tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (Etymological questions)

HJRW comments on "Etymological questions" (10332)

HJRW — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:59:05 -0800

Mariano, in this case your criterion would apply, but nevertheless both the OED and Wikipedia (as Ben points out!) give the etymology of the mathematical word.

Qiaochu Yuan comments on "Etymological questions" (10329)

Qiaochu Yuan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 04:21:25 -0800

Right, but if you suspect that's the case you should phrase your question as a math history question, not as an etymology question.

Mariano comments on "Etymological questions" (10325)

Mariano — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:03:48 -0800

I would sometimes not vote to close, as sometimes the etymology of a word as it is used in mathematics is completely unrelated to its etymology as a word as it is used by regular humans. Also, I don't have access to the OED ( :( )

Andrew Stacey comments on "Etymological questions" (10311)

Andrew Stacey — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 11:07:05 -0800

I would vote to close etymological questions on the basis of it not being the expected area of expertise of anyone on the site. There may well be people here who have a side interest in etymology - or even entomology - but how should I (as Joe Mathematician) judge who is an expert in that or just expressing an opinion? For a mathematical question then I can judge the quality of the answer (if not, I shouldn't have asked that question), but for these side issues then I have no way of assessing the accuracy of an answer.

HJRW comments on "Etymological questions" (10310)

HJRW — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 10:23:22 -0800

Good point, Ben. That relieves my unease at presuming that everyone has access to the OED. It seems like there's some consensus here that this question was inappropriate. Bearing that in mind, I'm going to vote to close.

Ben Webster comments on "Etymological questions" (10309)

Ben Webster — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 10:06:41 -0800

This is a good example of a usage question which is probably appropriate.

Will Jagy comments on "Etymological questions" (10308)

Will Jagy — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 10:06:07 -0800

Willie, thank you, I do my best. No typo.

You are a little young for this, but there was a Saturday Night Live character named Emily Litella. Emily would make these long rants based on some incorrectly heard word. Finally somebody would manage to break in and say Emily, no, it was about ____. She would stop and say "Oh that's very different.... Never Mind."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilda_Radner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Litella

Ben Webster comments on "Etymological questions" (10307)

Ben Webster — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 10:03:52 -0800

I'll just note, this question is answered on Wikipedia. My general feeling is that if you've really done your due diligence and have come up dry, then it is OK to ask an etymological question, but they should be used rather sparingly.

WillieWong comments on "Etymological questions" (10306)

WillieWong — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 09:49:23 -0800

@Will Jagy: if that was meant to be a pun, that's horrible! If I made a typo somewhere, please tell.

Will Jagy comments on "Etymological questions" (10304)

Will Jagy — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 09:10:33 -0800

I'm sure there are separate websites for discussing insects. It is a respected branch of biology, taxonomy, etc.

HJRW comments on "Etymological questions" (10299)

HJRW — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:30:50 -0800

I learned about the other meaning from Tim Perutz's webpage.

I'm inclined to think that the same rule should apply for the OED as for Wikipedia, viz: if the obvious search finds the answer (as it does in this case), then the question isn't suitable for MO. My only reservation is that the OED isn't free to access. Most universities in Anglophone countries have subscriptions (although in my time as a PhD student there Imperial didn't, the philistines) but perhaps that's too much to assume elsewhere?

Qiaochu Yuan comments on "Etymological questions" (10298)

Qiaochu Yuan — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 04:59:26 -0800

I agree. Etymological questions about mathematical words are not mathematical questions. There are other resources for such questions, e.g. the OED, which does answer this question (although there is apparently a totally unrelated meaning of the word "symplectic" in English; I don't know if Weyl was aware of this).

WillieWong comments on "Etymological questions" (10297)

WillieWong — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 03:57:28 -0800

The author of this question asks whether etymological questions are acceptable on MO.

I am personally lukewarm about it. What does the community think?