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Extending beyond "average"

Extending beyond "average"

4
votes

This is an English question, jeje smile

We are familiar with the terms "average", "below average", and "above average", but what about when we want to extend past those terms?

For example:

alt text

On that bell curve, they are talking about people and their intelligence levels. In my situations, I am not talking about people, and thus, "very bright" and "very dull" would not fit this case.

Any suggestions for the areas highlighted in green?

Gracias a todos cheese

2850 views
updated Feb 3, 2012
edited by SonrisaDelSol
posted by SonrisaDelSol

7 Answers

3
votes

How about superior and inferior?

updated Feb 3, 2012
posted by gintar77
Oooh, good ones Gintar, thank you! - SonrisaDelSol, Jan 27, 2012
2
votes

Hi Sonrisa! This is an intriguing question. Without knowing what you are measuring, it's difficult to choose an exact match, but each of the areas shaded in green is an extreme. Therefore I would look for synonyms of "extreme," such as: greatest/least; maximum/minimum or maximal/minimal; enormous/miniscule etc.

Other words which describe extremes (at either end) are: ultra; unparalleled; radical or radically; utter or utterly; acute/acutely; rare/rarely; drastic/drastically; supreme/supremely; intense/intensely; excessive/excessively; exceeding/exceedingly.... well, you get the point smile

Or, in the case of percentages, you could say "9_th percentile" or "in the top 10%" or "close to 100%" for the high range vs. "negligible" for the low range. Hope this helps!

updated Jan 28, 2012
posted by ajaks
2
votes

Above superior, we say "Sun Smile."

updated Jan 27, 2012
posted by 005faa61
Hear, hear! - gintar77, Jan 27, 2012
Thanks, Julian! - SonrisaDelSol, Jan 27, 2012
1
vote

I've heard

-Muy por debajo de la media.

-Muy por encima de la media.

updated Jan 27, 2012
posted by ale_rd
Gracias, ale_rd, eres genial :) - SonrisaDelSol, Jan 27, 2012
You're welcome Sonrisa ^^ - ale_rd, Jan 27, 2012
1
vote

Below, would be referred to as 'a couple fries short of a happy meal.' Above green, 'ridiculously smart.'

You don't mind a little humor now, do you?

updated Jan 27, 2012
posted by Himself12794
L O L, that's what I'll use for sure :P - SonrisaDelSol, Jan 27, 2012
1
vote

Above or below "par " If " par " is the average.

updated Jan 27, 2012
posted by ray76
Great suggestions as usual, Ray, thank you! - SonrisaDelSol, Jan 27, 2012
1
vote

The extremities of the bell curve could be be described with adjectives such as very..., most, highly, least, lowest, best, worst. Depending on the subject.

updated Jan 27, 2012
posted by teasip
Excelente, thanks so much, teasip - SonrisaDelSol, Jan 27, 2012