"Negative" versus "Minus" As a math educator, do you think it is appropriate to insist that students say "negative $0.8$" and
not "minus $0.8$" to denote $-0.8$?
The so called "textbook answer" regarding this question reads:
A number and its opposite are called additive inverses of each other because their sum is zero, the identity element for addition. Thus, the numeral $-5$ can be read "negative five," "the opposite of five," or "the additive inverse of five."
This question involves two separate, but related issues; the first is discussed at an elementary level here. While the second, and more advanced, issue is discussed here. I also found this concerning use in elementary education.
I recently found an excellent historical/cultural perspective on What's so baffling about negative numbers? written by a Fields medalist.

As a retired teacher, I can say that I tried very hard for many years to get my students to use the term "negative" instead of "minus", but after so many years of trying, I was finally happy if they could understand the concept, and stopped worrying so much about whether they used the correct terminology!
