Thursday, August 11, 2005
Linguistics at Arby’s
A new Arby’s ad makes a linguistic observation: “Did you ever notice how when people say ‘Do the math,’ there isn’t any math to be done?” (Or something like that.)
I can’t tell from a quick search of www.webcorp.org.uk how well that theory holds up, but I do think the phrase you do the math is often used rhetorically, to say either that the math is so obvious that it doesn’t need to be done, or that the calculation is just a formality that the speaker doesn’t need to complete in order to make her point.
Here’s some of what WebCorp finds (note that last one):
link send redefine 33 up, 1 down Loosely means “It’s pretty obvious” You can have a 20” TV for $150, or a 30” for $170. You do the math.
To come to a solution or conclusion based on other facts. Man, I saw your girl out with two other guys on two separate occasions. You do the math.
There was a pack of two for 74p, and a pack of three for 60p, which is better? you do the math
Sunday, July 10, 2005 You Do The Math There is limited time in the day. I’ve got to work (and work is CRAZY lately), or I can’t afford this internet connection. I’ve
in the bank. A very small percentage of the money has been given back to the victims’ families. There were 3,600 lives lost. If you do the math and divide $900,000,000 by 3,600 it comes to almost $250,000 per family. Has anyone been given anything anywhere near that? I
Recent Reads Archives Chat Bittersweetheart Wishlist « it’s oh so quiet Main the babysitter’s club » you do the math December 28, 2001 423= number of times I checked my personal e-mail 291= number of times I checked iwilldare.com for comments 0= number of comments
04:10 PM you do the math for your math for your else lil girl and don’t ask me to do it for yourself
is unthinkable!” See how creation really happened; read the author’s Genesis commentary on the web or in PDF format at: GENESIS: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. YOU DO THE MATH! (ANSWERS FOLLOW QUESTIONS) You will need a calculator that carries to many, many more digits than even a financial or a technical calculator.
You do the math Why are university executives and administrators now worth more than academic and teaching staff, asks John Sutherland Monday December 6, 2004
political cartoons and commentary with twice the preservatives « Disclaimer: The following cartoon is Main » March 20, 2003 UNILATERAL? YOU DO THE MATH UNILATERAL? YOU DO THE MATH . . . Blue=Coalition (for the official list, click here )
43 You do the math. Original Message Jul 15, 2005 9:18 am ROMANCE MATHEMATICS Smart man + smart woman = romance Smart man + dumb woman = affair
You Do the Math by Brad Edmonds It’s simple: People are self-interested and don’t make work when they don’t have to. Humans aren’t the only ones: Cheetahs give up
in your own experience) of self-interest and the disutility of labor, you will realize that government cannot work, and the market cannot help but work. You do the math. November 9, 2002 Brad Edmonds [ send him mail ] writes from Alabama. Copyright © 2002 LewRockwell.com Brad Edmonds Archives Back to LewRockwell.com Home Page
what are you waiting cheap hotel madrid am to 10.You do the math london cheap hotel you can only win low cost hotel good.You do the math romantic short break you can only win . frankfurt hotel train station new orleans airport hotel :France: london cheap hotel from 6. No fuss.Fancy a
research, meaning that the next generation will be without the drugs that might cure their cancers and other deadly diseases. This argument sounds reasonable until you do the math. Independent scholars who study the documents drug firms have to file annually with the Securities and Exchange Commission have noted a pattern that has been
I take this stuff waaaay too seriously, let me admit up front that, yes, yes I do. For whatever reason, I’ve been hearing the phrase “you do the math” with a lot more frequency lately. It’s kind of a discursive shortcut—if you’re talking numbers, rather than laying out an entire calculation (especially if it’s is going to change in all sorts of ways whether I like it or not. All the same, if language is the food of thought, “you do the math” is rapidly approaching the status of circus peanuts for me.