Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 24th April 2015, 8:46 AM BSTCut a cm off one side and call it a rectangle?
All the answers have been technically/pedantically correct but the client doesn't like anything squarish looking. Didn't know I'd have to bang the point home, but should've. 
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 24th April 2015, 11:00 AM BSTAll the answers have been technically/pedantically correct but the client doesn't like anything squarish looking. Didn't know I'd have to bang the point home, but should've.
Ah, now you've moved the goalposts - you said he didn't like squares, which is a bit different from squarish. 
Is a trapezium squarish?
Quote: A Horseradish @ 24th April 2015, 6:01 PM BSTIs a trapezium squarish?
Or even a trapezoid 
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 24th April 2015, 6:10 PM BSTOr even a trapezoid
Yes I saw it when I Googled.
Is it some modern thing like a combination of a trapezium and a rhomboid?
But not quite real - as most things in 2015.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 24th April 2015, 6:20 PM BSTYes I saw it when I Googled.
Is it some modern thing like a combination of a trapezium and a rhomboid?
But not quite real - as most things in 2015.
No because it has two pairs of parallel sides with no right angles, whereas the trapezoid has only one pair parallel.
Trapezium and trapezoid are the same thing - I think the Americans only use the former name.
Any other maths queries? 
If you ever have to show the sign that one thing is greater then another, or less than another, using the > or < signs, the larger thing goes at the side of the sign with the gap between the 2 lines, and the smaller thing goes at the side where the 2 lines meet at a point.
So if x is bigger than 9, you write it as x>9 or you can write 9<x
If x is less then 9, you write x<9 or you can write it as 9>x
If 9 is bigger than x, you write it as 9>x or you can write x<9
If 9 is less then x, you write it as 9<x or you can write x>9
Quote: Clint75 @ 24th April 2015, 8:42 PM BSTIf you ever have to show the sign that one thing is greater then another, or less than another, using the > or < signs, the larger thing goes at the side of the sign with the gap between the 2 lines, and the smaller thing goes at the side where the 2 lines meet at a point.
So if x is bigger than 9, you write it as x>9 or you can write 9<x
If x is less then 9, you write x<9 or you can write it as 9>x
If 9 is bigger than x, you write it as 9>x or you can write x<9
If 9 is less then x, you write it as 9<x or you can write x>9
Interesting - but would it be possible to re-write it so that it sounds a lot more complicated and it's totally unintelligible? Extra marks will be awarded where you are confused by what you have written.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 24th April 2015, 9:15 PM BSTInteresting - but would it be possible to re-write it so that it sounds a lot more complicated and it's totally unintelligible? Extra marks will be awarded where you are confused by what you have written.
Well you would know all about that Horse.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 24th April 2015, 10:43 PM BSTWell you would know all about that Horse.
This calls for the kind of twee phrases that have sadly gone out of fashion.
Misery boots, sourpuss, grumpikins, .....that sort of thing.
Cheer up you miserable sod. 
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 24th April 2015, 11:00 AM BSTAll the answers have been technically/pedantically correct but the client doesn't like anything squarish looking. Didn't know I'd have to bang the point home, but should've.
Build a pyramid with a square base. That doesn't look square at all.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 24th April 2015, 11:04 PM BSTThis calls for the kind of twee phrases that have sadly gone out of fashion.
Misery boots, sourpuss, grumpikins, .....that sort of thing.
Cheer up you miserable sod.
The truth will out..........grumpikins?? That's a new one on me diddums. 
6<x<8 is definitely correct, at least up to beyond degree-level maths 
This is the combination of two equations x>6 and x<8.
x>6 is equivalent to 6<x (note the switch of the sign in the middle) so you have 6<x and x<8. And, x being equal to x, means you can combine the two 'equations' into a single 6<x<8.
So, yes, it depends on the context. The context here being x.
If my car was less than 6, I would say 'my car <6'. You could also say '6> my car', but that's a bit clunky. Like the car.
(NB Assuming x is in the set of natural numbers or integers, x=7, otherwise it could be anything in between. )
Dan
OK, try this one:
if the last calendar year that reads the same upside-down was:
1961,
the previous one was
1881
------then, which is the NEXT year after '61 to do so?
Quote: Rico El Vista @ 6th May 2015, 7:50 PM BSTOK, try this one:
if the last calendar year that reads the same upside-down was:
1961,
the previous one was
1881
------then, which is the NEXT year after '61 to do so?
6699