Arithmetic for writers

[durham_rambler]

Here's a question for all you writers out there: Which is greater, the lowest common denominator or the highest common factor?

What prompted this rant was something that Keith McCarthy wrote in Crimesheet, the Weblog of the Crime Writers' Association:
"Yes, I sometimes use words that are not in the lowest common denominator of the English lexicon and I do so deliberately."

Then the phrase was used again on tv last night on one of the digital channels, I cannot recall which one, but it made me decide to put finger to keyboard. Here is a simple question, at Key Stage 2 (ages 9-10), since you didn't ask: what are the lowest common denominator and highest common factor of 9 and 15?

Move your mouse here to find out the answer.

The lowest common denominator is the smallest integer that can be divided by all of the numbers being considered; the highest common factor is the largest number that can divide into all of the numbers without leaving a remainder. The LCD is at least as large as any of the numbers under consideration. So why has it come to mean the element that is in common with all the things under consideration, ie the highest common factor?

Rant over.

Comments

[helenraven.livejournal.com]

I guess because it's so satisfying to use the word "lowest" when one is flaunting one's feelings of superiority - and arithmetic be damned.