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What's the official way to say $\sin^2(x)$? Is it "sin squared of $x$" or "sin of x, pause, squared"?

Eric Wofsey
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Schmidt
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    There is no official way, since there is no authority that prescribes such things. Both of your versions are acceptable; so are sine squared x, which is what I usually say, and sine x quantity squared. – Brian M. Scott Dec 15 '16 at 22:38
  • I wouldn't think there's an official way to say anything. But "sin squared x" gets the job done. "sin of x squared" would imply to me that the x is squared. – Kaynex Dec 15 '16 at 22:38
  • Another way to avoid confusion in the second case is to say "sine of $x$, quantity squared", meaning the entire quantity is squared. This still leaves room for confusion, though, if you have other terms, so you'd have to explicitly state where the quantity starts and ends. Not to mention that it's a mouthful to say. The first way of saying it is both acceptable and easier. – Kevin Long Dec 15 '16 at 22:41
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    Another option: "the square of the sine of $x$" has the virtue of accurately describing the expression at hand, although I doubt anyone would use this phrasing when trying to rattle-off a lengthy (or even short) equation. It's a bit like always addressing someone by their full name. Personally, I tend to just use the nickname "sine-squared $x$". – Blue Dec 16 '16 at 07:39
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    Regarding "sine of x, pause, squared" ... Once, on the first day of a substitute teaching gig, I told Pre-Calculus students that, we distinguish, say, $1+x^2$ from $(1+x)^2$ when speaking by using "air parentheses": holding our slightly-bowed arms above our heads. So, "one plus [raise arms]ex-squared[lower arms]" vs "[raise arms]one plus ex[lower arms] squared". The students took to this idea so quickly and conscientiously that I left that job a couple of weeks later, never having found an appropriate way to explain that I'd only been kidding. In retrospect, I think it actually helped. – Blue Dec 16 '16 at 07:57

4 Answers4

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Either way you mentioned should be clear enough, though the first one is a bit clearer because it could be confused with $\sin(x^2)$ even with the pause.

I usually say "sine squared $x$" and people catch my drift.

John
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I'm from Sweden, but I have mathematics in English so hopefully it should be the same. We would say "sin squared of x" here, however, it might be different in actual English-speaking countries.

MiltonMiller
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How about the square of sine x?

Binh Ly
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Both ways you wrote it are correct ways of saying $sin^2(x)$. I prefer "sine x squared".

BBot
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