Hackish speech makes heavy use of pseudo-mathematical metaphors. Four particularly important ones involve the terms "coefficient", "factor", "index", and "quotient". They are often loosely applied to things you cannot really be quant
ITative, but there are subtle distinctions among them that convey information about the way the speaker mentally models whatever he or she is describing. "Foo factor" and "foo quotient" tend to describe something for which the issue is one of presence or absence. The canonical example is
fudge factor.
IT' s not important how much you' re fudging the term simply acknowledges that some fudging is needed. You might talk of liking a movie for
ITs silliness factor. Quotient tends to imply that the property is a ratio of two opposing factors: "I would have won except for my luck quotient." This could also be "I would have won except for the luck factor", but using *quotient* emphasises that
IT was bad luck overpowering good luck (or someone else' s good luck overpowering your own). "Foo index" and "coefficient of foo" both tend to imply that foo is, if not strictly measurable, at least something that can be larger or smaller. Thus, you might refer to a paper or person as having a "high bogos
ITy index", whereas you would be less likely to speak of a "high bogos
ITy factor". "Foo index" suggests that foo is a condensation of many quant
ITies, as in the mundane cost-of-living index "coefficient of foo" suggests that foo is a fundamental quant
ITy, as in a coefficient of friction. The choice between these terms is often one of personal preference e.g. some people might feel that bogos
ITy is a fundamental attribute and thus say "coefficient of bogos
ITy", whereas others might feel
IT is a combination of factors and thus say "bogos
ITy index". [
Jargon File] (1994-11-29)
In addITion suITable contents:
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