Hackish speech makes heavy use of pseudo-mathematical metaph
ORs. Four particularly imp
ORtant ones involve the terms "coefficient", "fact
OR", "index", and "quotient". They are often loosely applied to things you cannot really be quantitative, but there are subtle distinctions among them that convey inf
ORmation about the way the speaker mentally models whatever he
OR she is describing. "Foo fact
OR" and "foo quotient" tend to describe something f
OR which the issue is one of presence
OR absence. The canonical example is
fudge factOR. It' s not imp
ORtant how much you' re fudging the term simply acknowledges that some fudging is needed. You might talk of liking a movie f
OR its silliness fact
OR. Quotient tends to imply that the property is a ratio of two opposing fact
ORs: "I would have won except f
OR my luck quotient." This could also be "I would have won except f
OR the luck fact
OR", 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 bogosity index", whereas you would be less likely to speak of a "high bogosity fact
OR". "Foo index" suggests that foo is a condensation of many quantities, as in the mundane cost-of-living index "coefficient of foo" suggests that foo is a fundamental quantity, as in a coefficient of friction. The choice between these terms is often one of personal preference e.g. some people might feel that bogosity is a fundamental attribute and thus say "coefficient of bogosity", whereas others might feel it is a combination of fact
ORs and thus say "bogosity index". [
Jargon File] (1994-11-29)
In addition suitable contents:
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