this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2025
731 points (91.0% liked)
Science Memes
18063 readers
2123 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
To all the people yelling PEMDAS and BOMBDAS or whatever - languages other than English exist.
Meneer Van Dale Wacht Op Antwoord (Exponents, multiplication, division, root, addition, subtraction in Dutch).
Just rolls off the toungue
Wait is Antwoord the same meaning in Afrikaans? Does the name of the band Die Antwoord literally mean The Subtraction?
I wrote the Dutch mnemonic not the actual Dutch word for multiplication etc. The letters of that mnemonic stands for “machtsverheffen”, “vermenigvuldigen”, “delen”, “worteltrekken”, “optellen”, “aftrekken”.
Also “Antwoord” is “answer” in Dutch and Afrikaans.
Ah, thank you!
KlaPuStri
Klammer, Punkt, Strich?
IT'S PEMBDURRS
In French there's no acronym. We just learn it. It's not that hard.
It's not like "PEMDAS" is easy to remember, as "Pemdas" as word does not exist.
We didn't have anything to remember it by either, you just learn the order of operations and that's it.
KlaHoPS
Die Klammer sagt: „Erst komme ich!“ dann gilt die Regel „Punkt vor Strich“
Works the same in Swedish. 👌
Muricans panic without acronyms, let'em be or they'll catch fire.
Math isn't flexible like that though. You're asking for flexibility where there is none. Sure pemdas is technically arbitrary but having a set convention for that is strictly necessary and good teaching.
Not understanding the logic doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
We created math and devised a method to ensure that equations can be solved in a way that leads everybody to the same result. If you don't use the rule, you don't get the same answer as someone who does. In this circumstance, yes, you do teach by nailing down a strict rule as it's foundational to the language (math) that we've created.
We discovered it. There are even multiple animals who know how to count
But there is logic behind them.
1+2+3=6 and 2+3+1=6 also.
But 1+2*3 and 2*3+1 won't come out the same if you do the calculations in just any order. It's not always possible to order them left to right like in the second version, and if we use parentheses for everything we can end up with an illegible mess. I actually tried to type an example of how silly it could look and lost track of my own parentheses nesting before I got very far.
Do you have any other suggestion for how to notate an equation which would make memorization of PEMDAS unnecessary?
🤨
Bro doesn't know how math works