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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?

Date: December 1st, 2017 08:03 pm (UTC)From: [personal profile] thisbluespirit
thisbluespirit: (writing)
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.

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