"It's all academic"

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 08, 2006

In Reply to: "It's all academic" Posted by Peter Hultgren on March 07, 2006

: "It's all academic" ... What does this expression mean and what is the source for this expression?

Source? Don't know. But "it's academic" means it might be something to discuss in a classroom or a book, but in the real world it's moot. Sometimes it's academic because it's over, it's too late. Sometimes it's academic because the real problem is not susceptible to solution. So it's something professors can talk about, if they want. Academic, in this phrase, is the counterpoise to real. SS