Comments on: How many Democrats have been governor of Minnesota? https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/ Wed, 13 May 2009 13:32:42 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535705 Wed, 13 May 2009 13:32:42 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535705 Continuous is wrong. Continuous means not ending, going on and on. To say “two continuous terms” makes no sense unless he was a despot for life, then he’d only need one continuous term.

Consecutive is certainly a commonly used word in this context, and I could have used it.

Contiguous is correct, however, and there is nothing wrong with switching up the words now and then.

conâ??tigâ??uâ??ous
â??

â??adjective

1. touching; in contact.
2. in close proximity without actually touching; near.
3. adjacent in time: contiguous events.

The term contiguous is often used in the context of elected terms, I’ve seen it in bylaws, for instance. It might be an older usage in this sense but again, not incorrect.

Now we should parse “Farm Labor” …

]]> By: Umlud https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535704 Wed, 13 May 2009 13:20:14 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535704 I would say that “continuous” is closer to comprehension because it’s a more widely used word and it does refer to time (but can also refer to objects arrayed in such a manner that there is no clear boundary between them). However, I would also submit that “contiguous” is not wrong, since there is no reason that you can’t think of a time in office as a “block” that can be treated like a discrete object (if only in a symbolic sense).

]]> By: aporeticus https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535703 Tue, 12 May 2009 17:14:56 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535703 I’d say “consecutive” for things that were adjacent in time but “contiguous” for things that are adjacent in space. “I consecutively parsed the elements in the contiguous array.” I don’t know if there’s an actual rule for that, though.

]]> By: greg laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535702 Tue, 12 May 2009 16:22:38 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535702 Contiguous. Adjacent in time. Is there some other word I should be using?

]]> By: 01jack https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535701 Tue, 12 May 2009 16:02:53 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/05/12/how-many-democrats-have-been-g/#comment-535701 Contiguous?

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