Talk:+/-

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Latest comment: 13 years ago by Prince Kassad in topic +/-
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The following information passed a request for deletion.

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.


+/-[edit]

Might be suitable for inclusion in an encyclopedia. I think this symbol could be used in a number of different ways, and it just happens that math and sports happen to be two such areas. Current definitions don't really give a clear indication of what this means. TeleComNasSprVen 15:46, 28 February 2011 (UTC)Reply

So, what's your reason for wanting to delete it? Mglovesfun (talk) 15:57, 28 February 2011 (UTC)Reply
As it stands, it's not really a term, more of a description on how it's used. Which means it's a connotation, not a denotation. TeleComNasSprVen 16:00, 28 February 2011 (UTC)Reply
Well, can't we edit it rather than just deleting it? Combination of symbols where there is legitimate use are often hard to understand. I certainly didn't understand +/- the first time I saw it used. Perhaps {{non-gloss definition}} is the way to go. Mglovesfun (talk) 16:05, 28 February 2011 (UTC)Reply
keep, we should also probably note the the pronunciations are different for the two fields, in sports they pronounce this "plus-minus" in math and science and most other uses I know of it is pronounced "plus or minus". I also don't really agree that these aren't definitions, the sports one needs some work and the math one could be clarified a bit, but "uncertainty range" is certainly not a connotation. - [The]DaveRoss 17:24, 28 February 2011 (UTC)Reply
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There was something about my learning of rudimentary mathematics that I now just realized. Perhaps this is an oft-used mistyped form of the ± symbol that frequently comes up in our discussions; there's more information to be found on the the two relevant Wikipedia articles on it. "Uncertainty range" is probably redundant to the margin of error referred to in the other entry, so if these two "definitions" are deleted, this looks like an alt-form-of for the other entry. TeleComNasSprVen 23:09, 28 February 2011 (UTC)Reply
Keep. I suppose it's SOP, but it's clearly a set phrase. -/+, for example, is very rare by comparison. —RuakhTALK 01:00, 1 March 2011 (UTC)Reply
Keep, agree with TheDaveRoss. Just because the entry isn't written correctly is not a reason by itself to delete it - why not just improve the entry to conform to our standards? We have plenty of symbol entries, such as ...?, ++, +ve, etc, which I'd argue are far more specific than a generic plus/minus. Tempodivalse [talk] 19:38, 1 March 2011 (UTC)Reply
Which senses? The sports one, the mathematics one, or both? I'm advocating for both, by the way. TeleComNasSprVen 05:38, 3 March 2011 (UTC)Reply

kept. -- Prince Kassad 10:13, 18 March 2011 (UTC)Reply