Assume v. Presume

Black Hole said:
Do you think Network Rail should be renamed Network Train?
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No. They don't run trains, they look after the infrastructure, e.g. the rails.

Black Hole said:
It may not be wrong as such, language evolves and not always in a direction the intelligentsia might like, but isn't that what this topic is all about?
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Well yes. I too am of an age, but using train instead of railway in certain situations has been fairly common for some time, so I personally consider it normal. Train does have some advantages in being less letters and syllables and to my mind being 'nicer' than using rail, such as rail station.
There is also a need in some places to distinguish between trains and trams.
 
Mike0001 said:
If you think you are a plant, you are not a plant!
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I take it you mean that a plant can't think.

In the sense I was using, there was a straightforward questionnaire system with seemingly innocent questions, which when analysed scored the subject in terms of each Belbin team role. Some subjects have a spread of role characteristics; I came out with a strong peak in the "Plant" category. The Completer Finisher definition listed in that Wikipedia article isn't how I remember it - my recollection is that they can be relied on to "get it done" once they've been given a clue what needs doing (the referenced article says they agonise over details - that's more of a Plant characteristic).
 
MikeSh said:
Oops :X3:


That is my point. Some people will shorten railway to rail, as in rail-station, but I much prefer train, as in train-station.
Train is also unambiguous if there are bus or tram stations nearby.
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Omnibus, trolleybus and tramway, surely? And sharabank stations?

But that is all trivial compared with these engineers who try to minimise mathematicians.
 
Mike0001 said:
You were the one who started rubbishing maths. See post 2528.
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That's being rather touchy - I was simply illustrating the difference in point of view. However, you also need knocking out of your ivory tower if you think your point of view is the only one that matters.
 
Black Hole said:
That's being rather touchy - I was simply illustrating the difference in point of view. However, you also need knocking out of your ivory tower if you think your point of view is the only one that matters.
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I never said mathematicians were superior to engineers, did I? Nor did I say that mathematicians can't also have the same qualities as you claim exclusively for engineers. I think the Venn diagram is rather more complicated than you think.
 
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