Olympics or Olympiad?

[madamesilverspurs]

Just a query.

Way back when I was in high school we were taught that the Olympiad was the four year period between the Olympic games. Nowadays the two seem to mean the same thing. Not a big deal, really. Just wondering if anyone else had the same question.


,

[jamese777]

1. These are the games

Of the thirty-first (XXXI) Olympiad.

"An Olympiad is a period of four years associated with the Olympic Games of the Ancient Greeks. During the Hellenistic period, beginning with Ephorus, it was used as a calendar epoch. By this reckoning, the first Olympiad lasted from the summer of 776 BC to that of 772 BC. By extrapolation to the Gregorian calendar, the 4th year of the 698th Olympiad begins in (Northern-Hemisphere) mid-summer 2016.

A modern Olympiad refers to a four-year period beginning January 1 of a year in which the Summer Olympics are due to occur. The first modern Olympiad began in 1896, the second in 1900, and so on (the 31st began in 2016.."-Wikipedia

[Igel]

2. Yeah, but several generations of students who have been told

that whatever contextual definition they get out of a narrative is sufficient don't use dictionaries. If you try to tell them that their usage is not standard, they stare at you because whatever they say must be standard.

If you don't agree, they start to weep (or get really, really offended), and to appease them you need to give them a trophy.


I've seen more than a few (dozen) students who look at a dictionary and seem unsure even about how the words are organized. Even more pick the first definition and assume it must be right even if it makes no sense.

[Aristus]

3. The definition of 'Olympiad' is correct.

People misuse it today just like they misuse, twist, and dumb down many other linguistic tropes. People who don't read are fucking up our language...

[3catwoman3]

6. IMO, something like Twitter does not help.

A mode of communication limited to 140 characters does not encourage deep thought or sophisticated expression.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. I think they should hold the Olympic Olympiad at Olompali

They could have Olivia Munn officiate and serve omelettes with olio.

[jberryhill]

5. They'll sue you for using either one.