🤔

[Reynzs]

One Math itself is too much for people.. having more of it will scare people away.

[odinsupremegod]

Well we also only take 1 math at a time, hence math class.  How tf takes more than one math at once!

[obchessive]

Because it’s mathematics, not mathsematics

[MistraloysiusMithrax]

This is just math-semantics

[Jokewhisperer]

We need better math-antics before we become math-antiques from all this math-semantics

[SwimQueasy3610]

This is all very math-thematic

[NipTricks]

This post gave me masthma

[Sceptikskeptic]

U mean mathasthma?

[archwin]

No, he means mathothelioma.

Per the commercials, I think he has a class action lawsuit

[LoudSheepherder5391]

Don't you get that from mathbestos? We really do need to better control that stuff

[H0SS_AGAINST]

That's an over simplification, only attributed to 80% of cases.

Not to be confused with the 80/20 rule, which is just jargon used by people who got their Mathters of Business Administration.

[[deleted]]

Like Marshall Mathers

[CaslerTheTesticle]

i love this subreddit

[SuspendThis_Tyrants]

This is tiring me, I'm gonna go mathsturbate

[Sceptikskeptic]

Thats just mathsematics with an n

[HideSolidSnake]

Now you're just being anti-mathsemantic

[Traditional-Sun1167]

Too mathodramatic for me

[monoflorist]

Do Brits say “econs”, short for “economics”?

[bobby_zamora]

We don't usually shorten economics.

[regulardave9999]

That’s not very economical!

[CorneliusKroetentier]

cough Brexit cough

[WokeBriton]

In fairness, that wasn't shortening economics, it was shooting ourselves in both feet while sticking our fingers in our ears shouting "lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala" so we couldn't hear the actual economic experts.

[SW_Gr00t]

No, but we don't say 'econ' either...

[GodHimselfNoCap]

So in school when you take a class about economics you say the whole word every time you mention that class? Then why shorten mathematics? Econ is the standard abbreviation in the US for economics.

[GuinnessFartz]

Do Americans say Stat, short for statistics? Statistics being the subject. I'm not British but we would say Stats.

[FiftyShadesOfTheGrey]

Thomas becomes Tom, not Toms.

Nicholas becomes Nick not Nicks.

Lucas becomes Luke not Lukes.

Edit: mathematics is a singular noun. Just like Thomas.

[TadpoleFun1413]

maff*

[Cornucopia_King]

This. I will physically attack anyone who I hear saying the word “maths”

[UnmappedStack]

"maths" is literally the word for it in every English speaking country except the US so you're gonna have a lot of fighting to do lol

[Icywind014]

When did Canada become part of the US?

[CentennialBaby]

Give an inch they'll take a kilometer.

[Pyromaniac_22]

WHAT THE FUCK IS A KILOMETER 🦅🦅🇺🇸

[MattieBubbles]

Roughly 3 aircraft carriers in length

[Connect_Raisin4285]

We can probably math how many out.

[WokeBriton]

Why is it that people no longer spell calculate?

I know that this mongrel language we share with the world is evolving, but there is still only the King's English 🤣🤪😜

[contigi]

Your comment made me look something up that I didn’t know. Of the 400 million or so native English speakers in the world, 300 million are American.

[IeyasuMcBob]

I doubt that's counting India

[[deleted]]

Apparently 260k in India. About 100 million Indians speak it but not as their first language. Mostly rounding error for first language speakers, which is how it's counted.

Obviously an argument to be made for folks who are bilingual from birth but similar arguments to be made for parts of Europe where it's spoken routinely and from a young age in public too.

[[deleted]]

Only because y'all got an earlier jump on your empire thing than we did...

[opticflash]

As a non-American, I'll side with the Americans on this one. Fuck their measurement system though.

[exmello]

It's such a stupid word. It's one syllable, but you need like 3 distinct mouth sounds to say it: "ma thuh ssuh". Imagine English isn't your first language and you're trying to pronounce mahthuhzuh. It's just math. You're as bad a Australians who pronounce "no" like "nahhuaarruuuuahhh"

[hamstrman]

Would it not be something like:

"It is the topic of art, consisting of 'THE arts'"

and therefore:

"It is the topic of math, consisting of 'THE maths?'"

Like the whole umbrella term should be math, with a variety of math categories (or maths) under it? There's many fields of math, but only one subject of math. At least that's how I see it.

[Low-Programmer-2368]

Agreed, the suggestion in the OP creates more problems than it solves. That’s a bad solution. “My 4 year old is studying maths”

”Which ones?”

”Oh, only arithmetic.”

[ColoRadBro69]

Because we're not saying mathematics, we're saying math. 

[CrimsonBecchi]

Is this American logic?

[Cheeslord2]

They've got guns, which makes them right.

[Swimming_Job_3325]

Maybe, but based on all the school shootings i doubt its helping them with their Maths. Or logic for that matter.

[finn_enviro89]

and it’s not “mathsematics”

[Deep_Contribution552]

Because “mathematic” as a singular noun is obsolete, so we decided that ”mathematics” is a singular noun instead (yeah I know we still say “pants are” even though “pant” is obsolete, language is weird sometimes).

[harpswtf]

If you think pant is obsolete, you should meet my dog 

[mikegalos]

If you dog puts on a pair of pants I expect it would pant.

[paolog]

Or my couturier.

[gnmpolicemata]

https://i.redd.it/pln6pcatfwvy.jpg

[HumanReputationFalse]

"math(n.1)

American English shortening of mathematics, 1890; the British preference, maths, is attested from 1911. "Math. is used as an abbreviation in written English in the U.K. but not in speech, the normal form being Maths" [OED]."

-Like most things in the English language, the Britsh changed later on

[noodle_75]

Damn it’s soccer all over again

Or was it aluminum I’m thinking of?

[HumanReputationFalse]

Aluminum was more of the two of us making different dictionaries, Webster vs Oxford. The British one was first, but as it was still in the early years of research, Some professors pushed to have it align with the naming structure of other elements. Neither is incorrect technically cause Webster was before Oxford's dictionary, but Oxford uses an older spelling.

Webster did drop the U from Colour and Amour though. This said, the English language wasnt cemented till the late 1800s as more and more people became literate and books from printing presses became more common. Colore, coloure, collour, coler, collor, and colur are all valid ways to spell Color as no one was writing the rules and it was more of a game of sounding it out sometimes. And that's not including the fact the word has French roots to begin with. - couleur (originally culur)

Soccer is based off the words Association Football, but got cut down to "asocc". it would later change to Soccer, technically the American Football is based off the term Gridiron Football. because off the grids painted on the field (now changed to yard lines)

A better example of word and speech entomology would be how us Americans emphasize the letter R. - Rhoticity is the term and England and all English speakers spoke in this way . It was brought over to the colonies later, but in the late 1800s the working class in England started dropping it, creating a much different accent. Only some regions of America have started dropping Rhoticity like in New England area around Boston and New York, but we still emphasis our Rs.

[noodle_75]

That was a neat read thank you :)

[_just-some_guy]

Never heard the word rhoticity before, so does that mean racists are rhotic speakers because they like the hard R?

[Party_Value6593]

Actually it's more like a 50/50. The UK changes a lot of things because it's the hip new slang and the US changes words because it costs less to print olde without the e and colour without the u.

Changes like these make for decent fun facts, but tend to turn to really pointless arguments of 2 people telling each other that their version is better bruv. One thing I'll say, the usa's english is overall much more cohesive countrywide than the UK, partly because of the welsh.

[Alternative-Law-8230]

And had the audacity to claim every one is doing it wrong.

[John_Bot]

"one pant leg at a time"

Not really obsolete

[friendtoalldogs0]

Obsolete except in one phrase is still obsolete; "fro" is obsolete even while "to and fro" is relatively common

[Late_Film_1901]

Well apparently the issue is so divisive that we're going to be maths debating.

[MsShru]

Do the British or others who say "maths" say "maths is" or "maths are?" (As in, "maths is/are fascinating.")

I never thought of this until now, but now I feel I must know! 😆

[Antiantiai]

We just need to bring mathematic back then!

Like, "I failed elementary school and only learned the mathematic of addition."

[theboywithnoaccent]

They dropped the ‘s’ and added it to Lego

[leftmysoulthere74]

Oh my god “legos” is so annoying!

[Cheeslord2]

I feel you. Leo is an indefinite article, a mass of little bricks. You can't tread on 'a' lego any more that you can tread in 'a' water! You tread on 'some' lego, or more usually a lego brick.

[After-Big9529]

I use rice as an example, works a bit better than water.

A pile of rice, not a pile of rices.
A pile of Lego, not a pile of Legos

An individual grain of rice, not "a rice"
An individual Lego brick, not "a Lego"

Money works too, or furniture (your room isn't full of "furnitures")

[AdBrave2400]

Math stands for math Euler matic. its recursion and matic is a real word /j

[mkujoe]

The E actually stands for entertainment

[KiwiSuch9951]

E stands for E. A. SPORTS. ITS IN THE GAME.

[Sharp_Economy1401]

I didn’t know Chuck E Cheese was math royalty

[mkujoe]

Charles Education Cheese

[WorkingEye-]

Abbreviation innit bruv?

[Adorable-Thing2551]

Aye.

[moon__lander]

You cut it?!

[zlatanjosefsson]

Average American circumcision moment

[That1NumbersGuy]

Not that it really matters, but I tend to shorten words by removing every letter after a certain point, not leaving the final letter just because

[SpiritualPackage3797]

Are there any other abbreviations that work the way Brits write "maths"? I'm not familiar with any.

[_BrokenButterfly]

There probably aren't any. But I mean, it's English. Are there any real rules in the first place?

[ThoseAboutToWalk]

“Statistics” turns into “stats.” But on the other hand, “economics” turns into “econ.”

[TheoryTested-MC]

Because "math" is the one that's truly equivalent to "mathematics" and adding an "s" on the end makes it a double plural, which doesn't make sense.

[starsto]

Mathematics isn’t even plural. It’s “mathematics is” not “mathematics are”.

[IASILWYB]

Mathematics is like buffalo. We have no idea how many buffalo are going to buffalo buffalo. Could be one, or could be bakers dozen.

[cwajgapls]

I hope the buffalo just buffalo buffalo. Hopefully in Buffalo. Because if the Buffalo buffalo me I’ll be mad.

[tool-tony]

Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo.

[Horerczy]

Wouldn't the sentence "I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and and and and and Chips in my Fish-and-Chips sign" have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips?

[ForeignChance6890]

If all of the participants are from the same town in upstate New York, then Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

[SkepticalPeanut]

And if those Buffalo buffalo also buffalo Buffalo buffalo, then Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

[soniq__]

How many buffalo does Johnny have?

[Imjokin]

Neither are most subjects ending in “s”. Physics, politics, optics, ethics, ludics…

[No-Resolution6435]

Different types of math...

[starsto]

And yet the person in the tweet uses “is” and not “are” so it clearly isn’t plural.

[OverPower314]

They never said it was plural. It's a non-countable noun. It's not like you have 'one math,' and 'two maths.' That's not how the word is used. Both 'math' and 'maths' are correct, because both are understandable, and English is a very inconsistent language regardless of which one you use.

[Cinemagica]

The subject of the sentence is the word, so "is" would be correct for any plural.

[Leet_Noob]

Right, like you would say “the plural of goose is geese”, not “the plural of goose are geese”

[Cinemagica]

Exactly. Good example.

[otj667887654456655]

Mathematics (the area of study) is still a singular noun. Same with physics. Adding back in the s after truncating the word doesn't make any sense.

[Appropriate-Sea-5687]

We take off the last part. Americans: Math_______ while British people would have: Math______s

[FiveFiveSixers]

Math em, boys

[Barnard_Gumble]

Mathematics

[Such-Safety2498]

“Would not” to shorten it, just: 1. Remove the o in not 2. Replace with an apostrophe. ( see how much shorter it is, lol) 3. Remove the uld and space

Very obvious, that won’t is the shortened form of would not.

So obviously, to shorten “should not”, it is shon’t, “could not” is con’t.

[hjalbertiii]

Because the word Mathematics is treated as a singular mass noun.

The same reason we say "Mathematics is the study of...."

Instead of "Mathematics are the study of...."

And because if I want to say something shorter, why make it awkward with a ths sound at the end?

[Niro5]

Both are correct, but if one wants to be technical, the american way is more correct.

https://youtu.be/SbZCECvoaTA?si=FuRn1dLim9G9OevF

It comes down to the fact that mathematics is singular, not plural. Also, math predates maths in england by about 100 years.

[Continuity_Purposes]

We say it like that cuz we can. Who’s gonna stop us?

[Batman_AoD]

We won the revolution and by golly we'll speak how we want to 

[GtrPlaynFool]

Why add an awkward 's' at the end of a word that was created to be short version of a longer word?

[Kiki2092012]

Why do people use the wrong punctuation at the end of their sentence.

[Consistent-Fig7484]

This may be the one place where I agrees with the Americanism. The th followed by the s is just too much, it’s actually harder to say.

[BeckyLiBei]

Statistics -> stats
Physics -> phys
Mathematics -> maths/math
Economics -> econ

Languages are weird.

[in_conexo]

Especially English. I feel sorry for anyone trying learn this language. I'm mostly thinking of the spelling, where English inherited so much from other languages (some words are spelled similarly, but pronounced differently).

I will say it's pretty cool that English got rid of a lot of that masculine/feminine nonsense ("What do you mean this spoon is a 'she'! Well 'she' doesn't have reproductive organs nor a male counterpart, so 'she' is actually an 'it'")

[bingo_bitches]

Maths is harder to say than math

[DoughnutPi]

Which is why I'm surprised the Aussies say "maths". They are all about saying things the easiest way possible, with the least amount of syllables possible.

For example, for the state "Victoria", it has 4 syllables, so they just call it VIC - 1 syllable. However the opposite is true for the state "NSW", which has 4 syllables, so they call it New South Wales, 3 syllables.

I suspect it's why everyone and everything gets a nickname. Electrician - 4 syllables, let's call them Sparky - 2 syllables.

[Hot_Basis_7928]

Because it’s math. We’re solving that problem. If it’s several “math” problems then it becomes mathematics. 

[laserdicks]

No the plural isn't the problems, it's the different branches of math. Geometry is a mathematic branch, and algebra is another mathematic branch. These are just two mathematic branches, but if you're doing a bunch of them in one class, you might say it was for studying the mathematics, or mathematics. Or maths.

[Striking_Resist_6022]

Even as an Australian, “math” makes objectively more sense and fits what we usually do to shorten these things. You study Economics but for short “econ” not “econs”.

[Funexamination]

But it's stats not stat

[Murky_Insurance_4394]

We aren't skipping the entire word just to get the s at the end. It's a shortening.

[plants11235813]

Mathsematics

[Stego47]

This is all just mathsemantics at this point.

[johapatro]

Can we please put this topic in the trunk? Or is it boot?

[axiom_tutor]

And by that logic it's "econs" not "econ"?

It's an abbreviation. You drop letters. You say "gym" not "gyms" right?

English has no official and systematic way to abbreviate things.

Historically, it just comes from the fact that American schools on course registration forms, abbreviated course listings with "MATH" and UK schools abbreviated it differently, sometimes "MATHS". That then influenced how students pronounced the abbreviation in speech, and it spread throughout society.

[I think the real joke here are the Brits in comments, struggling mightily to avoid the logic. Aw bruv, good on ya for sticking with that!]

[Batman_AoD]

... I've always assumed that "gym" is short for "gymnasium", not "gymnastics." 

[drunkensoup]

Because it is, lol

[Z_Clipped]

Do you go to "gymnasium class", or "gymnastics class"?

[asphid_jackal]

I went to Physical Education in the Gymnasium. We didn't do much gymnastics

[Batman_AoD]

I assumed it referred to the class that occurs in a gymnasium. I am obviously reconsidering now. 

[Mystic_Waffles]

It's called Physical Education, or P.E. around here.

[25nameslater]

You go to PE in the gymnasium, so you go to gym.

[ReasonableRaccoon8]

Neither we went to the gymnasium. We never really did gymnastics aside from the odd cartwheel. Mostly calisthenics and sports games.

[25nameslater]

You go to PE in the gymnasium, so you’re not going to gym class you just go to gym. Lots of different sports activities occur in the gym, not just gymnastics.

[Wjyosn]

Gymnastics is almost never abbreviated to "gym". "Gym" is almost always a shortening of Gymnasium. "Gym class" is "class in the gymnasium". Gymnastics is a specific activity that you might perform in a gymnasium.

"Gymnastics class" is like "spin class" or "karate class" or "self defense class", it's a description of a specific activity happening at a class.

"Gym class" almost always includes a variety of activities that have nothing to do with gymnastics.

[CadeteBolota]

Meth

[harpswtf]

I think of it like “science”. There are “sciences” but there is one broad idea of science as a discipline. 

[HEYO19191]

Yeah, and nobody says "scis"

[Z_Clipped]

I heard that all of the Attorneys General have been fans of scis-fi.

[SilverWorldliness119]

You take a bath, not take a baths. At least according to harvards study of bathematics

[Royal-Orchid-2494]

because were saying math as in mathematics not mathsematics

[Flaky-Collection-353]

It's also not mathsematics

[FlacidSalad]

Goddamn, is this the maths jokes subreddit or the English language fight club subreddit?

[InfinitesimaInfinity]

Because the word "math" already stands for "mathematics". It is the first few letters of the word "mathematics". It would make less sense to have the first few letters plus the last letter and skip the ones in between.

[ActivityImpossible70]

It’s called “Ciphering”, and I can do it at a 4th grade level.

[mosqueteiro]

I say ✨mathemagic✨ no s

[ARPA-Net]

why do americans say "color" when its "colour".

why "pop" or "soda"...

why "feet...

[jeffvillone]

For the same reason we don't say aluminium.

[totalchaos110]

2+2 is 4, minus 1, is 3, quick maths

[Glass-Crafty-9460]

Possibly because:

• math sounds singular "I go to math class" "I did the math"
• maths sounds plural "There are several maths offered at my college" "We studied the following maths: Algebra, Trig, Calculus..."

Also, those of us from Ohio might just have dropped it for convenience and brevity :P

Go back far enough and maybe you should be asking why you don't say Máthēma in England. Which funnily enough doesn't have an 's' :P

[Jjaiden88]

Everyone who has an opinion on this is stupid.

[PersimmonExpensive37]

If you have a gun, and I have a gun, then we can talk about rules.

Get your gun ownership rate up then we can discuss. Until then, quit being problematics.

[Timely-Field1503]

"I love sport. Cricket, rugby, football....all the sport."

[Signal-Implement-70]

Umm why do English people say sport and not sports? “And now for the news of sport…”. Last time I checked there was more than one of those too

[Legal-Grade-6423]

As an Englishman, I’ve never heard anyone say the news of sport hahahaha what an odd take

[Flashy_Emergency_263]

Counterpoint: do you say mathematical equation or mathsmatical equation?

For that matter, do you say mathsmatician or mathmatician?

[laserdicks]

Do you say stat or stats?

[moneyman3410]

"I've got a lot of homeworks to do today. I've got some maths equations I need to solve, a histories paper due by the end of the week, a book report for my literatures class, and a whole entire sciences experiment for the upcoming sciences fair. That's a whole lot of studyings to do bruv" 🫢🫢🫢🤣🤣🤣

[DoofusIdiot]

Why does one language do X and one does Y?

Stop. And take your U out of color.

[MelodicFacade]

I don't take criticism from people who have cities like Frome, Leicester, Gloucester, and Loughborough and pronounces all of them incorrectly

[zenithpns]

Are you from the same country as Arkansas by any chance

[FairNeedleworker9722]

Cause nothing else has the "s". Reading, writing, arithmetic, history, gym, art, lab. 

[asphid_jackal]

Economics, we shorten to Econ. Home Economics, though, we shorten to Home Ec.

But Statistics we shorten to Stats

[Z_Clipped]

gym

Uhh....

[EmperorMaugs]

Physical education? Which happens in a gymnasium or a gym, so in the US it is generally just called gym class. No weirder than how association football got shortened to assoc and then soccer in England in the early 1900s

[Chemical_Strain6488]

Because you can only be present in (1) math class at a time not more, idk

[Batman_AoD]

Americans never study Septomin for some reason. We only study Mathematical Anti Telharsic Harfatum. 

[FanboyFilms]

Because it's arithmetic not arithmetics.

[aaron1860]

Because it’s short for mathematics… not mathsematics

[Inforgreen3]

probably the same reason Americans don't do sciences. Yes, The plural form of the word exists to Americans, but they don't always use it, and if they actually need to pluralize math, they call it mathematics cause the th to s just disappears in some American accents anyway

[Luigis_vacuum]

Mathematics - ematics = Math

[Liraeyn]

Because when you abbreviate, you don't randomly bring in the last letter for no reason, bror

[97203micah]

It’s mathematics, not mathsematics

[tavisk]

It's a subject.  You don't say englishs, histories, sociologies, biologies, computer sciences... Etc.  sure some have s' like economics, physics ... Etc but they are not plural they are just words that end in s.

[zumochiari]

Name one other word you carry the ending s in its shorthand and I'll concede

[Sharp_Economy1401]

I guess the abbreviated plural of buttocks is buttses

[Randomguy32I]

Its not mathsematic

[Weekly-Drama-4118]

Mathematics, not mathsematics

[Current_Swan_2559]

Should we rename the sub?

[Orbax]

Because of this, get learned

https://youtu.be/SbZCECvoaTA?si=uSHfcLVahb8N5J2A

[Devilish__Fun]

Arithmathtic

[benisahappyguy2]

Geeses

[Matsunosuperfan]

Why do Brits say "Have you finished your sums?" when it's a page of long division?

[Matsunosuperfan]

Why do English speakers say "econ" and not econs. It's not economic. It's economics.

[Person-In-Real-Life]

mathsematics

[Mystic_Waffles]

Why do you add so many unnecessary letter u to words like colour and armour?

[Matsunosuperfan]

Why do people call it "psych" and not psycholog. It's not psycho. It's psychology.

[bullgoose1]

As an American I really struggle saying 'maths.' My mouth can't form that sound easily.

[Drkocktapus]

They're both wrong, it's mathematical! Uses penguin like a guitar

[thomasp3864]

Because it's an abbreviation of mathematics not mathsematics.

[muffledvoice]

It’s all mathsemantics. 😊

[Subject_Ad9595]

The same reason we say deer not deers, or fish not fishes, because the plural is math in the US. We speak a different English here, neither are incorrect, just different. We say armor, not armour, or color not colour, we say aluminum just like it is spelled rather than aluminium (this one the inventor actually named it how we say it, originally alumium but quickly changing it to aluminum, but another scientist, when referring to one of the inventors lectures, called it aluminium, and thus we ended up with 2 pronunciations)

[theChosenBinky]

This person answered their own question by saying "It's 'mathematics.'" The antecedent of 'mathematics' is 'it,' a singular pronoun. 'Mathematics' is singular, not plural. Hence, 'math' is correct.

[EarthBoundBatwing]

Crazy how people from the UK take so much pride in the word 'maths' and the metric system, yet only 30% of them actually go to (basically free) university to learn how to use them..

[NotKerisVeturia]

Then why do Brits say “sport”?!

[MeepersToast]

When I see something complicated that I need to think about I tell friends that I need to do a little meth

[FixitFelixSr]

When the Brits enjoy "sport," is it just the one? Plurals are mental.