origin - the only thing that mattered was $$$$ - is that just a myth?
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