On Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:15:42 +0000, Invisible wrote:

> What is the purpose of receipts? I mean, seriously, if you're anything
> like me, you have hundreds of the damned things. What do you *do* with
> them? If I buy some petrol, and the receipt says £52.98 but they
> actually changed me £62.51, am I really going to notice? Does anybody
> actually sit down and *check* these things? For every damned purchase
> they make?! [Obviously, for high-value items that you might need to
> return, or for goods that your employer is paying for, the usefulness is
> more obvious.]

Receipts are useful for expense reports (nee required in most cases), and 
yes, I do check that what I was charged is what I paid.  That's how you 
(a) avoid getting ripped off, and (b) avoid finding yourself in an 
overdraft situation.

> Why is it called a "square root"? Surely "square route" would make far
> more sense...

It seems to have grown out of the old English "Rote" (there's a citation 
circa 1425).  Etymologically it derives from the French word 
'racine' (which translates to 'root', natch).  "radix" also is used, and 
that's latin for 'root'.

Jim

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