A similar discussion rescued from about 15 years ago: http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58567.html http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58567.html fr

A similar discussion rescued from about 15 years ago: http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58567.html http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58567.html from which I quote: "To my mind, it makes no difference at all which is which. In fact, today it is more common to call them both "factors" and not make such a distinction. I wouldn't fight over this, on either side."