Terms like “theoretically” or “in theory” are over used, and often used inappropriately Most of the time, the term “hypothetically” is a more appropriate term for what they mean. For example, people say things like “I have a theory that…”, when it would be more appropriate to say “I have a hypothesis that…”
My question is, when is it *actually* appropriate to use a phrase like “in theory” or “theoretically”? Please give an example when you answer.
In: 0
“Will this lure catch us a fish?” “Theoretically.”
I typically use it when applying someone else’s theory to something
“Will this lure catch us a fish?” “Theoretically.”
I typically use it when applying someone else’s theory to something
“Will this lure catch us a fish?” “Theoretically.”
I typically use it when applying someone else’s theory to something
Outside of specific scientific usage, few people would say “I have a hypothesis that…”
“Hypothetically speaking” is a lot more common and it generally means “let’s explore the point assuming this is true”. For example “Hypothetically speaking, what would happen is I installed a traffic light upside down so the red was ok the bottom?”
“In theory” or “theoretically speaking” are used to mean “This is what should happen” or “this is how this should work”. You’ve worked it out, you think you know but you haven’t tried to do it yet and there may be unforeseen factors that change the result or the actual practice is different to what the rules / documentation say it should be.
For example “In theory, my car can accelerate to 100 in 7 seconds”. Sure, that’s what the sales brochure said but you might have cheap tyres or a worn clutch or poor quality fuel and it actually takes longer
Outside of specific scientific usage, few people would say “I have a hypothesis that…”
“Hypothetically speaking” is a lot more common and it generally means “let’s explore the point assuming this is true”. For example “Hypothetically speaking, what would happen is I installed a traffic light upside down so the red was ok the bottom?”
“In theory” or “theoretically speaking” are used to mean “This is what should happen” or “this is how this should work”. You’ve worked it out, you think you know but you haven’t tried to do it yet and there may be unforeseen factors that change the result or the actual practice is different to what the rules / documentation say it should be.
For example “In theory, my car can accelerate to 100 in 7 seconds”. Sure, that’s what the sales brochure said but you might have cheap tyres or a worn clutch or poor quality fuel and it actually takes longer
Outside of specific scientific usage, few people would say “I have a hypothesis that…”
“Hypothetically speaking” is a lot more common and it generally means “let’s explore the point assuming this is true”. For example “Hypothetically speaking, what would happen is I installed a traffic light upside down so the red was ok the bottom?”
“In theory” or “theoretically speaking” are used to mean “This is what should happen” or “this is how this should work”. You’ve worked it out, you think you know but you haven’t tried to do it yet and there may be unforeseen factors that change the result or the actual practice is different to what the rules / documentation say it should be.
For example “In theory, my car can accelerate to 100 in 7 seconds”. Sure, that’s what the sales brochure said but you might have cheap tyres or a worn clutch or poor quality fuel and it actually takes longer
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