so, I had a thought
May. 21st, 2010 05:21 pmbecause this is a new thought to me, and because everything else today has been kind of a wash, I will pass this on.
( you can read this after the part outside the cut, if you care *why* I had this thought )
When you are describing how expensive something is, for instance, you could say that it's twice as expensive, in addition to describing its price in absolute currency terms.
If someone described something as "twice as hot," what would you think they're referring to? Because, let's say I wanted to describe the oven as twice as hot as boiling water, in terms of mentally qualifying how hot it felt. But then, perhaps, as boiling water is roughly 100ºF above body temperature, which is my basis for something feeling hot or cold, perhaps a 500ºF oven is four times as hot.
Of course, I can't remember trying to describe relative temperature with any sort of accuracy, ever. There's probably a reason for this. This will come back to haunt me when I want to say it's twice as hot in the sun as it is in the shade, next time I'm working outside.
( you can read this after the part outside the cut, if you care *why* I had this thought )
When you are describing how expensive something is, for instance, you could say that it's twice as expensive, in addition to describing its price in absolute currency terms.
If someone described something as "twice as hot," what would you think they're referring to? Because, let's say I wanted to describe the oven as twice as hot as boiling water, in terms of mentally qualifying how hot it felt. But then, perhaps, as boiling water is roughly 100ºF above body temperature, which is my basis for something feeling hot or cold, perhaps a 500ºF oven is four times as hot.
Of course, I can't remember trying to describe relative temperature with any sort of accuracy, ever. There's probably a reason for this. This will come back to haunt me when I want to say it's twice as hot in the sun as it is in the shade, next time I'm working outside.