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Re: Cheap, shallow and super: French deficiencies

From:Herman Miller <hmiller@...>
Date:Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 4:17
John Cowan wrote:
> Andreas Johansson scripsit: > > >>Isn't that the wrong way round? At least for me, "space" in >>informal/non- technical speech is always volume, whereas in math I'm >>equally happy to speak of spaces of one, two or forty-nine dimensions >>as of three. > > > By no means. "How much space does your apartment have?" is an inquiry > about area, not volume.
I was thinking more about space on a flat surface, like areas left blank on a page. Depending on context, it might be more natural to refer to a "space" or an "area" (or "room", for that matter). Similarly, you could ask "How much room does your apartment have?" (but not "area"). If you're like me, wall space (for all the bookcases) is as important as floor space, but I guess that's still a measure of area.