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#1 2009-08-07 08:36:22
- Ricky
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World's worst dictionary
Word: Definition
1. Recondite: Abstruse
2. Abstruse: Enigmatic
3. Enigmatic: Cabalistic
4. Cabalistic: Arcane
5. Arcane: Esoteric
6. Esoteric: Hermetic
7. Hermetic: Recondite
(This all started when I saw the definition of recondite including the word "abstruse")
"In the real world, this would be a problem. But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist. So we'll go ahead and do that now..."
#2 2009-08-07 09:01:34
- bobbym
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Re: World's worst dictionary
Hi Ricky;
recondite: abstruse
abstruse : arcane
arcane : esoteric
esoteric: recondite
Found this going back and forth in 4 different online dictionaries.
In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
Probability is the most important concept in modern science, especially as nobody has the slightest notion what it means.
90% of mathematicians do not understand 90% of currently published mathematics.
#3 2009-08-07 09:50:49
- MathsIsFun
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Re: World's worst dictionary
I think they are quietly demonstrating the abstruseness.
"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..." - Leon M. Lederman