From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!ihnp4!iwsl1!deg
Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.nlang
Title: Usage of "comparable"
Article-I.D.: iwsl1.108
Posted: Wed Jan 12 11:53:36 1983
Received: Fri Jan 14 08:57:59 1983
Reply-To: deg@iwsl1.UUCP (David Good)

While we're talking usage,
how about the way "comparable" is used to mean "roughly equivalent"?
Is it a special scientific usage that the word means:
"able to be compared - having the same units"?

In that sense, one can say "the New York Times and the Woodridge
Progress have comparable circulations",
meaning that both measure circulation in "number of papers sold",
but that does not seem to be what people \want/ the word to mean.

In ads, does everyone understand "comparable" to mean:
"ours is not quite as good, but we think its OK" ?

David Good
Bell Labs, Naperville (iwsl1!deg)