Sunday, January 18, 2015

one-dimensional/two-dimensional: Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Sunday, January 18, 2015

one-dimensional/two-dimensional 
Once upon a time most folks knew that “three-dimensional” characters or ideas were rounded, fleshed out, and complex; and “two-dimensional” ones were flat and uninteresting. It seems that the knowledge of basic geometry has declined in recent years, because today we hear uninteresting characters and ideas described as “one-dimensional.” According to Euclid, no physical object can be one-dimensional (of course, according to modern physics, even two-dimensionality is only an abstract concept). If you are still bothered by the notion that two dimensions are one too many, just use “flat.”



___________
This is the ten-year anniversary of the Common Errors in English Usage calendar. To celebrate, we are bringing back some of our favorite interesting, funny, but sometimes merely silly entries through the years before going on hiatus in 2016.

Enjoy the calendar? Buy the book! (http://tinyurl.com/commonerrorsbook)

1 comment:

  1. You have such an interesting blog. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your posts. All the best for your future blogging journey.

    ReplyDelete