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From: ihw@hou5e.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Rate: a dictionary's viewpoint
Message-ID: <533@hou5e.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3-Jun-83 09:18:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: hou5e.533
Posted: Fri Jun  3 09:18:23 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jun-83 00:13:06 EDT
Lines: 35


The American Heritage Dictionary, by no means a "loose" dictionary,
has the following definition (among others) of rate:

	rate n.  1. A measured quantity that occurs or is attained
within the limits of a fixed quantity of something else: `` a rate
of speed of 60 miles an hour''.

Neither the definition quoted above nor
the others in the entry for rate refer to change in the quantity
being measured; hence, 'rate of speed' does not mean acceleration.
As in the example above, it is clear that 'rate of x' means 'the
rate (def. 1) which is "x"'.
'Rate of speed' means "the rate which is speed" not "speed's rate".
Rate describes a relationship between two quantities; speed defines
what (types) those quantities are.

Inasmuch as speed is itself a rate, the phrase under discussion *is*
redundant.  But it is correct; i.e., it means what it meant to mean,
viz. speed, not acceleration.


(P.S.  Until I looked in the dictionary, I thought 'rate of speed'
was merely sloppy usage; I certainly didn't think it meant
acceleration.  )

****  flame on ***
I'm sick and tired of reading articles that are so ignorant and uninformed
by people who are unwilling or unable to do the least bit
verification of what they are writing.
If you are unsure - even if you are sure - of what you are saying,
consult an authority. Don't clutter up the net with made-up definitions,
etc. If you're too  uninterested - read lazy and/or stupid - to do a little
(very little indeed) research into a linguistic matter, don't post
to net.nlang; some of us used to read it to learn something.