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Why do people replace transparent English phrases with opaque foreign abbreviations? We're not writing with quills on vellum anymore. Even "$500k/yr" is an imp
by gaur 10y ago
Why do people replace transparent English phrases with opaque foreign abbreviations? We're not writing with quills on vellum anymore.
Even "$500k/yr" is an improvement on "$500k p.a.".
- adenadel 10y agoAs far as I know, per annum is actually a part of the English language. I typically have seen it used in the context of pricing or finance which seems to be verified. [1] I don't disagree with you about p.a. less clear than /yr though. 1. http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3933/what-is-the-difference-between-per-year-and-per-annum http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3933/what-is-the-...
- tptacek 10y agoComplaining about p.a. in a finance context makes about as much sense as complaining about "etc".
- hueving 10y agoWell it makes sense to complain about etc when we have etcd now. Embrace the future!
- trengrj 10y agoI'd argue "per annum" or p.a. isn't a foreign term and just standard English. English is full of Latin words, transparent, opaque, foreign, those are all words of Latin origin.
- gaur 10y ago> I'd argue "per annum" or p.a. isn't a foreign term and just standard English. Did you notice that a fluent English speaker had to ask what "p.a." meant? Do you think that would have happened if it had been written "per year" instead?
- adenadel 10y agoThe same could be argued for any jargon outside of one's own field.
- edoceo 10y agoHow could one tell the OP was fluent?
- Tomte 10y agoAs a counterpoint: I'm not a native English speaker, I do understand "yr" just fine, but it takes me a split second longer to read that abbreviation. Because p.a. is also part of my language.
- dredmorbius 10y agoPer annum, per centum, per mille, per capita, et cetera, et cetera. These are Latin phrases, borrowed especially in British English as Great Britain was occupied by Latin speakers for nearly 400 years -- 43 CE through 410 CE. Latin continued to be the language of diplomacy, religion, philosophy, and science through the 18th and 19th century. It is, for all practical intents, proper British English. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/per https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/per Though yes, $<value>/yr. is more frequently seen especially in American English.
- gaur 10y ago> borrowed especially in British English as Great Britain was occupied by Latin speakers for nearly 400 years -- 43 CE through 410 CE. Can you explain how Latin loanwords were loaned into English during this period? In your explanation, please make use of the facts that (1) there were no English speakers in Great Britain before 410 CE, and moreover (2) there was, by definition, no such language as English until Anglo-Saxon migrations into Great Britain (around 450 CE) established a distinct West Germanic linguistic community on the island.
- bazqux2 10y agoYou are being worse than Palantir.
- dredmorbius 10y agoYou're more than welcome to explore this yourself. You are, otherwise, being what the modern English derivative of the Sumerian ansu describes.