Originally Posted by ultramarina
(The answer is 48,000 citizens, of course. "ABOUT how many people." Get it? Yeah, I almost feel like they put these in just to ding the kids who are zipping through.)

"About" is such a culturally and context-specific word as to be virtually meaningless wihout further elaboration.

My dad was a fighter pilot, and I'm reminded of a story he told me about a German-born colleague describing his commute to work in the event of an emergency call. (I think I was fuming at a "wrong" answer like the one described!) The Canadians all rounded transit time to the nearest 5 minutes, while the German pilot said something like, "The trip takes me approximately 11 minutes and 40 seconds in average conditions." In an emergency, that precision would be valuable!

Last edited by aquinas; 11/26/12 08:02 PM.
What is to give light must endure burning.