between inclusive

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/4/2013 04:55 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>On Jun 4, 2013, at 1:37 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> > At 6/4/2013 01:04 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> >> Yes, although we might not agree on the judgments, I think it's
> >> clear that the definition of "between" needs to be rewritten to
> >> allow the possibility of including the endpoints. I would say that
> >> the dollars and patients examples are both inclusive.
> >
> > I would say the  "patients between the age of 40 and 50" example
> > excludes those of age 50; that is, it is intended to be a 10-year,
> > not 11- or 9-year range.  Others may disagree with my interpretation,
> > which is perhaps why so many patients die.
>
>Sounds like a threat!  ;-)
>
>LH

Disclaimer:  I am not a licensed doctor of medicine.

JSB


> >  In any case, my "between"
> > for this example is different from the previous definitions -- it
> > includes one endpoint but not the other.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
> >> Benjamin Barrett
> >> Seattle, WA
> >>
> >> On Jun 4, 2013, at 6:58 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >>
> >> > If you asked me to pick a number between 1 and 10, I would find that
> >> > unclear -- are 1 and 10 possible picks?
> >> >
> >> > If you asked me to pick a number from 1 to 10, I would know exactly what
> >> > you mean.
> >> >
> >> > In other contexts, however, I would have to make a judgment based on
> >> > specificity. Your "somewhere between 40 and 50 dollars" is not
> the same as
> >> > "patients between the age of 40 and 50".
> >> >
> >> > DanG
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 5:13 AM, Benjamin Barrett
> >> <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> The OED says about "between": Of the relation of a number, quantity,
> >> >> degree, or quality to two others above and below it, or
> differing from it
> >> >> in opposite ways; Intermediate to.
> >> >>
> >> >> One of the cites is:
> >> >>
> >> >> Between five and six miles from the city.
> >> >>
> >> >> If I emphasize the words "between," "five" and "six" just
> right, I think I
> >> >> can make it not include five or six, but generally speaking,
> I don't think
> >> >> that's the case.
> >> >>
> >> >> Wiktionary has the same issue:
> >> >>
> >> >> In the position or interval that separates (two things), or
> intermediate
> >> >> in quantity or degree.
> >> >>
> >> >> This works fine for the following sample sentence:
> >> >> 1. John stood between Amy and Mary.
> >> >>
> >> >> but less well for 2 and very poorly for 3:
> >> >> 2. Let's meet between two and three.
> >> >> 3. I want to buy one that costs somewhere between forty and
> fifty dollars.
> >> >>
> >> >> My concern is not merely petty pedantry: I just got called on this very
> >> >> issue by my Japanese client who thought my use of "between" was
> >> >> inappropriate as a translation of Japanese copy which is inclusive. I
> >> >> explained that while the OED agrees with her, I had to nevertheless
> >> >> disagree.
> >> >>
> >>
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> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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