Eggcorn Forum

Google counts on Sept 12, 2006
81,900,000 “fiscal year”
16,300 “physical year”
Analysis by Joe Krozel

“Fiscal” means “relating to financial matters”, and a “fiscal year” is the set of dates which define such a year (for financial assessment purposes).

Some communicators use the term “physical year” specificaly to mean the “calendar year” (Jan 1 – Dec 31), and to distinguish it from the “fiscal year” with a different set of bracketing dates. This is easily detected in verbal speech where someone might ENUNCIATE three syllables for “phys- i- cal” and two syllables for “fis -cal.” In written speech the emphasis is lost, and the reader may not know what is intended by “physical year” if the word “fiscal” never appears in the text. (This makes my job of sorting through the meaning all the more difficult unless there are other context clues as in the example below).

An example where “physical year” means “calendar year”:

Accounting Cycle Steps and Fiscal Year, Business InformationThe fiscal year for businesses, can vary from the actual physical year that runs from January to December, if a business so chooses. ...
www.moneyinstructor.com/doc/accountingcycle.asp – 17k – Cached – Similar pages

The use of “physical” in the EGGCORN “physical year” is a reference to the “physical” set of dates which define the assessment year (different from the calendar year). One instance where a communicator might use the eggcorn “physical year” as a naive substitute for “fiscal year” is when he is NOT AWARE that the word “fiscal” exists for that purpose. This usage seems to invoke the definition of “physical” meaning “of or relating to the body” in the figurative sense of the body of dates that define the year in question.

Examples:

In this example, the “physical year” is defined as July 1 – June 30, so it is certainly not the calendar year…

Proposed Budget of Expenditures with Tax Levy for Physical YearProposed Budget of Expenditures with Tax Levy for Physical Year. Beginning July 1, 2004 , to and including June 30, 2005. The Board of Directors of Ashdown …
www.ashdownschools.org/ACT%201747/Propo … 20Physi… – 86k – Cached – Similar pages

And in the next example, the “physical year” at the TREASURY ends on June 30…

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE …ANNUAL REPORT OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY FOR THE PHYSICAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1872. ...
www.margolisandmoss.com/cgi-bin/margolis/2097.html – 14k – Cached – Similar pages

And here a “physical year” (for monitoring gross income) begins in September…

After the Apex: The decline and fall of HollywoodThe studio had a gross income of $18 million the first twelve months after the war, but that declined to $4 million during the physical year of September …
www.moderntimes.com/palace/apex/index.html – 12k – Cached – Similar pages

And here is a report of revenues for a “physical year” ending in June…

The Annual Report – EntertainmentFor the physical year ending June 2006, revenue has been weak, and expenditure has been high, with most cash outflows going to our consultants. ...
www.ksgcitizen.org/news/2006/05/18/Ente … 1826.shtml – 30k – Cached – Similar pages

NCPDPPAF served 3.8 million Americans in the Physical Year July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005. Davenport-Ennis serves as a Commissioner on the American Health …
www.ncpdp.org/meetings_ep_database_spea … ID=ESAug06 – 21k – Cached – Similar pages

[DOC] SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETINGFile Format: Microsoft Word – View as HTML
Mayor Pro-Tem Barlow asked City Attorney Ed Matchett; “since we approved the agenda, which actually provides funding after the new physical year, ...
www.cityoftombstone.com/minutes/m060214scm.doc – Similar pages

Last edited by jorkel (2006-09-12 10:37:05)