While “googling” recently in order to find the best way in which to use the term “steep learning curve”, I came across a site which seems to complement a book entitled “Common Errors in English” by Paul Brians. The page details how the term “steep learning curve” to describe a difficult-to-master skill is, in fact, mathematical nonsense.
The reason for this is that a graph with time on the x-axis and effort on the y-axis would lead to a shallow curve given that a large effort is maintained over time. A steep curve, on the other hand, would result from a small amount of effort required leading to a much larger amount over time — a task that begins by being easy and quickly becomes more difficult.
