There are times when my brain wants to explode, wanting to shout out “that’s the wrong word“, when my body justs goes into spasms when a wrong word is spoken.
One word that I am continually hearing in the last few days is “MATH“, and it is getting me mad.
The word “Math” is a shortened version of the word “mathematics“.
In the web site Wikipedia there is an explanation of the word “mathematics” as being :-
“…the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures,
and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions.“
which leaves me confused, as “maths” left me confused at school.
But that is not what I am writing about. My confusion about how mathematics (notice the “s”) work has been solved, has gone away, because over time, although I am not a mathematician, I now understand how numbers work, how to apply a mathematical formula (one) to work out a problem, how statistics are relevant to me, to calculate how much change I should have after paying a restaurant bill, or to calculate the value of the British Pound to the Turkish Lira, the Euro, or the Malaysian Ringit, and I learned this ability by applying “Maths” to real situations to problems I encountered as I work and travel through life.
What I am writing about is the use of the abbreviation of “mathematics“.
“Mathematics” has an “S” on the end of the word, which in the English language infers that it is plural, more than one.
If you had “an orange” in your hand you would have one orange in your hand, if you had “oranges” in your hand you would have more than one orange in your hand.
So when the word “Mathematics” is abbreviated, why drop the “S“, making the abbreviation “Math“? It should be “Maths“.
If a student is going to class, are they studying one calculation or many calculations? Are they studying “Mathematic” or “Mathematics“?
Yes I am British, and I speak British English, we say “Maths“, and it is the Americans that say “Math” which is American English.
I am on a mission, that when ever I travel abroad and give training, I have to teach my translators real English, British English, the pronunciation, the correct sounds.
Sorry my American readers, but the different pronunciations and usages of words to me is like having a slice of dried bread or a piece of chocolate cake.