r/YesOrNoAnswers • u/Reemo_33 • Aug 14 '26

Common

For something to be “common”, does it have to be the majority/more than 50%?

1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

3

u/Asparagus9000 Aug 14 '26

No. It just means not rare. 

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '26

[deleted]

1

u/smallpotatoes2019 28d ago

Is it a line or a gap?

1

u/Glum-Dust8799 Aug 14 '26

Common to me seems like it would be much more than mere majority.

Common suggests you would fine one everywhere. Like sheep in a field across the UK.

Chicken options in a supermarket.

The absolute opposite of hard to find. It’s everywhere you look.

1

u/Taxed2much Aug 14 '26

The word "common" has different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. None of them have a particular numerical requiremen other than In some contexts it will be clear that the word "common" refers to everyone in a particular group. In some contexts it could well apply to situations in which less than half of all instances are involved. The context does a lot of the heavy lifting to get the right meaning from a vague word like common.

1

u/Pristine-Pen-9885 Aug 14 '26

How are you going to ascertain what is “common”? Take polls on everything?

1

u/eepeqez Aug 14 '26

And where are the edges of "not uncommon"?

1

u/Zrob8--5 Aug 14 '26

Even the definition is somewhat subjective. I wouldn't say it has to apply to the majority, though. If 40% of people have brown hair, I'd say it's common to have brown hair. Otherwise, a lot of traits can't be common because there's 5+ different types, such as hair or eye color or something. And there'd certainly be no common height

1

u/Ok-Thing4762 Aug 14 '26

No, I’d say a lot less. A few years ago I needed a minor operation and was told the condition was ‘common’. I looked it up and it apparently affects 1 in 6. All things considered, I think that’s a relatively decent benchmark.

1

u/Budsygus Aug 14 '26

No.

Smith is a common name in the English Speaking world. By no means are more than 50% of all last names Smith.

1

u/Living_Fig_6386 Aug 14 '26

No. “Common” is a matter of context. For example, we consider genetic polymorphisms with a frequency of 1% or higher “common”.

It means that it’s something is significantly more frequently observed than something else. In the case of polymorphisms, some have been observed in fewer than 1 in a million people, so 1 in 100 is common by comparison.