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I ran into a question like this recently. Put these in the order from highest to lowest

  • number of mobile subscribers in Sometown
  • population of Sometown
  • number of cars in Sometown

You were supposed to go look up the info on the site and then order the 3 categories from most to least.

Intuitively it seems like "number of mobile subscribers" can not be more than "population" where "number of cars" can be anything

But, in some fine print on the site the "number of mobile subscribers" was determined by "counting active sim cards"

This points out an ambiguity based on pov.

From a person pov: Person A has 2 subscriptions I'd describe them as a single mobile subscriber with 2 subscriptions.

From a single company pov: Person A has 2 subscriptions with me then I have 2 subscriptions but one subscriber

From 2 or more companies' pov: Company B has Person A as a subscriber and company C also has Person A as a subscriber. They would each say they have 1 subscriber but collectively is that 2 subscribers or still 1 subscriber and 2 subscriptions. Maybe it's not even logical for them to say they have 1 subscriber each but rather they should be saying they each have 1 subscription each but no idea no many subscribers?

Taking the "number of cars" example, a single person owning 2 cars does not mean there are 2 drivers. Let's say the cars are different brands, BMW and VW. BMW and VW could or could not collectively say they are 2 drivers or 2 owners. They'd say there's 1 owner.

Is this something that can be solved in English or is it out of scope for the language itself or just opinion?

gman
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    This has to do with precision of terms and defining them so as to be unambiguous. Definitions going beyond 'dictionary definitions' are known as 'stipulative definitions' when they conflict, 'precising definitions' when they just tighten. For instance, a school in one county may be required to define 'absence' as 'not being in school for over 3h when 6h is mandatory', another 'not being in school at all on a school day'. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 15 '24 at 19:51
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    Does this answer your question? Can a Secondary Definition Violate/Negate the First Definition Definition of terms includes, but is by no means restricted to, collective and group (population, number of ...) nouns. How data is recorded – Edwin Ashworth Mar 15 '24 at 19:52
  • You need to find out how the figures are calculated. Read the fine print. – Stuart F Mar 15 '24 at 20:14
  • Subscribers are mobile phones using the network, not account holders. – HippoSawrUs Mar 15 '24 at 21:35
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    The difference between dictionary definitions and special-purpose stipulative definitions can be found in just about every language; it is not specific to English. – jsw29 Mar 15 '24 at 21:41
  • @HippoSawrUs, mobile phones do not pay for subscriptions, they can't be subscribers. And they certainly aren't in the context of the question. The question was not designed to trip up the user. The question was apparently designed to tell you there can be more subscriptions than population but it was poorly worded and said "subscribers" (number of people) instead of "subscriptions" (number of contracts) – gman Mar 15 '24 at 21:47
  • @HippoSawrUs, those who deal with the engineering aspects of the network may indeed use the word that way, as for their purposes it may be more important how many phones are connected to the network than who is using them. But for some other purposes (e.g. organising the billing, or studying the matter sociologically), using the word in the other way (for human beings who subscribe) may be more useful. – jsw29 Mar 15 '24 at 21:52

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