# Is "maths" a Britishism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313 "2006-01-31T04:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/21 "2006-01-31T13:58:32Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Then there’s _inning_ (baseball) and _innings_ (cricket) - both singular. An innings? :::shudder::: (I’ve just gotten used to the term “a dice” for one box-shaped random number generator, over here one is just “a die”…) ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/22 "2006-01-31T14:20:23Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > As for why Americans say “math” instead of “maths,” I guess it’s because (1) it’s singular, so why put the “s” on the end? and (2) that “ths” sound is hard to say. But I would be interested in seeing a cite as to which came first, “math” or “maths.” Agreed. There’s no reason that I can think of that an abbreviation ought to include the _last_ letter of the abbreviated word. And as has been pointed out, “mathematics” and “math” (and I assume “maths” as well) are singular. “Mathematics are hard” sounds ridiculous. The fact that there’s an S on the end doesn’t mean it’s plural. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/23 "2006-01-31T14:32:59Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > Any mathematicians here want to chime in? Why would we want to do that? _We_ realize that there’s no “right” answer, and it’s rather silly and pointless. _We_ have some math(s) to do. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/24 "2006-01-31T14:49:10Z")
Singapore, Maths. Seems like it’s a commonwealth thing. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/25 "2006-01-31T15:08:22Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > I say maths, he says math (he’s Irish) That’s strange. I’ve never heard an Irish person say _math_. It’s always _math **s** _ IME. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/26 "2006-01-31T15:31:34Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > There’s no reason that I can think of that an abbreviation ought to include the _last_ letter of the abbreviated word. It’s not unusual in American English. “Ops” (operations) and “apts” (apartments), for example. And place names - around here we have B’ham (Birmingham) and M’boro (Murfreesboro). Perhaps “Xmas” counts as well? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/27 "2006-01-31T16:04:54Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > It’s not unusual in American English. “Ops” (operations) and “apts” (apartments), for example. And place names - around here we have B’ham (Birmingham) and M’boro (Murfreesboro). Perhaps “Xmas” counts as well? But the first two examples are plurals. It makes sense to keep the plural morphology in the abbreviation, especially since “apt” can be used in the singular as well. “Mathematics” is not plural, so there’s no reason to want to preserve the plural suffix. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/28 "2006-01-31T16:35:32Z")
If I had a dine for everytime I though of starting this thread. 🙂 I agree with **Excalibre**. “Mathematics” is not plural, so keeping the “s” in the abbrivation seems odd. In fact, let’s just say it’s wrong. Can one of our non-North American posters take it upon himself to make the rest of the world change to the correct form? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/29 "2006-01-31T16:49:35Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > Hmmm. If you’re referring to a statistics course, it’s “stat”. If you’re referring to the statistics about something, then it’s “stats”. But it’s always just “math”. “Maths” hurts my ears. I’ve never heard anyone refer to a statistics course as “stat.” I have heard “stats” used quite often to refer to courses. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/30 "2006-01-31T17:53:19Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > If I had a dine for everytime I though of starting this thread. 🙂 You’d be well fed? ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/31 "2006-01-31T18:04:56Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > An innings? :::shudder::: > > (I’ve just gotten used to the term “a dice” for one box-shaped random number generator, over here one is just “a die”…) Are you saying that in some countries “a dice” is the norm? I am English and have always known it as “a die”. There are certainly plenty of people who say “a dice”, but I take that to be out of ignorance rather than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/32 "2006-01-31T18:31:08Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Are you saying that in some countries “a dice” is the norm? I am English and have always known it as “a die”. There are certainly plenty of people who say “a dice”, but I take that to be out of ignorance rather than anything else. Hmmm, I can’t find a cite for it, so I’m not sure. But Games Workshop, a British company using British English, uses “a dice” as a matter of course in their rules (to the exclusion of “a die”.) Perhaps it’s a bit of both - I honestly had never heard that grammatical idiosyncracy before running across Games Workshop. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/33 "2006-01-31T18:44:58Z")
The one that always sounds tinny to my ear is “Drink driving”. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/34 "2006-01-31T18:46:14Z")
I wouldn’t consider Games Workshop an authority on grammar, or on current British usages … ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/35 "2006-01-31T19:12:28Z")
Sheez. THings would be so much simpler if all you foreigners would just get your American right. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/36 "2006-01-31T19:42:30Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > (I’ve just gotten used to the term “a dice” for one box-shaped random number generator, over here one is just “a die”…) Don’t you mean a number cube? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/37 "2006-01-31T20:27:50Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > “Mathematics” is not plural … Actually, [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) says: _Function: noun plural but usually singular in construction_ \ In Greek, Mathematica (where the english word Mathematics comes from I assume) is plural. \ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/38 "2006-01-31T20:53:39Z")
> [@Steve Wright](#): > > I wouldn’t consider Games Workshop an authority on grammar, or on current British usages … Right, cause they’re not British, and not current, and I said they were an authority rather than an example … 😕 Then again, with their prices, one might expect to have them sell a $20.00 “number cube” rather than a dice 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/39 "2006-01-31T22:42:02Z")
I thought the Irish pronounced it “sums”. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313/40 "2006-01-31T23:10:46Z")
> [@Mathsochist](#): > > Why would we want to do that? _We_ realize that there’s no “right” answer, and it’s rather silly and pointless. _We_ have some math(s) to do. Party pooper 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-maths-a-britishism/342313.md?page=3)