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Idiom: Crunch numbers
Have I ever mentioned that I was a construction worker in a different life?
Yes, I trained as a sheet metal worker and worked in the roofing business for a few years before realizing the error of my ways and going to university.
While a sheet metal worker doesn’t crunch numbers like an accountant or economist, I still did my fair share of number crunching.
To crunch numbers means to deal with large numbers or large amounts of numbers.
Think about the work of an accountant.
They crunch numbers all day.
Sheet metal work involves much geometry, calculating angles, lengths, widths, circumferences, etc.
I always enjoyed geometry in school, so I didn’t quit and go to university because the number crunching was too much for me.
I left because Canada is cold, especially in winter, and I HATE COLD WEATHER.
Academics, on the other hand, generally work inside.
Construction workers stay outside constructing buildings; academics stay inside working in the buildings.
Even now that I am a self-employed online English teacher/tutor, I still have to crunch numbers.
The books have to balance at the end of the year, and the best way to ensure that happens is to balance the books every month.
Teaching a language means I spend more time than you may imagine crunching numbers.
Of course, the numbers are small compared to the bookkeeping of large organizations or governments, but they crunch their numbers, and I crunch mine in similar ways.
Although I think I count on my fingers a little more than they do.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 66.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.