Re: How did the Spelling Police miss this one?

[Chuck Ebbert]

Al Viro wrote:

>> On the other hand, "canonicalize", while strange and new, unambiguously 
>> means (b).
>> 
>> Is there an already-existing word which means (b)?
>
>% webster normalize

  There is a subtle difference between 'normal' and 'canonical',
but I can't quite put my finger on it.  In number theory there's
a thorem that says:

   Any positive integer n > 1 can be written uniquely in a
   'canonical form'

         n = p[1]**k[1] * p[2]**k[2] * ... * p[r]**k[r]

   where, for i = 1,2,...,r, each k[i] is a positive integer
   and each p[i] is a prime, with p[1] < p[2] < ... < p[r].

  Note that it says 'a' canonical form, not 'the' canonical
form.  I would argue that what is used in the above is 'normal
canonical form.'  (And there is only one other canonical form
possible.)

------
 Chuck