Editing Talk:2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations

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[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.160|172.70.130.160]] 02:36, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.160|172.70.130.160]] 02:36, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
:My teachers always pronounced it PIV-nert. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.20|172.69.62.20]] 18:38, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
:My teachers always pronounced it PIV-nert. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.20|172.69.62.20]] 18:38, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
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:At least for American dialects, a stressed /ʌ/ is what you get when you think you have a syllable with a stressed /ə/ sound. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.221|172.68.143.221]] 01:03, 19 December 2021 (UTC)
  
 
I think this is the XKCD that has made me laugh the most, out of all 2492.
 
I think this is the XKCD that has made me laugh the most, out of all 2492.
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:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ok_GMxThuo How would you pronounce the word 'give'?] !!!!
 
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ok_GMxThuo How would you pronounce the word 'give'?] !!!!
 
:(The English ''letter'' pronunciation is "Jee". It's also pronounced as an "F" in "Enough" and "" in "Gnome", etc.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.197|162.158.158.197]] 19:37, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
 
:(The English ''letter'' pronunciation is "Jee". It's also pronounced as an "F" in "Enough" and "" in "Gnome", etc.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.197|162.158.158.197]] 19:37, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
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The most similar time when equations are actually 'pronounced' a bit like this is the "soh cah toa" mnemonic for the trigonometric identities - should this be in the explanation? (the comic made at least me think that might be the original inspiration) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.204|141.101.99.204]] 06:42, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
The most similar time when equations are actually 'pronounced' a bit like this is the "soh cah toa" mnemonic for the trigonometric identities - should this be in the explanation? (the comic made at least me think that might be the original inspiration) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.204|141.101.99.204]] 06:42, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
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:How is "soh cah toa" a mnemonic?? It's just a bunch of random letters.  Normally you memorize random letters by coming up with words that fit together, not vice versa.  I think this is much harder to remember than the thing it is supposedly a mnemonic for.  If anyone actually finds it useful, can you explain how it works for you?  :I've seen this before so I suppose it's a real thing, but I find it baffling.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.220|108.162.221.220]] 04:15, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
:How is "soh cah toa" a mnemonic?? It's just a bunch of random letters.  Normally you memorize random letters by coming up with words that fit together, not vice versa.  I think this is much harder to remember than the thing it is supposedly a mnemonic for.  If anyone actually finds it useful, can you explain how it works for you?  I've seen this before so I suppose it's a real thing, but I find it baffling.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.220|108.162.221.220]] 04:15, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
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::You ask how it's a mnemonic, yet you say you've seen it before. Think about that for a sec. [[User:Klo876|Klo876]] ([[User talk:Klo876|talk]]) 01:58, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
::You ask how it's a mnemonic, yet you say you've seen it before. Think about that for a sec.
 
[[User:Klo876|Klo876]] ([[User talk:Klo876|talk]]) 01:58, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 
 
::Not sure it's a mnemonic, no, but I was taught SOHCAHTOA by a very good (but strict) maths teacher as in "... (like?) that volcanic eruption". Given we were 10, 11 years old, I don't think we even ''knew'' about {{w|Krakatoa}} at that point (despite having also a very good Geography teacher who readily identified lumps of 'Gneissian schist' that I may have brought back from holiday - he also had a much better sense of humour...) so whether I (or the teacher?) was mistaken in understanding "Sohcahtoa" to be purported to be a (now ironically memorable) volcano rather than it was a "it rhymes with..." mnemonic, I don't now know. But since then I have always used SOHCAHTOA to confirm in my mind which trigonometric identity I should use. And, later, I learnt and never forgot that {{w|Krakatoa,_East_of_Java|Krakatoa is/was ''west'' of Java}}! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.230|141.101.98.230]] 08:20, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
 
::Not sure it's a mnemonic, no, but I was taught SOHCAHTOA by a very good (but strict) maths teacher as in "... (like?) that volcanic eruption". Given we were 10, 11 years old, I don't think we even ''knew'' about {{w|Krakatoa}} at that point (despite having also a very good Geography teacher who readily identified lumps of 'Gneissian schist' that I may have brought back from holiday - he also had a much better sense of humour...) so whether I (or the teacher?) was mistaken in understanding "Sohcahtoa" to be purported to be a (now ironically memorable) volcano rather than it was a "it rhymes with..." mnemonic, I don't now know. But since then I have always used SOHCAHTOA to confirm in my mind which trigonometric identity I should use. And, later, I learnt and never forgot that {{w|Krakatoa,_East_of_Java|Krakatoa is/was ''west'' of Java}}! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.230|141.101.98.230]] 08:20, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
 
::(PS - If I ever have to use the "Many Very Elderly Men Just..." mnemonic (or whatever it is, I was sure it had had Earthenware Vases, but maybe only in a reversed version!), I tend to have to ''backform'' it from my unclear recollection of the mnemonic(s) I've been told plus just ''knowing'' that it's "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, **, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune*, Pluto-if-we're-counting-it*" (* - except between 1979 and 1999 when it was "...Pluto-definity-counted-at-this-time, Neptune") (** - and then there's possibly an A, B or C here for Asteroid, Belt or Ceres; nobody I know has ever added Kuiper and/or Oort into the string of words to need remembering, though) using very non-mnemonical direct or indirect knowledge about the solar-system, like Clarke's written version of 2001 aiming at Saturn but Kubrik's film 'only' going as far as Jupiter. So I "(Sometimes?) Might Very Earnestly Make And Join Something Unprecedented Never Known Originally" on the spur of the moment.)
 
::(PS - If I ever have to use the "Many Very Elderly Men Just..." mnemonic (or whatever it is, I was sure it had had Earthenware Vases, but maybe only in a reversed version!), I tend to have to ''backform'' it from my unclear recollection of the mnemonic(s) I've been told plus just ''knowing'' that it's "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, **, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune*, Pluto-if-we're-counting-it*" (* - except between 1979 and 1999 when it was "...Pluto-definity-counted-at-this-time, Neptune") (** - and then there's possibly an A, B or C here for Asteroid, Belt or Ceres; nobody I know has ever added Kuiper and/or Oort into the string of words to need remembering, though) using very non-mnemonical direct or indirect knowledge about the solar-system, like Clarke's written version of 2001 aiming at Saturn but Kubrik's film 'only' going as far as Jupiter. So I "(Sometimes?) Might Very Earnestly Make And Join Something Unprecedented Never Known Originally" on the spur of the moment.)
 
:: The point of soh-cah-toa is that you learn to say it aloud as one word (which is therefore memorable), and then can expand it out as an acronym for sin(x) = o/h, cos(x) = a/h, tan(x) = o/a, which wouldn't be memorable. Much like BIDMAS/PEDMAS is pronounced as one word to learn an acronym. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.176|162.158.158.176]] 18:32, 26 July 2021 (UTC)
 
:: The point of soh-cah-toa is that you learn to say it aloud as one word (which is therefore memorable), and then can expand it out as an acronym for sin(x) = o/h, cos(x) = a/h, tan(x) = o/a, which wouldn't be memorable. Much like BIDMAS/PEDMAS is pronounced as one word to learn an acronym. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.176|162.158.158.176]] 18:32, 26 July 2021 (UTC)
::: BIDMAS/PEDMAS '''is/are''' the acronym (a string of initials pronouncible/pronounced as a word), used as a mnemonic to recall and learn the maths.
 
 
:The circle area might be meant to read out like "upper two", referencing the square. I can't see the same for any of the others though. / [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.157|162.158.183.157]] 06:52, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
:The circle area might be meant to read out like "upper two", referencing the square. I can't see the same for any of the others though. / [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.157|162.158.183.157]] 06:52, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
  
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Sorry to come in as an amateur, but I think the equation pronounced Ha-SPLOG-pee is actually the equation for Shannon diversity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.134|162.158.126.134]] 11:58, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
Sorry to come in as an amateur, but I think the equation pronounced Ha-SPLOG-pee is actually the equation for Shannon diversity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.134|162.158.126.134]] 11:58, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
: In my opinion, most of the contributions here are from people pretending to know more than they do.  Edit away.  Be bold. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.172|172.70.114.172]] 21:04, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
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: In my opinion, most of the contributions here are from people pretending to know more than they do.  Edit away.  Be bold. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.172|172.70.114.172]] 21:04, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
  
 
The Pythagorean Theorem one made me think of the AT-AT debate for Star Wars
 
The Pythagorean Theorem one made me think of the AT-AT debate for Star Wars
 
:The wave equation reminded me of Jimmy Durante's Ink A Dinka Doo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWqi9eWwXvk I think I'm dating myself (no one else will). [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:55, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 
:The wave equation reminded me of Jimmy Durante's Ink A Dinka Doo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWqi9eWwXvk I think I'm dating myself (no one else will). [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:55, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
  
I don't think it's clear if the provided pronunciations are the ''Correct'' ones or the common ''mispronunciations''
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I don't think it's clear if the provided pronunciations are the ''Correct'' ones or the common ''mispronunciations''.
  
 
It's worth noting that the majority of these equations are especially likely to be elided, and that the way they're routinely elided is generally incorrect - and more than that, the stressed syllable in particular is likely wrong. Especially notably "Fu-Jam-Er" should be "Fu-Gam-Er" and "Pav-Nert" should be "Piv-Nert". The joke works on the level of equation pronunciation being pretty intrinsically funny if you're not familiar with the specific equation, but also on the level of the specific equations having a standard pronunciation that pointedly isn't the one in the comic.
 
It's worth noting that the majority of these equations are especially likely to be elided, and that the way they're routinely elided is generally incorrect - and more than that, the stressed syllable in particular is likely wrong. Especially notably "Fu-Jam-Er" should be "Fu-Gam-Er" and "Pav-Nert" should be "Piv-Nert". The joke works on the level of equation pronunciation being pretty intrinsically funny if you're not familiar with the specific equation, but also on the level of the specific equations having a standard pronunciation that pointedly isn't the one in the comic.
 
  
 
It would be interesting to try and reverse-engineer the original equations behind, for example, "Fus ro dah", or "Avada Kedavra". [[User:Cavaler|Cavaler]] ([[User talk:Cavaler|talk]]) 12:53, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
 
It would be interesting to try and reverse-engineer the original equations behind, for example, "Fus ro dah", or "Avada Kedavra". [[User:Cavaler|Cavaler]] ([[User talk:Cavaler|talk]]) 12:53, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
  
 
What is the pronounciation notation this comic is using?? I can't even find them in Oxford/Cambridge/Merriam-Webster/Collins dictionary, though I think I occasionally see them somewhere else. --[[User:Lamty101|Lamty101]] ([[User talk:Lamty101|talk]]) 08:43, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 
What is the pronounciation notation this comic is using?? I can't even find them in Oxford/Cambridge/Merriam-Webster/Collins dictionary, though I think I occasionally see them somewhere else. --[[User:Lamty101|Lamty101]] ([[User talk:Lamty101|talk]]) 08:43, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
: It's probably not actually right to consider it a notation, ''per se''. It's a trivial method that anyone can use (no need to use funny stuff like ɛ, ʑ or ɖʐ in IPA notation - or remember what they mean!), but it's also liable to inconsistency as you can be inconsistent in both production (some might consider "DOO" ''or'' "DU" an acceptible rendering for the same thing) or understanding (if "BAI" is written used, was that as in "good''bye''" (see also "BIE") or "e''Bay''" (also could have been "BAE"), etc?). How would you indicate syllable boundaries, "IN-DUH-KAYT" or "IND-UCK-ATE" or ? A Cockney or a Kiwi or a Cajun might each produce ''and'' voice notations completely differently. But it's better than nothing. And with either bolding (as in here), italicising or uppercase-contrasting-with-the-rest-in-lowercase you can indicate the stressed syllable(s). Maybe look at {{w|Pronunciation respelling for English}} (I didn't see a further link to qualify any 'standards' for this non-phonomic system, and doubt that there are any that travel well beyond any actual particular narrow dialectical territory).
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: It's probably not actually right to consider it a notation, ''per se''. It's a trivial method that anyone can use (no need to use funny stuff like ɛ, ʑ or ɖʐ in IPA notation - or remember what they mean!), but it's also liable to inconsistency as you can be inconsistent in both production (some might consider "DOO" ''or'' "DU" an acceptible rendering for the same thing) or understanding (if "BAI" is written used, was that as in "good''bye''" (see also "BIE") or "e''Bay''" (also could have been "BAE"), etc?).  
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How would you indicate syllable boundaries, "IN-DUH-KAYT" or "IND-UCK-ATE" or ? A Cockney or a Kiwi or a Cajun might each produce ''and'' voice notations completely differently. But it's better than nothing. And with either bolding (as in here), italicising or uppercase-contrasting-with-the-rest-in-lowercase you can indicate the stressed syllable(s). Maybe look at {{w|Pronunciation respelling for English}} (I didn't see a further link to qualify any 'standards' for this non-phonomic system, and doubt that there are any that travel well beyond any actual particular narrow dialectical territory).
 
: I actually think it's part of the joke that it's an imprecise 'pronunciation guide', rather than a technically advanced one like /aɪ pʰiː eɪ/ itself is, further confusing the deliberately confused issue. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.29|141.101.99.29]] 19:45, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 
: I actually think it's part of the joke that it's an imprecise 'pronunciation guide', rather than a technically advanced one like /aɪ pʰiː eɪ/ itself is, further confusing the deliberately confused issue. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.29|141.101.99.29]] 19:45, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
  
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Just undone [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2492:_Commonly_Mispronounced_Equations&diff=222584&oldid=222578 an apparent mistakenly placed comment]... Nearly moved it here, but I'm hoping the author sees this and understands. (Might explain why I just found (and edited for over-commaing!) comments on a File:(image) page. Hope the new editor isn't going to do this a lot...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 19:42, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 
Just undone [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2492:_Commonly_Mispronounced_Equations&diff=222584&oldid=222578 an apparent mistakenly placed comment]... Nearly moved it here, but I'm hoping the author sees this and understands. (Might explain why I just found (and edited for over-commaing!) comments on a File:(image) page. Hope the new editor isn't going to do this a lot...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.19|162.158.159.19]] 19:42, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 
At a quick glance, and then a longer one, I just don't get [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2492:_Commonly_Mispronounced_Equations&curid=24270&diff=226488&oldid=223986 this 'correction'] as it looks like it does nothing to formulae with an already sufficient precedence (e.g. ''(whatever)/2a'' is already functionally ''(whatever)/(2a)''... you aren't confusing with the completely different and necessarily explicitly written ''((whatever)/2).a'' are you?). And the transcript change is more wrong than spelling it out in description as it adds parens not present in the comic if you assume it gets interpreted to anything meaningful that mentions them by any screen-readers. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.116|172.70.91.116]] 16:14, 4 February 2022 (UTC)
 
 
Why does the explanation quote "input" as a neologism?  It's an old word.  [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.30|172.70.46.30]] 11:11, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
 

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