efernand wrote:
Quote:
Except that is sounds stupid when you use a word incorrectly.
Like every idiot who says "decimate"?
This has to do with context. Within the context of competitive swimming, 1 lap = 1 length.
It might be changing lately, with the influx of triathletes (runners) and other adult onset swimmers who are accustomed to the other definition of lap, but you can't say that all the swimmers for the past 40+ years were doing it wrong the whole time.
Soda = Pop = Soda Pop = Coke, depends on the context.
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Unless they actually mean killing 1 out of 10 soldiers (an actual punishment in the Roman Army) then yes I would tend to agree that if I hear decimate used I assume they don't know what they are saying. I read a bunch of blogs on this because I was curious and a lot of people justified using one length = one lap by saying it is the
course distance, except that besides 25m (in a 25m pool) and the 50m (in a 50m pool) you return to your starting point. I just call them lengths because that doesn't really confuse people.
From a philosophical perspective saying that we have been doing it one way for 40 years is not really evidence of it being right, it could be that people were saying it wrong for 40 years! In fact, "because we have always done it that way" is among the least persuasive arguments to do something one way or another. This isn't so important to me, if you were to say "OK, you can either switch Americans to metric or everyone uses the term 'lap' consistently' I would choose converting to metric.