Different ways of naming glasses

Dear Dr English,

What would you call a pair of glasses for near-sighted people, a pair of glasses for far-sighted people and a pair of glasses for near and far-sighted people?
Thank you for your reply.

Chu Race

People who have difficulty seeing items near them are far-sighted. We sometimes call far-sighted glasses or "reading glasses". People who can't see things in the distance are called near-sighted. I'm not aware of any term in everyday language for near-sighted glasses or spectacles, although opticians may have a technical term.

Glasses for both near-sighted and far-sighted people are called "bifocals". They have two different focal points - one for reading and the other for looking at images in the distance.

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Momentum and leverage

Dear Dr English,

Once in a while, I see the words "momentum" and "leverage" in The Nation's business section. I do not know the exact meaning when these words are used in a business sense. Please explain and give some examples. Thank you so much for your help.

Thananan Panpimanmas

When we are not talking about physics, momentum is the ability to keep developing or moving in a particular way. This meaning is used in any context - not only in business.

In the beginning, we'll need to do a lot of product promotion, but once sales have gained momentum, we won't need to promote the product anymore.

A lever is a kind of tool that looks like a long bar. It is used to help move a heavy object by putting one end under it and pressing down the other end of the bar, thus magnifying the force. In this sense, leverage is the amount of force that can be applied by a lever to an object. From this sense, leverage is used in a business context to mean the ability to influence people or a situation to do what you want them to do with the application of an amount of force.

To gain that much support from the company, Sandra must have considerable leverage with the board members.

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