In the article Random Sneeze Call, the author writes:
This group was given no allergens at all; they just sat alone in a room for a total of 176 20-minute sessions.
with a note next to it:
For context, that's 490 repetitions of the song Hey Jude
What does for context mean in this, erm, context? Strangely enough, googling "for context" only yields results as [noun] for context, which is not a standalone phrase. The word has only one meaning that we already known (from Oxford Dictionary):
the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
"the decision was taken within the context of planned cuts in spending"
I think it simply means that the author wants to provide more information, might be irrelevant to the main point, but I'm not sure about that. The footnote itself is to provide more information already, and he also use it heavily for irrelevant information without have, so there is no need to use for context. The research he refers to also have no single Hey Jude appears once.
Do you know what it means?
Best Answer
Providing context (for context) is giving additional information that will help to make sense of something. For example - quoting someone out of context
A more accurate phrase to have used would have been "for perspective" or "to put that into perspective".
Perspective is about looking at something in a different way in order to make it easier for the reader to comprehend. For example, when describing the size of a Blue Whale's heart it is often compared to the size of a small family car. Whether this is true or not I don't know, but it is offering a perspective more people can relate to.