Out of the frying pan...?

Question

Sentence is "Measurement technology is the cornerstone of Blah-Blah's success."

A non-native speaker is telling me "Measuring technology is the ..." is also correct.

To my ear, "measurement technology" sounds much better than "measuring technology" but I'm not sure what rule, if any, would apply here. If I think about it, we do say "frying pan" but somehow this one sets my teeth on edge. Any ideas?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

In "frying pan" there is not much chance we'll think of frying a pan, i.e., a pan being fried.

In "measuring technology", however, there is a distinct possibility that the idea of making measurements of something, namely of technology, might come to mind. The possibility of ambiguity in "measuring technology" is what leads me to say that "measurement technology" is the better choice.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks CJ. Right, with measuring technology, the noun form and the verb form can get easily mixed up - i.e. technology used for measuring, and the action of trying to actually measure technology. With measurement technology, I don't feel that.

And in a quick Google search, many of the hits for "measuring technology" came from companies in Germany and other non-native English-speaking countries. Nuff said.

Out of the frying pan...?

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