Number Crunching

[Erik Hoover]

Accounting-type use of the "crunch the numbers" terminology also at
time implies a Procrustean manipulation of scenarios and figures to
achieve desirable results, giving the metaphor multiple levels.

ErikOn Dec 17, 2004, at 2:47 PM, sagehen wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Number Crunching
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>> It strikes me on reading this that there is a less-strained metaphor
>> if
>> "crunching numbers" and "number-crunching" refer originally to the
>> mechanical calculators or "adding machines" that were once commonplace
>> in business.
>> The noise of such devices can be quite, ah, crunchy.
>
>> Erik
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~
> Yup.  What you said.  I had a short-lived job processing statistics
> for a
> fellow student back in the late 40s & the machine I used was decidedly
> noisy and the expression "number crunching" frequently brings the
> image of
> that monster to mind.
> A. Murie
>
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