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Subject:Re: Ranges of more than two? From:Richard Mateosian <xrm -at- EMAIL -dot- MSN -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 23 Sep 1998 11:01:42 -0700
>It's mathematically incorrect to use more than two items in
>a range when you're talking about numbers themselves, but it's an
>increasingly accepted idiom with words. Nonetheless, given that the
>wording is wrong "by the dictionary", I prefer to edit such phrases
>to read "ranging from A, through B, to C" or "including A, B, and
>C";
Perhaps because I have a PhD in the subject, I don't see this as
having anything to do with math.
I think the idiom "X ranges from A to B to C" means "X includes such
disparate items as A, B, and C." It's a perfectly good idiom, and it
doesn't, to my way of thinking, imply anything about lines, planes,
or any other geometrical entity. ...RM
Richard Mateosian <srm -at- cyberpass -dot- net> www.cyberpass.net/~srm/
Review Editor, IEEE Micro Berkeley, CA
