Re: A4 paper

Lee Sau Dan wrote:
"Thomas" == Thomas Koenig <fossa@xxxxxx> writes: 


    >> Das Akronym DIN wird hin und wieder als "Deutsche
    >> Industrienorm" interpretiert. Dies ist ein weit verbreiteter
    >> unausrottbarer Irrtum, der sogar in Fernseh-Quizshows für
    >> Verwirrung sorgt. Diesen Begriff hat es so nie gegeben.

Thomas> Really? That's why there are 17K Google finds for
Thomas> "Deutsche Industrienorm"? 

Does Google find  you a sample of what the  general public believe, or
what the ultimate truth is?

Well questions about the meaning of words, what the "general public believes" *is* (or better: would be) "the ultimate truth." However, rarely, really never, is the general public of one opinion. But Google certainly does not reflect the language use of "the general public", but it contains among others an educational elites bias.

The rule that  "a lie told 1000 times becomes a  fact" applies to your
methodology of using Google to find out "the truth".

Beware of tenuous analogies. If a word, in this case an acronym, is used a thousand times then it does become a proper word. In contrast, neither cucumber nor sea cucumber become vegetables in the biological sense of the word, even if most people think that they would be vegetables.

Thomas> I reckon more than half of all German speakers interpret
Thomas> "DIN" as "Deutsche Industrienorm".

That doesn't mean "DIN" *originally* means "Deutsche Industrienorm".

So what? Who gives a rat's ass about its origins except for some professional linguists or (this is obviously not a "xor") professional nerds? Besides, not only from Sophie's sources, it appears as if DIN *originally* did mean "Deutsche Industrienorm", as the institution that issues these norms was originally called "Normalienausschuss für den allgemeinen Maschinenbau", which cannot meaninfully be abbreviated as "DIN". A fairly credible source, the German publisher for DIN and ISO norms, purports exactly that etymology for the DIN acronym:

http://www.beuth.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=10377

Just like most  people misunderstand " E = m *  c^2 " as "*converting*
mass to energy" rather than Einsteins original idea: "_equivalence_ of
mass and energy".

You are again wrong on both counts. You really should consider joining Wikipedia, if you haven't done so yet.

Most people interpret "E=mc^2" as a symbol for a very complex theory in physics called "relativity theory" (a theory that is not exceedingly complex, but just counterintuitive BTW). Most people will not even know that "c" stands for the speed of light, much less will they have an idea what this theory is about.

Let's listen to a more competent person than me, as to in how far you were wrong in your assertion about the meaning of "E=mc^2" from a physiscist's POV:

http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/sound/voice1.mp3

Boy, this guy had a stronger German accent than Boris Becker.

    Thomas> Therefore that *is* a proper term and a proper concept,
    Thomas> even if the acronym *was* designed to mean something else.

So, you think a misunderstanding or a misinterpretation is *proper*?

Sure, if a misunderstanding becomes perpetuated, it becomes the (or a) proper usage of a word. "LCD display" is probably the most famous example for an acronym that has acquired a new life of its own; "LCD" stands these days mostly for LC.
.

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