Trivial things that make you annoyed beyond expectations?

[Ming the Merciless]

Sort of, except that you don't use a lot of "basic" maths in post school life, whereas you need to read and write almost every day in most situations.

As my son said "I'm not sure how often I'll want to calculate the height of tall buildings from the ground."

That latter is not an example of basic maths. Knowing that 50p plus 20p plus 10p adds up to 80p is.

 

[Andy in Germany]

That latter is not an example of basic maths. Knowing that 50p plus 20p plus 10p adds up to 80p is.

Ah, point taken, I misunderstood the definition.

I will admit to using the till at work for even the simplest of transactions because I know my ability to funk up sums; I find it hard to see the connection between numbers -any numbers- and what they represent.

 

[ColinJ]

Sort of, except that you don't use a lot of "basic" maths in post school life, whereas you need to read and write almost every day in most situations.

I do not agree. Addition/subtraction/multiplication/division of small numbers is a pretty fundamental skill, even though there is usually technology available to do that job...

I once handed over a £5 note at a cafe to pay my £4.50 bill. The flustered teen at the till couldn't find the shop's calculator to work out much change to give me! (And they asked me nervously if I was really sure that it was 50p when I told them...)

Another example....

I worked in a factory for five years, and from time to time we'd have to do stocktaking. On one such occasion, I was helping a guy in the metal-working area work out how much steel tubing was left. He found that he had 10 lengths of 3.6 metres. I watched for a while as he struggled with the calculation. Finally I offered to help. I looked at his piece of paper and saw that he had written 3.6 ten times and was trying to add the numbers up. I asked why he didn't use multiplication but he didn't understand, so I explained that adding ten of the numbers was the same thing as multiplying by ten. He just looked back blankly and asked exactly how was that supposed to make things easier because nobody learned the 3.6 times table! I shifted the decimal point for him and told him that his answer was 36 metres. After that he kept going on about me being a 'brainbox'! I hadn't realised until that day just how little some people get out of their time at school.

 

[classic33]

Xylophone, Xenon, Xenophobic...?

Xerox, Xray.

 

[ColinJ]

Xerox, Xray.

Xanthous.

 

[mistyoptic]

Xerox, Xray.

Sorry, can’t use that. Doesn’t sound like Z

 

[ColinJ]

Rules: You have to remember the z-like x-words without consulting a dictionary!

 

[mistyoptic]

Xanthelasma (those white plaques on the skin round people’s eyes)

 

[classic33]

Sorry, can’t use that. Doesn’t sound like ZZ

But it is an

English words beginning with an 'X' ?

 

[DaveReading]

Yes, I was indeed referring to any word starting with "X", whether or not it's sounded as "Z", and the fact that pretty well all of them have roots outside of English.

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, I was indeed referring to any word starting with "X", whether or not it's sounded as "Z", and the fact that pretty well all of them have roots outside of English.

English in general has roots outside of 'English'! -> History of English <-

 

[PeteXXX]

English in general has roots outside of 'English'! -> History of English <-

What have the Romans ever do for us!?

 

[DaveReading]

What have the Romans ever do for us!?

Apart from giving us the xylophone ?

 

[Andy in Germany]

I do not agree. Addition/subtraction/multiplication/division of small numbers is a pretty fundamental skill, even though there is usually technology available to do that job...

I once handed over a £5 note at a cafe to pay my £4.50 bill. The flustered teen at the till couldn't find the shop's calculator to work out much change to give me! (And they asked me nervously if I was really sure that it was 50p when I told them...)

Another example....

I had a similar experience today. A customer gave me 20€ for a purchase costing 10,50€. I put this in the till, and it told me to give 9,50€ change. I'd pulled out a five and then they dropped a 0.50€ coin on the counter, and I blanked.

They then both tried to explain what I could do, and I had to explain that it would only confuse me even more and go with what the till said.

Looking at it now, written down, I can see I could just take the extra 0.50€ and give them a tenner, but in that moment: no clue.

This isn't a problem; it's good for my clients to see that I get confused and how I deal with it. It simply isn't an area I can respond quickly.

 

[ColinJ]

I had a similar experience today. A customer gave me 20€ for a purchase costing 10,50€. I put this in the till, and it told me to give 9,50€ change. I'd pulled out a five and then they dropped a 0.50€ coin on the counter, and I blanked.

They then both tried to explain what I could do, and I had to explain that it would only confuse me even more and go with what the till said.

Looking at it now, written down, I can see I could just take the extra 0.50€ and give them a tenner, but in that moment: no clue.

This isn't a problem; it's good for my clients to see that I get confused and how I deal with it. It simply isn't an area I can respond quickly.

I have always been good with numbers (and words)... It is people that I have problems with!