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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010How to understand 'fell' in this sentence?
Hi, Below is a short article from a news website. I do not understand the last sentence: Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares Monday. A lot of stock falls today. How about the Volume? The number 1.1b is bigger than 967,1m. It means the number of the stock price falls ? Just not very clear on it. Thanks, ............. NEW YORK (AP) - Investors are suffering another bout of pessimism about the strength of the global economic recovery. Stocks slid Tuesday as a disappointing profit report from aluminum producer Alcoa and moves by China to curtail growth raised questions about whether a 10-month run in the market can be sustained. Financial stocks are also lower on concerns the government would impose taxes on bailed out banks. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 37 at 10,627. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 11 at 1,136, its first loss of 2010. The Nasdaq composite index is down 30 at 2,282. Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares Monday. In message <b027acaa-2f2e-408c-b917-a9bae397b9d5@37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>, fl <rxjwg98@gmail.com> writes >Hi, >Below is a short article from a news website. I do not understand the [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] >Exchange. Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares >Monday. Unless "fall" (and "rise") mean something different in the stock market, I would say it was a mistake. Maybe the "to" and "from" should be reversed?  SignatureIan > In message > <b027acaa-2f2e-408c-b917-a9bae397b9d5@37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>, fl [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > Unless "fall" (and "rise") mean something different in the stock market, > I would say it was a mistake. Maybe the "to" and "from" should be reversed? That brings up another usage issue. When I use "from" and "to" to indicate variation, I always put the "from" first. When I see the "to" first, I get confused briefly, expecting the "from" to come first. SignatureLong-time resident of Adelaide, South Australia, which may or may not influence my opinions. >In message ><b027acaa-2f2e-408c-b917-a9bae397b9d5@37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>, fl [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >I would say it was a mistake. Maybe the "to" and "from" should be >reversed? I've just realised what's going on. The report is in American English. "Monday" means "on Monday". Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares [on] Monday. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >> In message >> <b027acaa-2f2e-408c-b917-a9bae397b9d5@37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>, fl [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares [on] Monday. Well, yes, but how does something "fall" from a lower value to a higher value? SignatureLong-time resident of Adelaide, South Australia, which may or may not influence my opinions. >>> In message >>> <b027acaa-2f2e-408c-b917-a9bae397b9d5@37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>, fl [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] >Well, yes, but how does something "fall" from a lower value to a higher >value? Exactly. I posted that message very late last night. It did not solve the mysterious problem (issue?) of the upward fall. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > >> In message > >> <b027acaa-2f2e-408c-b917-a9bae397b...@37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>, fl > >> <rxjw...@gmail.com> writes > >>> Hi, > >>> Below is a short article from a news website. I do not understand the [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > Well, yes, but how does something "fall" from a lower value to a higher > value? Possible with this reading of "fall" ----- to fall 2b (1) : to enter as if blindly or unawares into a dangerous or undesirable state or situation : STUMBLE, STRAY -- used with in or into <fell into the enemy ambush> <falling into the moral snares of a great city> <fell into grave doctrinal errors> <the novel falls into a cloying sentimentality> M-W U --- which would still be a joke:-) Marius Hancu >Hi, >Below is a short article from a news website. I do not understand the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >bigger than 967,1m. It means the number of the stock price falls ? >Just not very clear on it. Thanks, Perhaps someone was trying to translate from stockbrokerese to English. Stockbrokers never say that shares "rise" or "fall". They "firm" or "ease". Perhaps the translator thought that "firm" meant "fall" because both begin with "f". SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk >>Hi, >>Below is a short article from a news website. I do not understand the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Perhaps the translator thought that "firm" meant "fall" because both begin >with "f". I'm convinced that some of the people who write this sort of stuff are essentially only semi-literate (as are some of the writers of TV and radio news bulletin scripts). Job satisfaction and promotional prospects seem to be based on maximising the use (and misuse) of buzz words and technical jargon. SignatureIan >> Hi, Below is a short article from a news website. I do not >> understand the last sentence: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Stockbrokers never say that shares "rise" or "fall". They "firm" or > "ease". The subject of the verb was "volume". Can't that rise or fall? > Perhaps the translator thought that "firm" meant "fall" because both > begin with "f". Is it a translation? In any case, it's just a mistake. We are left uncertain as to how the two figures are related. SignatureJames >>> Hi, Below is a short article from a news website. I do not >>> understand the last sentence: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> Stockbrokers never say that shares "rise" or "fall". They "firm" or >> "ease". Prices can, of course, rise or fall. >The subject of the verb was "volume". Can't that rise or fall? Yes, but I believe the volume usually increases or decreases, in stockmarketese. >> Perhaps the translator thought that "firm" meant "fall" because both >> begin with "f". > >Is it a translation? In any case, it's just a mistake. We are left >uncertain as to >how the two figures are related. I agree that it is simply a mistake. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE fl set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time continuum: > Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares Monday. I reckon that it's a mistake through writing the main part of the sentence before the figure became known, so initially leaving a blank: < Volume fell to shares from 967.1 million shares Monday. then going back and blindly filling in the amount, not realising that the word "fell" was no longer applicable. Signatureξ:) Proud to be curly Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply > Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock > Exchange. Volume fell to 1.1 billion shares from 967.1 million shares > Monday. I'm surprised I can't find financial pages showing what the volume actually was on Monday and Tuesday. Besides the fact that "volume" appears to be defined and measured in various ways, when I can get a number on a page that is about Tuesday, I can't find any way to change the date to the previous day. Anyone know of a good site? Anyway, as others said, if the volume did in fact increase, it shouldn't have been described as falling. Re your subject line: you "understand" it as a mistake. I'm pleased to see that the Google calculator is smart enough to handle the mixed notation. I paste in 1.1 billion - 967.1 million and it replies: 1.1 billion - 967.1 million = one hundred thirty-two million nine hundred thousand SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux We were asked: > Below is a short article from a news website. I do not understand the > last sentence: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > A lot of stock falls today. How about the Volume? The number 1.1b is > bigger than 967,1m. As others have explained, the sentence is wrong. Either the two numbers are interchanged or "fell" should be "rose". > It means the number of the stock price falls ? "Volume" means the number of shares traded that day. In this case it is the total volume for the whole New York Stock Exchange. When financial reporters talk about the number of stocks whose price fell, what I usually hear them say is "declines". SignatureMark Brader, Toronto | "Defendant's speech ends in long sentence" msb@vex.net | --Minneapolis Tribune, February 25, 1981 My text in this article is in the public domain. |
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