The Write Way

4 June 2004

An Incongruous Niddering!

Greetings,

It seems that there are many closet mathematicians lurking in our midst, since I received a number of emails begging for more. OK ... a couple of people pointed out the error in the little quiz and a couple more asked about the everyday (as opposed to mathematical) meaning of words such as "congruent" and "tangent."  

Bruce Ward wrote, "... (congruent) is a word packed with potential, and I suspect is little understood."

In mathematical circles it means "coinciding when superimposed." In geometry, two shapes are called congruent "if one can be transformed into the other by a series of translations, rotations and reflections. More generally, two subsets A and B of Euclidean space Rn are called congruent if there exists an isometry f : Rn → Rn with f(A) = B." http://www.onelook.com/?w=congruent&ls=a (Did you understand any of that? Mmmm ... I suspect it's in code!)

In the world inhabited by mere mortals, "congruent" means "corresponding in character or kind," and Bruce provides this example, "A business is less likely to succeed when the goal of the various managers is not congruent."

A better known form is "congruous" which means, "being in agreement, harmony, or correspondence; conforming to the circumstances or requirements of a situation." 

However, we use the word more often in its negative form, "incongruous," which means "lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness, not in keeping with what is correct, proper, or logical; inappropriate."

"Lavinia and the gardener made an incongruous pair as they stood admiring the roses; she in her powder blue cat-suit and silver stilettos with matching hoop ear-rings and he in his grubby stubbies and boots."

All variants come from the Latin congruere meaning 'to come together; agree.'

Another maths term that has made the transition is "tangent." In its original sense it's "a straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point but does not intersect it at that point." (There's lots more here for them wot's int'rested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent) 

The word "tangential" means "of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent," and we've adopted this to refer to things that are "only superficially relevant; divergent."

These words derive, and I'm sure you're not the slightest bit surprised to hear, from Latin. The verb tangere means 'to touch' and there are plenty of other common words that share this root: tax, contact, attain, intact, tact, taste, tangible, tactile. 

Let's finish with a commonly used expression that illustrates the way maths has influenced our language for centuries. How often have you heard (or used) the term "a square deal" or settled something with the comment, "then we're all square?"

Back in the days of Pythagoras, many people were convinced that "the cosmic order was based upon numerical relationships, and they imbued certain numbers and forms with mystical significance. ...The square number 4 was made the symbol for justice and reciprocity ..." (Paul Davies, The Mind of God) And that's why, girls and boys, we still use the expression.

And speaking of numbers, let's not forget the magic significance of three: http://www.write101.com/W.Tips56.htm 

This next story that Albert found is connected to our mathematical/scientific theme in a tangential sort of way:

"A person of unspecified hair colour was playing Trivial Pursuit one night. It was her turn. She rolled the dice and she landed on Science & Nature. 

Her question was, "If you are in a vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?" 

She thought for a time and then asked, "Is it on or off?"

This week's quiz:

Something a bit more challenging this week, so there are only five ... See if you can work out the meaning of these words just by comparing them to other words you know:

1. cacography

2. incarnadine

3. lycanthropy

4.phenology

5. tautochrone

And now to the disputed answer in last week's story:

"Casual examination of any analog clock will reveal the angular distance of any hour to be 30 degrees.  Therefore, although your answer is correct if you accept the wording of the first part of the question, it does not agree with the facts.  I believe this is called a false premise."  (Chas Denzler)

This was what caused the problem:

5. "If the hour hand on a clock moves 1/60 of a degree every minute how many
degrees will the hour hand move in one hour?

Answer: One degree. If you said, "360 degrees" or anything other than "one
degree," you are to be congratulated on getting this far, but you are
obviously out of your league. Turn in your pencil, and exit the room.
Everyone else proceed to the final question."

You already know what I'm like when it comes to maths ... all the answers sound convincing to me!

Last week's quiz:

1. an outcast, a rejected and despised person - PARIAH

2.  not talkative; silent - TACITURN

3. resentment at being slighted - PIQUE

4. excessively ornate; swollen or bloated - TURGID

5. to punish, hold up to public scorn - PILLORY

6. hard and inflexible; unyielding - ADAMANT

7. varied, motley, greatly diversified - MULTIFARIOUS

8. lethargy, sluggishness, dormancy - TORPOR

9. an invocation of evil; a curse - IMPRECATION

10. hairy, shaggy - HIRSUTE

And Doug obviously has wa-a-ay too much time on his hands ... He decided to put last week's words to good use:

"The usually taciturn, hirsute beast, pilloried by the local villagers for his torpidity, pulled himself from the turgid waters of a nearby river, piqued by the imprecations of those who sought his demise.  He would be adamant in seeking revenge on those who made him a pariah because of his multifarious mental and physical anomalies."

Thank you to everyone who's made a comment on the Map of the World: http://pub37.bravenet.com/guestmap/view.php?usernum=3170114826  

A Little Something Extra

"Apprentices to traditional arts, crafts, and trades spend a lot of time getting to know the tools and techniques of
their profession. Through that they gain confidence and a deep understanding of the best way to work with ease.

"Any job is easier to do when you know two things before you begin: what it is you want to create, and the tools you have in your toolkit to help you do it.

"Writers have a toolkit, too."

Read the rest of Susan Letham's article about what you should have in your writer's toolkit here: http://www.write101.com/lethamtoolkit.htm 

Word of the week: Niddering (n)  a cowardly person; a wretch.

I love this word, although I'd prefer it to be a verb ... "Don't come niddering to me, you wretch!"

Sigh ... but if Life has taught me anything, it's that you can't always have what you want, so a noun it must be.

It comes from the Old Norse word nidh meaning 'scorn.'

If you received this newsletter from a friend and you'd like to have your very own copy delivered to you on Friday, just click here: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and why not spread the word? 

Send your friends a copy and invite them to join our merry band - we number over 9,000 now. Please forward the newsletter in its entirety and note that no portion of this is to be circulated for profit. 

Oxymoron of the week: urban cowboy (Don't ask ... it just sort of came to me as I sat here ...)

Here's a Latin phrase guaranteed to win you Brownie points this weekend ... use it often:

Nonne macescis? (Have you lost weight?)

Regards,

Jennifer

P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how:

1. Pay by PayPal: OR

2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR

3. Use your credit card on my secure order form: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR

4. Send a cheque (made payable to Jennifer Stewart): http://www.write101.com/fund.htm 

Copyright 2004 Jennifer Stewart

Individual articles copyrighted by their authors.

To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com  or go to the  web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips  This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode.

Home | Contact | Order | Site Map |Subscribe   

Copyright 2006 Jennifer Stewart Write101.com