That's the beautiful thing about language. It is ever-changing, moving on like a steam engine with a flying finger to what has gone before. Lucky us. I wouldn't want to be limited to the vocabulary of 2000 years ago or even Shakespeare's time.


>>Maybe over there, but apparently in Europe we don't need the distinction. The only time we hear "negative" is re: comments, films, attitude, etc. or "negative numbers", and a negative number is said "minus two".
>
>Hmmm... Seems to me that you folks should be more consistent. Either call the group 'minus numbers', or call them individually 'negative', as in 'negative two'. Or is it just because 'minus' has less syllables; lazy sods. ;)
>
>>
>>I think "Negative" may have become popular in the early 90s when all hands were getting into CB radio (or is that a big "negatory" on that? - c'm'on?
>>
>>>More commonly it is 'negative two.' I have never heard: three minus minus two (although that would be correct as well), but I have heard three plus two substituted (since that is what the effect is). In math, it is typically stated as three minus negative two.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>-2 is: "minus two"
>>>>3 - -2 is: three minus minus two (or three plus two)
>>>>
>>>>>10-2 is: ten minus 2
>>>>>-2 is: negative two
>>>>>3 - -2 is: three minus negative two
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm not sure where you got your other terms?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Dragan
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Just heard that "Nasdaq fell two tenths of one percent"... just like it usually does, but they never ever say of which percent are those tenths. Isn't there a promille in English? Obviously not, because spell checker readily underlines it in red. The word means "per thousand" (just like "percent" means "per hundred").
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Yes there is in an equivalent in English, per mill http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=per%20mill
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Now wouldn't it be nice if kids learned this word at school? I wouldn't lose sleep wondering which poor percent lost two of its tenths.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I have never heard that word in my life. But what's the problem really? "Two tenths of one percent" seems clear enough to me. "Two tenths of a percent" might make the pedantic a bit happier. A bit.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The "one percent" sounds ridiculous to me. Like "it fell 2/10 of one percent, but not of the others", or "it fell 2/10 of one percent but we won't tell you which one".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Just like the rule that -2 is to be pronounced "two negative". "Minus two" is what I'm used to.