30-odd year

[fl]

Hi,
I read the following on line today. I do not understand 30-odd years. I look it up on a dictionary. It has one meaning as:

"Not expected, regular, or planned: called at odd intervals."

It seems still not clear to me yet. It means that 30 regular years, which is more volatile?

Furthermore, the dictionary explanation is:

Not expected, (not) regular, or (not) planned: called at odd intervals.

I am not sure about that.

Thanks,

......
“Outperforming the market with low volatility on a consistent basis is an impossibility,” said Soros, 82. “I outperformed the market for 30-odd years, but not with low volatility.”

[Bill McCray]

On 1/25/2013 6:27 PM, fl wrote:
> Hi,
> I read the following on line today. I do not understand 30-odd years. I look it up on a dictionary. It has one meaning as:
>
> "Not expected, regular, or planned: called at odd intervals."
>
> It seems still not clear to me yet. It means that 30 regular years, which is more volatile?
>
> Furthermore, the dictionary explanation is:
>
> Not expected, (not) regular, or (not) planned: called at odd intervals.
>
> I am not sure about that.
>
> Thanks,

Thirty plus a few.

Bill in Kentucky

[Tony Cooper]

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:27:40 -0800 (PST), fl <rxj...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>�Outperforming the market with low volatility on a consistent basis is an impossibility,� said Soros, 82. �I outperformed the market for 30-odd years, but not with low volatility.�

It simply means "about 30 years". The writer either doesn't know the
exact number of years or doesn't think the exact number is important.
The number is more than 30 and less than 40.

A similar usage is "30-some years". Same explanation.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

[Leslie Danks]

"Odd" used in this way is idiomatic and means "approximately" -- "I
outperformed the market for approximately 30 years"

Dictionary.com gives this as meaning No. 5:

5. more or less, especially a little more (used in combination with a round
number): I owe three hundred-odd dollars..

<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/odd?s=t>

--
Les

[Robin Bignall]

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:27:40 -0800 (PST), fl <rxj...@gmail.com> wrote:

"30-Odd years" means more-or-less, or approximately, or round about 30
years.
--
Robin Bignall
Herts, England (BrE)

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Yes. The OED says that "odd" in the sense means ‘or so’; ‘or
thereabouts’. The first quotation is:

1597 Shakespeare Richard III iv. i. 95 Eightie odde yeares of
sorrow haue I seene.

(Eighty odd years of sorrow have I seen.)

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[Daniel James]

In article <kdv4ms$fii$1...@news.albasani.net>, Bill McCray wrote:
> Thirty plus a few.

Where "few" may be a negative quantity.

That is, "thirty-odd" may mean a number greater than thirty (by an
unimportant amount) or it may mean any number that is thirty give-or-
take a few.

I view it as meaning "probably around 27 to 35" ... that is, I'd expect
the actual number not to be much less than thirty, but it could be a
few more than thirty.

Cheers,
Daniel.

[Daniel James]

In article <ig56g8ldq7nghe0kg...@4ax.com>, Tony Cooper
wrote:

> A similar usage is "30-some years". Same explanation.

I'd understand that, but it has a definitely leftpondian feel to it, to
my rightpondian ears.

Cheers,
Daniel.

[Glenn Knickerbocker]

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:35:06 -0500, Tony Cooper wrote:
>The number is more than 30 and less than 40.
>A similar usage is "30-some years". Same explanation.

To my ear, "30-some" might be more than "30-odd": roughly thirty and
then some, as opposed to just roughly thirty. Both are probably at least
thirty but might be a little less.

I vaguely sense a connection between "odd" in this use and "aught,"
though I can't say why. It only makes literal sense with hundreds or
thousands: a hundred plus some number less than ten. In Google search
results, buried among all the turn-of-the-century year numbers I found
"the hundred-aught pieces of fabric I cut out," "exchanged the one for
eight-hundred-aught pesos," a couple uses of "thousand-aught miles," and
several of "hundred-ought years."

"It's not the size of the boat, it's Matt McIrvin" -- Joe
ŹR / http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/ny2001.html / Manfre

[Ian Jackson]

In message <ig56g8ldq7nghe0kg...@4ax.com>, Tony Cooper
<tonyco...@gmail.com> writes

I know it as "some 30 years" (as in "some 30 years ago").
--
Ian

[John Varela]

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 20:47:57 UTC, Ian Jackson
<ianREMOVET...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> In message <ig56g8ldq7nghe0kg...@4ax.com>, Tony Cooper
> <tonyco...@gmail.com> writes
> >On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:27:40 -0800 (PST), fl <rxj...@gmail.com>
> >wrote:
> >
> >>Hi,
> >>I read the following on line today. I do not understand 30-odd years.
> >>I look it up on a dictionary. It has one meaning as:
> >>
> >>"Not expected, regular, or planned: called at odd intervals."
> >>
> >>It seems still not clear to me yet. It means that 30 regular years,
> >>which is more volatile?
> >>
> >>Furthermore, the dictionary explanation is:
> >>
> >>Not expected, (not) regular, or (not) planned: called at odd intervals.
> >>
> >>I am not sure about that.
> >>
> >>Thanks,
> >>
> >>......

> >>�ǣOutperforming the market with low volatility on a consistent basis
> >>is an impossibility,��� said Soros, 82. �ǣI outperformed the market

> >>for 30-odd years, but not with low volatility.���
> >
> >It simply means "about 30 years". The writer either doesn't know the
> >exact number of years or doesn't think the exact number is important.
> >The number is more than 30 and less than 40.
> >
> >A similar usage is "30-some years". Same explanation.
> >
> I know it as "some 30 years" (as in "some 30 years ago").

To me, the some in "some 30 years" is a simple intensifier. It could
mean more than 30 but probably doesn't. "Some 23 years" would not be
a surprising usage.

Beyond that, I am in complete agreement with Coop regarding "30-odd"
and "30-some"; they both mean a number somewhere in the 30s, not
less than 30 nor as many as 40.

--
John Varela

[John Varela]

I think we may have a pondial difference.

--
John Varela