Rich. I am truly sorry. 💖 also this was great thank you. -Ben
On Apr 17, 2020, at 6:09 PM, Rich Kulawiec <rsk@gsp.org> wrote:
(since it's Friday and we're all stressed)
I can't believe that out of everything I wrote that we're going to discuss the semantics of this, but then again: yes I can. I should have known. I should have known. I. Should. Have. Known. *bangs head on desk* *reaches for scotch* Alrighty then:
24x7 means every hour of the week, as in "24 by 7".
24x365 means every hour of the year. (modulo those with 366 days but please let's not go there because this is bad enough) (oh wait, too late, someone upthread already went there) (and then leap seconds reared their ugly head, oh good grief)
24x7x365 thus means every hour of 7 years. YES, I know, I know.
60x24x7...no. NO. I will not go there. Nor will you. Just stop. I swear I will turn this car around *right now*.
Yeah, I know it's in common use. Like any number of other things in common use (e.g., "going forward" -- really? like there's another direction to go?) it's...annoying.
I suspect that someone who just wasn't thinking started this in an attempt to out-promote people who merely said 24x7 or 24x365, and it propagated outwards. If that hypothesis is correct and there is thus a patient 0 for this epidemic, I very much want to find them and pummel them with a bag of Oxford commas.
----rsk