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Reader question:
What does the expression "you do the math" mean? What math? Give
examples.
My comments:
"You do the math" is a colloquial expression that usually comes at the end
of an argument as emphasis, emphasizing on an advantage or disadvantage of a
point.
Usually, a string of figures are given before you're asked to "do the
math", that is, to do your own calculations and reach the conclusion that has
just been suggested.
Sometimes no real arithmetic is involved. For example, 20 years ago, the
majority of Chinese students in America chose to stay after completing their
academic studies. Nowadays, most of them come back. Why is that? The reason is
obvious. Two decades ago, people stayed in America to achieve an American Dream
embodied by a car and a house of their own. Now, that (part of the) American
Dream is just as easy of accomplishment here in China, if not easier. Plus, the
home country gives the extra comfort of, well, being home – they don't have to
feel homesick all the time. Chinese being Chinese, spiritually they are always
close to their roots. You do the math – Little wonder those students are turning
homeward en masse.
Here are a few media examples:
1. Vista Sales – You Do the Math
Despite Gates bragging, Vista sales still don't add up to 50 percent of all
the new PCs sold in 2007.
- internetnews.com, January 8, 2008.
2. You do the math (at the end of birthday parties)
And in the end, who cares? We need not abandon the idea of parties in
restaurants altogether. After all, not everyone has the space, the culinary
skill or the energy to celebrate friends in the style they deserve. But perhaps
there should be a few rules of order(ing). First, avoid long tablefuls of too
many people, lest the honoree feel like she is presiding over the Last Supper.
"Groups of 10 or under are great," said a novelist who's still recovering from a
raucous gathering at a West Village restaurant attended by 19 of her nearest and
dearest. If it's a fancy place, consider limiting the menu choices ahead of time
to several reasonably priced alternatives and house wines, perhaps to be printed
on a keepsake placard. If you have piles of money, consider paying for
everybody. If you don't, consider disclosing a rough price of entry ahead of
time. And if that is exceeded, suck it up, because the alternative is just
unpleasant.
- nytimes.com, May 6, 2007
3. A depressing day? You do the math
Today is the most depressing day of the year, and not just for those
federal election candidates who will be losers by day's end.
So says Cliff Arnall, a health psychologist at the University of Cardiff in
Wales who came up with a formula - 1/8W+(D-d)3/8xTQMxNA - to calculate the
lowest emotional point of the year. He did this at the request of the travel
industry, which wanted to know the best day in January to book a summer
holiday.
Seems people tend to make travel plans when they're at their lowest, to
give them something to look forward to.
Arnall factored in the dreariness of the (W)eather, the arrival of
maxed-out Christmas bills or (D)ebt, minus monthly salary (d), (T)ime elapsed
since Christmas and the failure to keep a New Year's resolution or to (Q)uit a
bad habit, low (M)otivational levels and the need to take action (NA). He came
up with January 24, or the Monday closest to January 24, since Monday is the
most disliked day of the week.
- edmontonjournal.com, January 23, 2006 |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:45:14