The Dictionary: What Mathematics Professors Say and What They Mean by it:



Clearly:
I don't want to write down all the "in-between" steps.

Trivial:
If I have to show you how to do this, you're in the wrong class.

It can easily be shown:
No more than four hours are needed to prove it.

Check for yourself:
This is the boring part of the proof, so you can do it on your own time.

Hint:
The hardest of several possible ways to do a proof.

Brute force:
Four special cases, three counting arguments and two long inductions.

Elegant proof:
Requires no previous knowledge of the subject matter and is less than ten lines long.

Similarly:
At least one line of the proof of this case is the same as before.

Two line proof:
I'll leave out everything but the conclusion, you can't question 'em if you can't see 'em.

Briefly:
I'm running out of time, so I'll just write and talk faster.

Proceed formally:
Manipulate symbols by the rules without any hint of their true meaning.

Proof omitted:
Trust me, It's true.



Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher