(no subject)

[arcanetrivia]

Is using the verb "deduct" to mean "to reason from evidence to a logical conclusion" a British usage thing? There's a scene in the NuWho S2 episode "Fear Her" where it's used in the present progressive, "Are you deducting?" and I've just seen someone use it in the same way in a Potter fanfic. To me those sound odd and the verb for this meaning should be "deduce", while "deduct" means "subtract" (although the noun can be either - a tax deduction, a sensible deduction). They come from the same Latin root, but -- mrr?

Comments

[nostalgia]

I love verbing nouns.

[thisbluespirit]

No, it should be deduct to take away and deduce for the reasoning out in British English too (as far as I'm aware anyway). If someone's using it otherwise, it's probably either in error or as some kind of pun.

[sir_guinglain]

Deduct is used in this way - it's derived from a logical reasoning being a deduction.

[arcanetrivia]

I wonder if it's regional, then, since every other answer I've gotten disagrees with you, heh.

[acciochocolate]

Doesn't read/sound right to me.

[jesuswasbatman]

Sounds like Rose being deliberately silly or making a mistake through not having much book-learning.

[arcanetrivia]

It's the Doctor's line, actually; while of course he might be deliberately silly, it doesn't really fit the context in this case. Seems like maybe the scriptwriter just made an error, or maybe it's a rare use (see sir_guinglain's comment above).

[delphipsmith]

Should be deduce/deduction. Like reduce/reduction, produce/production, etc.