2020-09-19
151126-5 คำชวนสับสน – Exponential
การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ที่ถูกต้อง อ้างอิง มาตรฐานตามพจนานกรม
ภาษาอังกฤษ ไม่กำหนดมาตฐาน ถือตามส่วนใหญ่ที่ใช้แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจยืดหยุ่น ขึ้นอยู่กับ ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง “EXPONENTIAL” = ‘ek-spoh-NEN-shuhl’
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Can 'Exponential' Mean 'Lots'?
The reasons people have for getting itchy and upset over a word changing meaning are many and varied.
For some, umbrage accompanies any form of semantic drift, while others choose to complain only when they fear that some specific word is in danger of losing its specificity.
Specialists in technical fields seem to be particularly fond of inveighing againsta word taking a new meaning; a recent trend we have observed is the mathematically inclined arguing against the broadened use of exponential.
An exponent is“a symbol written above and to the right of a mathematical expression to indicate the operation of raising to a power,”
and the mathematical senses of exponential include“of or relating to an exponent” and “involving a variable in an exponent.”
These senses are appropriately mathy, and if the word had simply stopped there all would be well in the world.
But exponential also took on the meaning “expressible or approximately expressible by an exponential function; especially :
characterized by or being an extremely rapid increase (as in size or extent).
” It’s this ‘approximately expressible’ sense, especially the part that comes after the word especially in the above definition, that irks those aficionados of specificity, who very much desire that exponential not end up simply functioning as a synonym of lots.
Given that we, and several other lexicographic concerns, define exponential in this "not what your math teacher means" way, it seems worth asking: why do lexicographers hate math?
We don’t, but even if we did, that wouldn’t be why we define exponential like this.
We define words the way that they are used, and it is important to acknowledge that it is we who follow the lead of speakers of our language, and not the other way around.
We do not think you need to worry that the new-fangled sense of exponential will blunt the precision of the strict mathematical sense.
There are plenty of words in English which holda precise application in one field, and a broader range of meanings in general use.
