odd

[Taka]

The sentences:

It's a natural marvel. All the life of the earth dies, ass the time, in the same volume as the new life that dazzles us each morning, each spring. All we see of this is the odd stump, the fly struggling on the porch floor of the summer house in October, the fragment on the highway.

What exactly does "odd" mean here? "Weird"?...Nah, I guess not.

[Francois]

Cows like watching the odd train passing by => the trains passing every now and then. It's like the remainder of a division, that is, something unimportant and occasional.

FRC

[Taka]

Cows like watching the odd train passing by => the trains passing every now and then. It's like the remainder of a division, that is, something unimportant and occasional.

FRC

Ah That "odd". Thanks, Francois.

(What exactly do you mean by "remainder of a division"? I know it's restated by "something unimportant and occasional", but I just want to know its exact meaning.)

[Francois]

Maybe I'm wrong with those math terms; If you divide 7 by 3, you get 2 with a remainder of 1. This implies integral division, naturally, or the result would be 2.333333333333...

FRC

[Taka]

Maybe I'm wrong with those math terms; If you divide 7 by 3, you get 2 with a remainder of 1. This implies integral division, naturally, or the result would be 2.333333333333...

FRC

Now I see what you mean, Francois. Thanks.

You know, I really hate math, which might have prevented me from understanding it.

[Francois]

In a sense, it's not so different from grammar

FRC