This (arguably unhelpful) phrase seems to be taught across schools all over the world. What are some other phrases like this that are common ?

  • tias@discuss.tchncs.de
    252·
    3 months ago

    I’ve only heard this phrase from Americans, so I think “all over the world” is a stretch

  • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
    14·
    3 months ago

    I believe most nations have a version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” that is taught in early education.

  • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    While not unhelpful, stop-drop-and-roll and quicksand don’t come up as often as we thought back then

    • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
      5·
      3 months ago

      I was always worried about proper handling of nitroglycerin. Talking to my friends it seems that wasn’t as common as quicksand or even thinking you’d need to tell gold apart from fool’s gold (pyrite). Games like Crash Bandicoot, shows like Dexter’s Lab, and a general interest in science may have meant I heard more about it as a kid.

  • Badabinski@kbin.earth
    11·
    3 months ago

    To the tune of “Pop Goes The Weasel”:

    x equals negative b /
    plus or minus the square root /
    of b squared minus 4 ac /
    all over 2a!

    I cannot believe that stupid fucking song is still in my head, but good God damn it worked. It’s there for all 0 times I’ll need the quadratic equation in my daily life.

    • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      It was to to the tune of Frère Jacques when I learned it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frère_Jacques

      Negative b, negative b
      Plus or minus square root, plus or minus square root
      B squared minus 4 AC, b squared minus 4 AC
      Over 2A, over 2A

      Finding the name of the original song was a pain. I’d never seen it written as an adult and thought it said “do re mi” so every search result kept telling me it was from the sound of music.

    • Caveman@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 months ago

      If you already know that much algebra you can use ax2 + bx + c = 0 and solve for x to get the formula if you forget it.

      • JWBananas@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        Hurr durr what if I just multiply the whole thing by 4a for some reason? Oh and then after that I’ll add b² to both sides, just for shits and giggles. And for good measure, I’ll move a few numbers from one side to the other, and that leaves me with 4a²x² + 4abx + b² = b² - 4ac.

        And then golly gee! Wouldn’t you know it? That just happens to let the left side factor neatly into (2ax + b)²! So I’ll just take the square root of both sides…

        No!

        No!

        Bad!

        This is fucking voodoo. I hate this shit. It’s like trigonometric substitution.

        Math is procedural. Math is algorithmic. Math is repeatable.

        “If these numbers looked a little different than they do, I could solve this. Oh, wow! If I just sprinkle these magic values into my problem, everything works out great!”

        Oh yes, I can see how if you just plug in this shit you pulled out of your ass, everything works out great! But when you aren’t around for a fecal transfer, I have no idea how to come up with that.

        I was top of my class in math. But that voodoo shit never made any sense to me.

        And there is absolute value of zero chance I could figure all that out in the heat of the moment if I forgot the quadratic formula. I had to work backwards from the formula to even get all that in the first place.

        • Caveman@lemmy.world
          3·
          3 months ago
          • ax^2 + bx + c = 0
          • ax^2 + bx = -c move the c over
          • x^2 + (b/a)x = -c/a divide by a
          • x^2 + (b/a)x +(b/2a)^2 = -c/a + (b/2a)^2 complete the square
          • (x + b/2a)^2 = -c/a + (b/2a)^2 factor the left hand side
          • x + b/2a = sqrt(-c/a + (b/2a)^2) now we just tidy it up
          • x = -b/2a + sqrt(-c/a + b2/4a2)
          • x = -b/2a + (2a/2a) sqrt(-c/a + b2/4a2)
          • x = (-b + (2a)sqrt(-c/a + b2/4a2))/2a
          • x = (-b + sqrt(-4ac + b^2))/2a move 2a into the square root and multiply it with what’s inside

          The derivation of the quadratic formula is nice because it doesn’t rely on anything fancy and it’s all tricks the teacher is likely to teach around the same time you’re learning it. It’s not voodoo shit, it’s just the ax^2 + bx + c = 0 and you solve for x.

          • JWBananas@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            Thanks for the alternative explanation. Completing the square never made much sense to me either, so I never would have arrived there.

  • SwordInStone@lemmy.world
    102·
    3 months ago

    Question and all comments (apart from “donde esta la biblioteka”) are not “all over the world”, but American

  • Crotaro@beehaw.org
    71·
    3 months ago

    “Don’t use Wikipedia as a source.”

    Man, if I want to get a pretty good overview on almost anything, Wikipedia is the best and most accessible way. Luckily, the consensus seems to slowly change to a cautious “Don’t use Wikipedia as your only source, especially on controversial topics.”

  • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
    61·
    3 months ago

    Didn’t that originate in a Sabrina The Teenage Witch episode? Or did I just imagine that?