non-6-sided dice > number cubes

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Laurence Horn
Sent: Wed 10/24/2007 9:34 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject:      Re: non-6-sided dice > number cubes

>I learned today from a fellow editor that in some school texbooks,
>dice are called "number cubes" even when they have pips rather than
>digits. Not so surprising, I suppose, given the kind of influences
>school texts tend to suffer under (referring to a "disabled car" can
>be a no-no, as can be talking about tranquillizing a bear -- because
>that refers to drugs). But non-cubic dice are also being called
>"number cubes," even in math textbooks. After one editor mentioned
>she was faced with "four-sided number cube" in a teacher's guide for
>a math course and was not allowed to change it, I found the following
>at http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2004/5/04.05.10.x.html :
>
>"John was tossing a 4-sided number cube numbered 1-4 and a 7-sided
>number cube numbered 1-7."
>
>Note that this is a sample problem for teaching math. The page in
>question begins with the following sentence: "Words and their
>meanings may present the greatest obstacle to mathematical problem
>solving for students." However, the reference to 4-side and 7-sided
>number cubes is not being used as an illustration of problematic word
>usage.
>
Maybe it's not necessarily the apparent endorsement of gambling
that's being avoided but rather the problem of figuring out whether
the singular of "dice" is really "die".  Well, as Caesar used to say,
the number cube is cast.

LH


Oh, and here I was thinking this was just another example of the bad influence of Dungeons and Dragons on America's youth. Who else but RPGers needs to talk about dice of more (or less) than 6 sides?

-Matt
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org