Subject: Re: [HM] "maths" in lieu of "math"
From: Ralph A. Raimi (rarm@math.rochester.edu)
Date: Mon Mar 27 2000 - 22:00:34 EST
On Tue, 28 Mar 2000, Piers Bursill-Hall wrote:
>
> As far as I can tell, maths is British English and math is American English.
Quite true, but for a rather special purpose.
> British editors, however, do not take so kindly to such informality in
> print, so it appears less often.
>
I do not believe this is the distinction. It is that "math" (USA)
and "maths" (UK) are always used in a colloquial setting connected with
school. A schoolboy here takes exams in math, and a Cambridge man takes a
first in maths, but one would never say "J.P. Morgan was interested in
math as a young man." He was, for a banker of his day, more than
ordinarily learned in mathematics, I have been told, but "math" refers to
school stuff. Analogously, a hundred years ago, a grocer would add a
column of figures on a paper bag, while a child would "do the sum".
Ralph A. Raimi Tel. 716 275 4429 or (home) 716 244 9368
Dept. of Mathematics FAX 716 244 6631
University of Rochester Webpage http://www.math.rochester.edu/u/rarm
Rochester, NY 14627 (Webpage contains links to papers)
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