begin oe_protect.scr
bugbuster <bugbuster@xxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> On Sat, 18 Nov 2006 17:23:39 +0000, Mark Kent wrote:
>
>> begin oe_protect.scr
>> bugbuster <bugbuster@xxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> On Sat, 18 Nov 2006 01:04:00 +0000, B Gruff wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Friday 17 November 2006 21:09 Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> ----[ Quote ]
>>>>> | "Vietnam has demonstrated to the world its capacity for quantum leaps,"
>>>>
>>>> I don't understand that Roy - maybe you can explain.
>>>> I thought that quantum meant something like "the smallest discrete amount
>>>> possible".
>>>> Aren't quantum leaps so small that we can't measure them?
>>>
>>> Some of the definitions of quantum leap:
>>>
>>> "any sudden and significant change, advance, or increase."
>>>
>>> "An abrupt change or step, especially in method, information, or knowledge"
>>>
>>> "A dramatic advance, especially in knowledge or method"
>>>
>>> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quantum%20leap
>>>
>>
>> Which rather proves Roy's point. Quantum leap is a phsyics term, which
>> has been adopted by laymen, but the meaning has been reversed in doing
>> so. In physics, there's nowt nearer than the next quantum state. You
>> cannot move a lesser distance, because it would take /too much/ energy
>> (approximation of energy levels for laymen).
>>
>> It's a bit like saying "I could care less" means "I couldn't care
>> less"..., except, in real English, of course, there are so many
>> versions, like "I couldn't give a monkey's", "I couldn't give a toss", I
>> couldn't give a f*ck", and so on.
>
> The physics term and the laymen term do have one thing in common. That
> is a sudden discrete change. It's not the size of the change that matters.
>
True enough, but for those of us who've studied physics to the level
where "quantum" has a particular meaning, then there is a reversal of
sense which, when I first came across the common usage, takes some time
to grasp. I genuinely misunderstood someone - I thought she meant a
small change, not a big one, although this was a good decade ago!
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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