Issues with SAC terminology

[Willem Ferguson]

On 18/07/2017 19:14, Linus Torvalds wrote:
>
> Absolutely *everybody* knows what we mean by SAC rate. And the ones
> that are offended by our use of standard terminology can be offended.
>
> It's their problem, not ours. Let's not take on their mental baggage.
>
>                  Linus
>
Part of this argument is just me and who I am. I am a scientist and for 
effective communication, terminology is critical. Just look how he word 
"awesome" has totally lost its meaning in popular language: it can mean 
almost anything. My students have lost the meaning of the word 
"variation" or the verb "vary": they would say that men vary from women, 
not that men differ from women, so the word "variation" has lost its 
technical meaning. In addition, I was trained that each number one uses 
has an associated unit. To say that respiratory minute volume is 
measured in bar is just nonsensical. And we use this common-day 
terminology in situations where people can get hurt by miscommunication 
or misperception.

But clearly I am far in the minority, so I will shut my mouth on this issue.

Kind regards,

willem