What is wrong with this sentence?

4 years ago
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Ian K
Ian K
WA
4169 posts
WA, 4169 posts
11 Aug 2021 2:25pm
What is the total of all income the person usually receives?
Harrow
Harrow
NSW
4521 posts
NSW, 4521 posts
11 Aug 2021 6:00pm
If you're raising this because of the census, I'd say the question asking people how they travelled to work today will be just as useless for providing planning data.
Carantoc
Carantoc
WA
7268 posts
WA, 7268 posts
11 Aug 2021 4:20pm
Ian K said..
What is the total of all income the person usually receives?


It assumes that all the different incomes can be summed together ?

So, if I work for peanuts in the morning and bugger-all in the afternoon it assumes peanut + bugger-all = some quantifiable total ?


Carantoc
Carantoc
WA
7268 posts
WA, 7268 posts
11 Aug 2021 4:22pm
It doesn't define the timescale over which the income is received ?
Carantoc
Carantoc
WA
7268 posts
WA, 7268 posts
11 Aug 2021 4:23pm
It doesn't differentiate between LGTBIQ+ income and non-LGTIBQ+ income, so it will upset somebody ??
Carantoc
Carantoc
WA
7268 posts
WA, 7268 posts
11 Aug 2021 4:25pm
You don't know the answer yourself because you have 'people' to deal with that sort of vulgar query and so it should be directed to your butler / valet / housekeeper / other ?
Carantoc
Carantoc
WA
7268 posts
WA, 7268 posts
11 Aug 2021 4:27pm
Ian K said..

What is wrong with this sentence?

What is the total of all income the person usually receives?


Argh, I know. FormulaNova and kiterboy haven't argued about the semantics of it for 27 pages yet ?
japie
japie
NSW
7146 posts
NSW, 7146 posts
11 Aug 2021 6:39pm
It's ugly.

My two Bob's worth. A "total" is definitive. "Usually" implies there may be variation.

So it's pretty ugly
psychojoe
psychojoe
WA
2241 posts
WA, 2241 posts
11 Aug 2021 4:50pm
I read it as "usually since Covid" so... zero!
FormulaNova
FormulaNova
WA
15100 posts
WA, 15100 posts
11 Aug 2021 5:21pm
Carantoc said..
Ian K said..

What is wrong with this sentence?

What is the total of all income the person usually receives?


Argh, I know. FormulaNova and kiterboy haven't argued about the semantics of it for 27 pages yet ?


Well, you were sort of correct twice. I have outsourced my arguing on Seabreeze to an Indian outsourcing company. Much cheaper at 10% of the cost and they only need to do it three times, so overall a bargain. I hope kitertoy has done the same thing as it just makes sense.

Butlers? Who can afford more than one?

P.S. I think that Ian is hinting that meth income has dropped these last few months, so 'usually' is not specific enough.
Ian K
Ian K
WA
4169 posts
WA, 4169 posts
11 Aug 2021 7:08pm
Harrow said..
If you're raising this because of the census,


I was raising it to give the grammar nazis some sport without offending any fellow seabreezers. Also wondering if anyone was using the same version of grammar compiler as I've got in my head.

My initial take was that they they wanted to know how much, in total, of the household income came my way each week after multiple trips to the spare change jar. I put down $150.

That can't be the answer I thought.

It took me a while to debug.

The problem is the definition of income. www.dictionary.com/browse/income
ie income is "money received" .

So replacing "income" in the sentence with "money received"

What is the total of all money received the person usually receives?

There you go. Why ask someone if they received something they have received?

So then my subconscious grammar compiler, doing its best, decides that the first instance of "money received" must be a global variable, ie. the income of the household, the census is household based after all, and that what the person receives in dribs and drabs from that lot is a local variable.

Good to see I'm not the only one. Curantoc has the same compiler and came to the same conclusion.

what they probably meant to ask was

What is this person's total income?

Mr Milk
Mr Milk
NSW
3137 posts
NSW, 3137 posts
11 Aug 2021 11:04pm
Wasn't the correct answer "about average"?
kiterboy
kiterboy
2614 posts
2614 posts
12 Aug 2021 7:47am
Carantoc said..

Ian K said..

What is wrong with this sentence?

What is the total of all income the person usually receives?



Argh, I know. FormulaNova and kiterboy haven't argued about the semantics of it for 27 pages yet ?


bjw
bjw
QLD
3689 posts
bjw bjw
QLD, 3689 posts
12 Aug 2021 7:38pm
Is it just me or did anyone else read this thread and think, wtf are you taking about?
Crusoe
Crusoe
QLD
1197 posts
QLD, 1197 posts
12 Aug 2021 10:01pm
Male or female
MangoDingo
MangoDingo
NT
891 posts
NT, 891 posts
12 Aug 2021 9:35pm
bjw said..
Is it just me or did anyone else read this thread and think, wtf are you taking about?

Nup. I've got no idea what there taking about either
Mark _australia
Mark _australia
WA
23647 posts
WA, 23647 posts
14 Aug 2021 9:55am
My issue with Census is having to complete it with what actually happens on that day. Surely that creates statistical issues- it should be completed on the basis of what the normal situation is.
They use the data to decide upon Govt resource allocation. So for the next 5(?) years they will be using data that says there is bugger all people up north in Aug (when normally there is a billion backpackers) or that Eucla or Ceduna has 4 times the population that it really does (normally 40people but increased border duties...) and so on.

So surely just this once it should have been "ignoring COVID, what is the normal situation at your location averaged since last Census"
decrepit
decrepit
WA
12872 posts
WA, 12872 posts
14 Aug 2021 10:29am
Mark, I see your point, but pandemic stats could also be useful, especially if we're going to have more of them. as some predict. It could help to plan ahead much better.
Carantoc
Carantoc
WA
7268 posts
WA, 7268 posts
14 Aug 2021 4:11pm
Mark _australia said..
.....They use the data to decide upon Govt resource allocation....


pfft, yeah right.

Government resource allocation is determined by how tight a margin the seat is currently held by.
FormulaNova
FormulaNova
WA
15100 posts
WA, 15100 posts
14 Aug 2021 6:43pm
Carantoc said..
Mark _australia said..
.....They use the data to decide upon Govt resource allocation....


pfft, yeah right.

Government resource allocation is determined by how tight a margin the seat is currently held by.


As if, that is so last year, or even the year before (depending on when the scheme was assessed, and even if they had already been funded)

www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-26/sports-grants-scott-morrison-club-got-money-already-built/12001522

www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-26/how-north-sydney-council-won-a-$10m-pool-upgrade-grant/11998724
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