3 ms·

> Nitpick but it's "median" not "average". “average noun 1. a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median,

> Nitpick but it's "median" not "average". “average noun 1. a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number.“

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
kubanczyk 6y ago
average the result you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/average https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/average
- subliun1 6y ago
  email oxford and maybe they’ll fix their definition for you
- nostrebored 6y ago
  If you're going to nitpick, use the mathematical definition where averages are measures of central tendency. The median is one of those measures.
  - kubanczyk 6y ago
    Calling all the measures of central tendency "averages" is colloquial, not formal. Check your sources if you're going to nitpick my nitpicking. Saying "literally" in place of "figuratively" and then referencing the Oxford dictionary (meaning C, look no further) is a cool way to troll, and to make a fool of oneself.
    - nostrebored 6y ago
      I don't understand why you're mad that someone cited the Oxford definition to you. It's not trolling. You're wrong, and you can see this by looking at any number of published news articles where more often than not, average is used to mean median. You can see this from the way that we use average to mean typical. 'Typical' features are more likely to be median or mode than arithmetic mean. 'Average' is itself a colloquialism, so the colloquial use is what's important.
      - formerly_proven 6y ago
        TIL "average" in English can also mean things that aren't "the average" (mean)¹, but I also feel like "news articles" aren't a good way to source the "correct" usage of statistics terms. ¹ This makes "average" a particularly weird "false friend" vocable, because the average recipient might well take it to mean what you think it means, but might also understand it as a very closely related, but subtly different thing.
        nostrebored 6y ago
        The fact that you used "the average recipient" to mean typical here really brings it home.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

kubanczyk 6y ago

average the result you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/average https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/average

subliun1 6y ago
email oxford and maybe they’ll fix their definition for you
nostrebored 6y ago
If you're going to nitpick, use the mathematical definition where averages are measures of central tendency. The median is one of those measures.
- kubanczyk 6y ago
  Calling all the measures of central tendency "averages" is colloquial, not formal. Check your sources if you're going to nitpick my nitpicking. Saying "literally" in place of "figuratively" and then referencing the Oxford dictionary (meaning C, look no further) is a cool way to troll, and to make a fool of oneself.
  - nostrebored 6y ago
    I don't understand why you're mad that someone cited the Oxford definition to you. It's not trolling. You're wrong, and you can see this by looking at any number of published news articles where more often than not, average is used to mean median. You can see this from the way that we use average to mean typical. 'Typical' features are more likely to be median or mode than arithmetic mean. 'Average' is itself a colloquialism, so the colloquial use is what's important.
    - formerly_proven 6y ago
      TIL "average" in English can also mean things that aren't "the average" (mean)¹, but I also feel like "news articles" aren't a good way to source the "correct" usage of statistics terms. ¹ This makes "average" a particularly weird "false friend" vocable, because the average recipient might well take it to mean what you think it means, but might also understand it as a very closely related, but subtly different thing.
      - nostrebored 6y ago
        The fact that you used "the average recipient" to mean typical here really brings it home.