# Using Math Operands as Verbs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340 "2016-01-06T18:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/1 "2016-01-06T18:10:16Z")
My kids do this all the time. “You have to plus it”. “You times it by 3”. “You forgot to minus it”. Lately I overheard some adults discussing some arithmatic matter and they did it too. Is this a new thing? I wonder if the word “divide” is the villian here, in that the operand “divided by” uses the same word as the verb, which may have carried over to the others. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/2 "2016-01-06T18:48:39Z")
Sounds like some people should pay more attention in English class. Divide is not the culprit. You can properly say, “You have to add it.” or “You forgot to subtract it.” ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/3 "2016-01-06T21:36:24Z")
A lot of the high school students I deal with do this. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone older than maybe 17 do it though. I’ve been hearing high school kids say it for at least 15 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/4 "2016-01-06T22:26:44Z")
Gawd. I once heard an attorney in a court of law actually say, “You have to times it by seven.” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/5 "2016-01-06T22:46:08Z")
Since this is a nitpicky thread about English, I’ll point out that the title should be “Using Math **Operators** as Verbs”. Operands are what operators are applied to. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/6 "2016-01-06T22:51:07Z")
You’re right, my apologies. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/7 "2016-01-06T23:19:57Z")
I was hoping this was about integrating little Poly Nomial piecewise…but then again I am a dirty old man. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/8 "2016-01-06T23:32:36Z")
[Obligatory _Calvin and Hobbes_ reference](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/9 "2016-01-07T00:11:34Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Gawd. I once heard an attorney in a court of law actually say, “You have to times it by seven.” Understandable when you consider how many elementary school kids are taught to memorize the “times table”. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/10 "2016-01-07T00:24:26Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > My kids do this all the time. “You have to plus it”. “You times it by 3”. “You forgot to minus it”. Lately I overheard some adults discussing some arithmatic matter and they did it too. > > Is this a new thing? It is not a new thing. I’ve only heard people say to “times” something by a number, but there was at least one girl in my 4th grade class who used to say that. That would have been about 1967 or so. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-math-operands-as-verbs/742340/11 "2016-01-07T02:20:10Z")
I think it’s just a normal product of being in a school that is really pushing math. Those operators are used as verbs in math class, and if the curriculum is integrated, it could make sense to spread elsewhere. I remember cringing as a kid hearing kids say “times it by” and such.