Re: OT: coins and currency (was: [Theory] Types of numerals)

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> On 1/7/06, Tim May <butsuri@...> wrote:
>
>>I'm not sure what distinction you're making between "rectangular" and
>>"oblong"; the two words are effectively synonymous to me.
>
>
> Rectangular objects have corners; oblong ones don't.   The
> archetypical oblong shape is a circle cut in half and extended via
> straight lines between the previously-connected endpoints of the
> semicircles; the result is not an ellipse, but a different form of
> "stretched circle".
I would've called that an oval, even if it isn't proper.

The "proper" definitions I learnt for rectangle vs oblong is that a
rectangle is a four-sided shape with the angles being 90 degrees,
whereas an oblong is a rectangle where two sides are of different
lengths to two others. (A square is a rectangle with all sides equal.)
No-one uses these definitions normally, when a rectangle is an oblong
and no-one talks of oblongs.

--
Tristan.

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