From here
I thought:
- mathematical equation: 1 ± 1 – We can say "plus or minus one". Could I omit "or" to say "plus minus one"?
- a signed mathematical number: ± 1 – We say "positive or negative one". Could I say "plus minus one" here?
Because "±1" only uses three syllables in Chinese, "positive or negative one" has 8 syllables which make it feel too long to me. "Plus minus one" is much shorter and more comfortable to me. I also know "positive/negative" stands for status, "plus/minus" stands for actions, if "positive or negative one" is the correct one, I would accept.
Best Answer
I work as an engineer, and we talk about margins of error quite a bit. We all refer to it as
plus minus one
.Seems the wikipedia article also calls it the
plus-minus sign
Example:
Q: "Hey what's the length of this side?"
A: "The drawing says it's fifteen millimeters, plus minus point five." (15 ± 0.5mm)
Edit: For regional/dialect clarification, I was born, raised, and worked in central USA (state of Indiana)