giving 110 %

Yesterday, I had the strange experience of being interviewed on national radio on the subject of "giving 110 percent". A journalist in NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) had evidently got fed up with people (and in particular Norwegian soccer star John Arne Riise) claiming that they would "give 110 percent"), so he wanted a mathematician to say something on the topic.

I'm not sure if I said anything enlightening, except that "giving 110 percent" is nonsensical (as long as the 100 percent is "maximum effort" or something like that"), and that I did not really believe anyone would think that John Arne Riise would sound more academic just because he used numbers and the percentage concept to explain that he would do his best...

This is the second time I've been interviewed on national radio, but I'm not sure I want it to become a habit - at least not as long as I don't really have anything that I want to say...

The programme was "Osenbanden" on NRK-P3, by the way, and it was sent today (Friday) - in case anyone wants to listen to it...