[Gllug] "lowest common denominator"

[Alistair Mann]

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Thus spaketh Andrew Black (li) on Friday 20 June 2003 6:01 am:
> > However, they've changed the typesetting in recent versions, and
> > it's *apalling*. It looks like it's been dumbed down to appeal to
> > the lowest common denominator,
>
> As this thread is about pedantry, my hobby horse is the phrase
> "lowest common denominator".  Not getting at Tet specifically but everyone
> that uses it.
>
> What is being implyed by this phrase is something no larger than all the
> (say) people involved.
> That is the highest common factor. The lowest common multiple/denominator
> is a number that is
> BIGGER than all the numbers you are considering.

The LCD is the lowest number common to two or more sets. 3, 5, 7 and 3, 6, 9 
has an LCD of 3 -- the number that is SMALLER than all the numbers we are 
considering.

The LCD in a population is a slightly different animal; it infers not the 
dumbest individual in his person, but the lowest standard met by the largest 
number of people. That sense seems clear from what Richard wrote.

I hate it when people say "Actually ..." or "The reality is ...". Everytime my 
first g/f finished a sentence with "..., right?" I answered "Right!". It took 
about three days for her to get Clue.
- -- 
Alistair
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