3/1     Why do people say 'rate of speed?' -- ilyas
        \_ Speed is d(distance)/dt.  Rate of speed is a specific, determinant
           value.  It's legalese.  It has to be that accurate.
           \_ Ok, 'rate' is used to mean 'measure,' rather than
              'rate of change.'  That makes sense.  That's unfortunately
              ambiguous though, and it always sounded jarring to me. -- ilyas
              \_ it's funny and redundant because speed already means
                 rate of change of position to you.  distiniguish it from
                 rate of inflation, rate of decline, etc. and realize
                 some yokels said rate of speed instead of rate of movement.
                 not any more silly than "ATM machine" etc.
        \_ What's wrong with the term "rate of speed"? Ever heard of
           dv/dt?
        \_ It has more syllables.  If you want a serious answer, that's probably\
           the real reason.  Same with "nukular"--some people just like to add
           \_ People don't use it to mean dv/dt. -- ilyas
           \_ People don't use it to mean dv/dt.  Also, you know, I don't
              mean your regular people off the street.  I mean 'professional
              news people.'  Kind of depressing, really. -- ilyas
              \_ "It made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs"
           \_ If it's dv/dt, it would be "rate of change of speed".
        \_ It has more syllables.  If you want a serious answer, that's probably
           the real reason.  Same with "nukular"--some people just like to add
           syllables.
           \_ That's horrible.  They should really utilize a shorter word.
                \_ +1 funny.
        \_ the same reason that people believe in organized religion:
           because they don't use their brains.
           \_ hey, lookey, a dictionary uses the exact phrase!
              http://www.bartleby.com/61/13/R0051300.html
              \_ amazing
        \_ People who nitpick on minute things like typo, grammar, and
           what not have above average IQ, but not much higher.
           \_ You don't get out very much, do you?  Perhaps you should, like,
              give your everquest a break and like, meet some real people.
           \_ I believe the word you're looking for is "prig."
           \_ But this is neither a typo nor a grammar problem.
              \_ Because most people are kind of confused about the
                 difference between movement, speed and accelaration.
        \_ hey I got a great idea, how about sharing an MP3 of your voice.
           Let's see if we can improve your loud, annoying non-native accent.
           That and maybe proper grooming will definitely help you get more
           chicks.
        \_ Because language works and evolves in ways that my not be
           completely "logical". Think about expressions like "cheap at
           half the price", or words like "orthogonal", which gets used
           metaphorically, or "finite" which some people use to mean
           greater than zero. For that matter, think about things like
           the negation in Russian "ja nikogda ne...". However, amazingly
           enough, we still manager to seem to be able to understand
           each other.
           \_ But "rate of speed" is logical.  It's legalese.  One could argue
              that their speed was the distance traveled over the time it took.
              If they were going 100 mph, then got caught in bumper-to-bumper,
              they could say they weren't "speeding" because they averaged
              40mph.  Rate of speed pins it down.