The
following phrases are adapted from "A glossary for research reports"
by C. D. Graham, Jr., which appeared in Metal Progress, Vol. 71, No.
5, May. 1957.
PHRASE: "it
has long been known..."
DEFINITION: I haven't bothered to look up the
original reference.
PHRASE: "Of
great theoretical and practical importance..."
DEFINITION: Interesting to me.
PHRASE: "While
it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions..."
DEFINITION: The experiment didn't work out,
but I wanted to publish anyway.
PHRASE: "Extremely
high purity"
DEFINITION: Composition unknown except for the
exaggerated claims of the supplier.
PHRASE: "Three
of the samples were chosen for detailed study."
DEFINITION: The results on the others didn't
make sense and were ignored.
PHRASE: "Accidentally
stained during mounting"
DEFINITION: Accidentally dropped on the floor.
PHRASE: "Handled
with extreme care during the experiments"
DEFINITION: Not dropped on the floor.
PHRASE: "Although
some detail have been lost in reproduction, it is clear from the
original micrograph that..."
DEFINITION: It is impossible to tell from the
original micrograph.
PHRASE: "Typical
results are shown"
DEFINITION: The best results are shown.
PHRASE: "The
most reliable data are those Jones..."
DEFINITION: Jones was a student of mine.
PHRASE: "Agreement
with the predicted curve is excellent."
DEFINITION: Fair.
PHRASE: "...good."
DEFINITION: Poor.
PHRASE: "...satisfactory."
DEFINITION: Doubtful.
PHRASE: "...fair."
DEFINITION: Imaginary.
PHRASE: "Correct
within an order of magnitude
DEFINITION: Wrong.
PHRASE: "It
is believed that..."
DEFINITION: I think...
PHRASE: "It
is generally believed that...
DEFINITION: A couple of other guys think so
too.
PHRASE: "It
might be argued that..."
DEFINITION: I have such a good answer for this
objection that I shall now raise it.
PHRASE: "It
is clear that much additional work will be required for a complete
understanding of..."
DEFINITION: I didn't understand it.
PHRASE: "Thanks
to Joe Glotz for assistance with the experiment, and to John Doe
for valuable discussions."
DEFINITION: Glotz did the work, and Doe explained
what it meant to me.
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