The Lesser Calculus Controversy


In honor of Leibniz’ first use of the big “S” in integral calculus (as seen above and reported in the Jewish World Review to have occurred on this date 335 years ago), I’d like to settle this controversy once and for all.

Which of these statements is correct? 
 
I can’t go to prom, I have the calculus homework.

I can’t go to the prom, I have calculus homework.

Never mind that your high school dances were decades ago and your use of higher math completely forgotten, or even that both statements scream that you’re a serious geek and a very bad planner if math homework prevents you from attending the big night. It’s simply a matter of correct usage at this point, and has always bothered me.

While prom is short for the noun, promenade, meaning a ball or dance, it seems to be used in the first sentence as an infinitive form of the verb.  If it were the object of the preposition, it would require the definite article the before prom. Wouldn’t it?

And how about that calculus?  I read that it is called “the” calculus because it is shortened from the calculus of infinitesimals, but isn’t it simply a field of mathematical study? Like Algebra, or geometry.

I’m just curious.

Comments

Aaron said…
Obviously you're losing sight of the big picture in this grammar worry - i.e. whether a semicolon should be used in place of the comma!
October 29, 2010 at 9:05 AM
Lynne said…
You are so right! But; if you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that my indiscriminate use of commas and semicolons (and parenthesis) is basically beyond help.
October 29, 2010 at 9:24 AM
Kelly Elmore said…
I say that prom and calculus have become nouns that do not take articles. In America, we go to college, but we go to the university. In Britain, they go to university. I submit that calculus has long been a non-article noun, but that prom has been in the process of changing. Both sound ok to me. We go to prom. Or we go to the prom. Strikes me that younger people say the first.

What do you think?
October 29, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Lynne said…
I think your analysis is good and your example is terrific. This does not change the fact that I HATE the use of prom without an article! It sounds like fingers on a chalkboard to me. (Could be that I'm just that old.) The calculus, however, just cracks me up.
October 29, 2010 at 10:49 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plainsies, Clapsies

A ball bouncing game from my youth instructed the player to throw the ball up ( plainsies ), throw it up and clap ( clapsies ) throw it up and roll your hands ( roll the ball ) and touch your shoulders ( tabapsies ). In trying to locate the rest of the ball bouncing chant, I found out not only is my “tabapsies” a mondegreen , but also the motion – touching your shoulders – isn’t even the correct movement! You are supposed to clap your hands behind your back and say “ to backsies .”  Yeah. That makes much more sense. Being only slightly deflated by this discovery, I will still share my exciting news.  In an attempt to counteract the stretching of my wrist from doing front squats two days in a row, I pulled out the tabapsies motion this morning.  This, in itself, is not newsworthy.  However, I grabbed both shoulders with all five fingers!!! Again, not exciting unless you know that when I was nine years-old, I broke my left elbow doing a running c...
Read more

Memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution

Image
In preparation for celebrating the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787, here are a few videos that I hope will inspire you to at least memorize the brief, but powerful Preamble. First, here is my first attempt at video editing with the bare bones Windows Movie Maker (no ability to step through frame by frame with sound, or ability to mark stops before cutting). My daughters are reading the Preamble to the Constitution from the little book I carry in my purse. They can recite it by heart, but it I thought it would be a little different (and a little less exposed) if they did it this way. Let's not even talk about the 20 takes due to laughter. If you knew it as a child, don't worry, it'll come back to you as Barney shows in this video. Finally, a little treat for my sci-fi loving friends. And if memorizing and reciting The Preamble in creative ways leaves you wanting more, you can find out which Founding Father you...
Read more

Why I am an Objectivist

I am a human being who values her life on this earth above all other things. The right and good is that which contributes to my life and the wrong and evil is that which destroys it. Every action I take must pass through the gates of identification before being pursued as a value which I understand will contribute to my life. Happiness is my ultimate goal. I understand the importance of identifying, applying, pursuing, and achieving those values which will contribute to my life, not just in the immediate sense (which every child understands), but in the long-term sense (which develops with experience). This is not to say that I’m really good at always identifying, pursuing, and achieving those values, or that I remain consistent in my applications of them; merely that I had already understood that this selfishness was the key to my happiness when I was relatively young. The importance of the fact that I understood I was responsible for my own happiness can not be overemphasized here. W...
Read more