Re: de minimus -Reply

[Bob Flood <bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

At 12:46 PM 12/3/96 -0600, you wrote:
>How's this for nit picking:   "De minimus " is not correct usage.  It
>is neither english nor latin.

Ms Davis is, of course, correct in stating that "de minimus" is a
misspelling (sp?). I'm joining this conversation a little late, and so
please forgive me if I am repeating something here, but...

The term de minimis comes from a Latin sentence used in the law (why do
lawyers use Latin? They seem more than adequately incomprehensible in
English; the second language is entirely unnecessary). The phrase is "Lex
curat non de minimis," which means "the law does not concern itself with
trifles." Thus, something defined as de minimis is too small to warrant any
legal arguments at all.


Bob Flood
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
(415) 926-3793     bflood@slac.stanford.edu
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone.