r/USdefaultism • u/Real-Bookkeeper9455 American Citizen • Oct 31 '24
Reddit No s in math
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u/snow_michael Nov 01 '24
They forget about British English
And Indian, Australian, New Zealand, Nigerian ...
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u/EleutheriusTemplaris Nov 01 '24
This reminds me of one Big Bang Theory episode. Raj - the Indian guy - was pronouncing one word differently than the others, and they made fun of him for it. But he said that there were one billion Indians saying it like this, so maybe the Americans were wrong.
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u/Cocoquelicot37 Nov 01 '24
Even in non English-speaking countries we say maths lol at least in France
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u/Funny_Maintenance973 Oct 31 '24
Maths, short for mathematics.
Not short for mathematic
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u/TheArmoursmith Oct 31 '24
Exactly, because there is more than one mathematic
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Oct 31 '24
[deleted]
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u/TheArmoursmith Oct 31 '24
One pant would only cover one bumcheek, obviously. You need two for it to be a pair of pants.
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Oct 31 '24
[deleted]
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u/TheArmoursmith Oct 31 '24
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Nov 01 '24
[deleted]
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u/TheArmoursmith Nov 01 '24
Think about it, you probably buy "a pair" of trousers, or "some" trousers, but never "a" trousers. Same with pants, leggings, trunks, etc... because the underlying thing you're referring to is plural, despite being one garment. A bunch of bananas is one object, but is also plural.
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u/OKImHere Nov 01 '24
But there's a left pant and a right pant. If you spill juice on your leg, you'd say "Oh no, I stained this pant. One of the pants is now ruined."
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u/BananApocalypse Nov 01 '24
Mathematics is a mass noun, not a plural noun, so there is no need to keep the s at the end. And if you do want to keep the s, then it should be “math’s” to indicate the missing letters.
It’s just a word that happens to end in S, there is no need to include it in the abbreviation. Saying “maths” is the same as deciding that laboratory should be called a “laby” instead of “lab”, or information should be “infon” instead of “info”.
Economics is another good comparison. “Econ” makes sense as an abbreviation, no one says “econs”.
And this isn’t even US Defaultism since it’s not US-specific.
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u/Putrid-Tie-4776 Switzerland Nov 01 '24
I would think mathematics is a pluralia tantum, so then maths would be correct and math wouldn't. although i really don't care.
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u/AzurKurciel Nov 01 '24
The logic isn't US-specific.
However, the English language isn't particularly known for being logic. And people outside the US write "maths". I don't think "explaining them" why they're "wrong" would change anything
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u/BananApocalypse Nov 01 '24
I’m obviously not asking anyone to change how they say certain things, that’s cultural.
I am critiquing this post in 2 ways. First being that “math” is grammatically correct, so people who say “maths” should stop acting superior and laughing at those who say it differently.
Second, this post does not fit the sub at all, because there are hundreds of millions of English speakers outside the US who also say “math”. There’s Canada, Nigeria, Philippines, etc.
In conclusion, shit-tier post full of ignorant-ass commenters who don’t see the irony here.
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u/Kjorkenheimer Nov 01 '24
It’s honestly a reduction of a fricative cluster “th” and “s”. One could argue that it’s just easier to say and evolved that way in American English. Or Americans are just stupid /s lol 😂 . Similar to the fricative cluster reduction in the word sixth in some dialects of British English (sixth becomes something closer to sikth”.
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u/Martiantripod Australia Nov 01 '24
Who says "Econ" as a short form of Economics? It might be abbreviated that way in writing but I've never heard anyone say it out loud.
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u/Kjorkenheimer Nov 01 '24
If you’ve ever been to a US university you’d hear it all the time.
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u/cannot_type United States Nov 03 '24
It's mainly used when referring to the class itself, rather than the subject.
It's weird.
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u/Lexioralex United Kingdom Nov 01 '24
Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, Number Theory, Calculus. Look at the plurality of things mathematics is the umbrella term for
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u/RealMetalHeadHippy Canada Oct 31 '24
"Americans call mathematics "Math" because they argue mathematics functions as a singular noun,
Fair enough Americans,
By the same Rule,
You're a bunch of Asshole"
-Jimmy Carr
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u/ThatWetFloorSign United States Nov 01 '24
what? but assholes is the plural of asshole, and you're using the plural form here
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u/SnakeCharmer18 Wales Nov 01 '24
Jimmy Carr just called you an arsehole, I think it’s best you leave
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u/deadcatdidntbounce Oct 31 '24
America has only one branch of mathematics. The free world and other bits have many.
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u/b-monster666 Canada Oct 31 '24
*maffs
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u/nitroguy2 American Citizen Oct 31 '24
2+2=4-1=3 😤🔥💯
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u/RichSector5779 England Oct 31 '24
BIG MAFFS!
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u/RichSector5779 England Oct 31 '24
WAIT FUCK ITS QUICK
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u/pucag_grean Oct 31 '24
Married at first sight
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u/b-monster666 Canada Oct 31 '24
When's our ceremony?
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u/ronnidogxxx United Kingdom Oct 31 '24 edited Oct 31 '24
I think math is shit, I prefer physic. And if your* pissed, I could** care less. (Yes, I know and * yes, I know). 🙂
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u/SquashVarious5732 India Nov 01 '24 edited Nov 01 '24
Mathematics
Physics
Statistics
Civics
Economics
Politics
~ Americans
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u/ThatWetFloorSign United States Nov 01 '24
The only two of these that is actually plural is statistics
Math(ematics) is singular
Phys(ics) is singular
Civ(ics) is singular
Econ(omics) is singular (at least in regard to studying economics)
Pol(itics) is singular as well
Statistics is plural, therefore the shorthand version, stats, is the abbreviation that should be used.
Math is not plural, therefore why do you need the s from the end of mathematics.
(I know economic and civic are also words, but they're adjectives)
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u/Lexioralex United Kingdom Nov 01 '24
Math(ematics) is singular
Arithmetic, Geometry, Number Theory, Probability, Calculus etc.
Phys(ics) is singular
Energy, Forces, Mechanics, Electricity etc
I could go on with the others but if you can't understand the simple examples above there's no point continuing
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u/ThatWetFloorSign United States Nov 01 '24
Doesn't matter, Mathematics is the word for the study of Math, it doesn't matter how many subjects there are, Physics too
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u/karratkun Oct 31 '24
when i first heard people call it maths i also thought it was wrong (my own us defaultism) but it takes two seconds to just google it and see that it's not incorrect. if anything maths makes more sense than math bc it's short for mathematicS
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u/OKImHere Nov 01 '24
Type mathematics, then start hitting backspace to make it abbreviated. Tell me which one you see first.
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u/karratkun Nov 01 '24
that changes based on your keyboard settings, if you have a US keyboard it changes to math, if you have a european one it changes to maths, idk why you're fighting on this
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u/supermethdroid Nov 01 '24
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u/Comfortable_Ad335 Nov 01 '24
Why is this getting Downvoted? I believe he’s replying to u/okimhere
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u/ChickinSammich United States Nov 01 '24
Americans took the S at the end of math and put it at the end of sports. :)
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u/Real-Bookkeeper9455 American Citizen Nov 01 '24
how did I not know British people (and most other English speaking countries) say sport. maybe I should be put on here
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u/jaavaaguru Scotland Nov 01 '24
Scotland here - We have a sports day at school, and I'd ask someone what sports they watch. It has an S at the end.
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u/Real-Bookkeeper9455 American Citizen Nov 02 '24
so is the other guy spreading misinformation or is it more of an England thing
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u/jaavaaguru Scotland Nov 02 '24
Most likely a regional thing. There's a lot of differences in dialect between regions of each of the UK's constituent countries. I wouldn't be surprised if England was different from Scotland on this, or even if other parts of Scotland were different.
I'm west coast btw.
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u/thiccy_driftyy United States Nov 01 '24
I’m American and I didn’t even know “maths” wasn’t an American thing.
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u/violetvoid513 Canada Nov 04 '24
This isnt exclusively a US thing. Ironically your own post is USdefaultism because you assumed that something thats true in the US is only true in the US
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u/USDefaultismBot American Citizen Oct 31 '24 edited Nov 01 '24
This comment has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect.
OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is US Defaultism:
They forget about British English
Is this Defaultism? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.