Posted by The Midwest sucks! at dtg-60.216-16-8.dtgnet.com on August 07, 2000 at 02:21:23:
In Reply to: Again... posted by Darth Dobbin on August 06, 2000 at 20:14:45:
Main Entry: at·tri·tion
Pronunciation: &-'tri-sh&n, a-
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin attrition-, attritio, from atterere to rub against, from ad- + terere to rub -- more at THROW
Date: 14th century
1 [Middle English attricioun, from Medieval Latin attrition-, attritio, from Latin] : sorrow for one's sins that arises from a motive other than that of the love of God
2 : the act of rubbing together : FRICTION; also : the act of wearing or grinding down by friction
3 : the act of weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack
4 : a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death
- at·tri·tion·al /-'tri-sh(&-)n&l/ adjective
: ...yes, "attrition" in this case *is* the right word.
: You can shoot me down on many, many things.Word usage and correctness within context are not listed among them.
I don't see a definition of attrition according to Merriam-Webster that fits the context. #1 relates to regretting one's sins for fear of Hell or want of Heaven. #2 deals with whittling away by friction. #3 & #4 are analogs of the aforementioned loss of numbers experienced by a military force, for example.
As you said, any 2-digit number will pop up a lot if you look for it, since we are bombarded with millions of two-digit numbers. Attrition (except for the first definition) deals the lessening of a group by constantly wearing away at the group. You said that a number will seemingly appear out of nowhere repeatedly if you look at a large enough sample. A bit different than eroding a large group by a repeated action, which is what attrition means. This is not attrition; it is PROBABILITY. If we look through a million two-digit numbers, 37 should appear roughly 11,000 times, since all 90 two-digit numbers should scatter relatively evenly. Hence, recurrences of any number are common, as you said - but it's probability, not attrition.
: If I am being a dick, call me on being a dick.
You are not being a dick, but I am being off topic.