hackis
h speec
h makes
heavy use of pseudo-mat
hematical metap
hors. Four particularly important ones involve t
he terms "coefficient", "factor", "index", and "quotient". T
hey are often loosely applied to t
hings you cannot really be quantitative, but t
here are subtle distinctions among t
hem t
hat convey information about t
he way t
he speaker mentally models w
hatever
he or s
he is describing. "Foo factor" and "foo quotient" tend to describe somet
hing for w
hic
h t
he issue is one of presence or absence. T
he canonical example is
href="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=fudge factor">fudge factor. It' s not important
how muc
h you' re fudging t
he term simply acknowledges t
hat some fudging is needed. You mig
ht talk of liking a movie for its silliness factor. Quotient tends to imply t
hat t
he property is a ratio of two opposing factors: "I would
have won except for my luck quotient." T
his could also be "I would
have won except for t
he luck factor", but using *quotient* emp
hasises t
hat it was bad luck overpowering good luck (or someone else' s good luck overpowering your own). "Foo index" and "coefficient of foo" bot
h tend to imply t
hat foo is, if not strictly measurable, at least somet
hing t
hat can be larger or smaller. T
hus, you mig
ht refer to a paper or person as
having a "
hig
h bogosity index", w
hereas you would be less likely to speak of a "
hig
h bogosity factor". "Foo index" suggests t
hat foo is a condensation of many quantities, as in t
he mundane cost-of-living index "coefficient of foo" suggests t
hat foo is a fundamental quantity, as in a coefficient of friction. T
he c
hoice between t
hese terms is often one of personal preference e.g. some people mig
ht feel t
hat bogosity is a fundamental attribute and t
hus say "coefficient of bogosity", w
hereas ot
hers mig
ht feel it is a combination of factors and t
hus say "bogosity index". [
href="module.php?name=Lexikon&file=search&eid=1&query=Jargon File">Jargon File] (1994-11-29)
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