On 10-12-2010, at 22:25, Rolf Turner wrote: > > I agree with you completely about ``begging the question''. The > nearly universal misuse of this expression drives me crazy. I'm > not so sure about ``steep learning curve'' however. My impression > is that this phrase has *always* been used to convey the idea that > a subject area is difficult to learn, whence to use it (as you suggest) > in the sense that the subject area can be learned quickly would be to > change the original meaning of the phrase. That would be undesirable, > even given that the original meaning is counter-intuitive. > > I recall having heard/read a ``justification'' for the original meaning > to the effect that what is envisaged is plotting effort expended on > the *y* axis and knowledge level on the *x* axis. Thus a steep learning > curve would entail expending a great deal of effort for a small increase > in knowledge.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_curve especially section "Common terms". And in particular the next to last paragraph:-) in that section. Berend _______________________________________________ R-SIG-Mac mailing list R-SIG-Mac@r-project.org https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mac