"Treble" and "Triple"

asim18 · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:00

Why do a lot of people say "treble" when they mean "triple"?

It doesn't annoy me or anything, but I just think why?

I hear it a lot on TV/radio when they say telephone numbers. eg. "treble three".

So do you use treble or triple when referring to multiplication by 3?

Vonhelmet · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:02

They're both valid, but I'd use triple.

Rotty · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:03

Thrice

The Halk · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:03

I use treble. The difference between treble and triple is very small, I think most of the time they can be interchanged, and in all honesty other than a slight feeling to use one rather than the other I don't know the correct use.

danza · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:03

It means the same.

The Halk · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:03

Rotty said:
Thrice

Haha. I saw that on a document today at work. "Have tried to call customer thrice"

CBJ · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:04

The two words mean the same thing, so why shouldn't people use whichever they like?

The Halk · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:05

CBJ said:
The two words mean the same thing, so why shouldn't people use whichever they like?

I don't know that they do...

james.miller · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:10

The Halk said:
I don't know that they do...

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/treble

now you do lol

The Halk · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:12

I don't accept American definitions

The Cambridge dictionary lists treble as a predeterminer, but it doesn't list triple as one. That's why I'm unsure.

CBJ · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:22

OK then, to be a little more precise, they share a common meaning. Both also have usages within the overall scope meaning that are exclusive, but the examples mentioned by the OP don't fall into that category. And of course treble also has meanings beyond the shared one. Is that better?

The Halk · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:23

CBJ said:
OK then, to be a little more precise, they share a common meaning. Both also have usages within the overall scope meaning that are exclusive, but the examples mentioned by the OP don't fall into that category. And of course treble also has meanings beyond the shared one. Is that better?

That's exactly correct.

Other than the musical meaning of treble I'm still not entirely sure in what places treble should be used but triple not, and vice versa.

neoboy · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:31

Treble when I'm ordering a drink and triple outside of nightclub scene heh.

Vonhelmet · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:34

The Halk said:
Other than the musical meaning of treble I'm still not entirely sure in what places treble should be used but triple not, and vice versa.

They're technically interchangeable, I think.

The Halk · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:37

I'm not so sure. Why do we want to use triple more often when we're talking about the number of times we do something, while we want to use treble when we're talking about quantities?

meghatronic · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:39

asim18 said:
Why do a lot of people say "treble" when they mean "triple"?

So do you use treble or triple when referring to multiplication by 3?

OP fails. They are synonyms.

Also they do not always mean multiplication by three.

Van Hellseek · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:41

meghatronic said:
OP fails. They are synonyms.

Also they do not always mean multiplication by three.

He never said they did.

Nix · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:45

Wow, finally a thread where you haven't mentioned your bits. I'm impressed.

james.miller · 13 Oct 2009 at 00:50

The Halk said:
I don't accept American definitions

The Cambridge dictionary lists treble as a predeterminer, but it doesn't list triple as one. That's why I'm unsure.

ok then http://www.dictionary.co.uk/browse.aspx?word=triple

Cybermyk · 13 Oct 2009 at 01:16

I always thought triple meant there are three and treble meant to make three.

Not sure why though, I just do.