Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Nov 8 - Nov 13th (4651-4655)
Tova:
Shall I try to persuade you to accept it?
A guesstimate is an estimate that comes with an acknowledgement that its basis is so slender that it is actually hardly better than a guess. Its usage is firmly tongue-in-cheek.
"Estimate" loses that acknowledgement. "Extrapolate" is even worse. And "guess" doesn't really capture this word's facetious flavour.
So the word earns its place IMO, admittedly as a conversational, casual word.
oddtail:
FWIW, I love the word "guesstimate" and I think the English language would be poorer without it.
And I completely agree it has fairly little overlap, in both meaning and tone, with "extrapolate".
Pilchard123:
I have also heard (as nouns instead of verbs) "WAG" and "SWAG", for "wild-ass guess" and "scientific wild-ass guess". A wild-ass guess is something you've pulled out of the air based on nothing but a gut feeling; a scientific wild-ass guess is something you've pulled out of the air based on a gut feeling and maybe some experience if you're lucky.
Gyrre:
--- Quote from: Tova on 22 Nov 2021, 17:51 ---Shall I try to persuade you to accept it?
A guesstimate is an estimate that comes with an acknowledgement that its basis is so slender that it is actually hardly better than a guess. Its usage is firmly tongue-in-cheek.
"Estimate" loses that acknowledgement. "Extrapolate" is even worse. And "guess" doesn't really capture this word's facetious flavour.
So the word earns its place IMO, admittedly as a conversational, casual word.
--- End quote ---
I don't believe I've ever seen or heard it used in those regards. *
Despite now knowing the intended definition (thank you, BTW), I'm still not ever going to use it, and it'll probably still make me cringe every time I encounter it. I'll just stick to 'guess' and 'estimate'.
EDIT: * If I have, the intent wasn't clear ftom the rest of the context given.
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