Science versus English

I was covering a Science class the other day, and the kids were doing a few problems about velocity. One of the questions asked to calculate the velocity of a car braking down an exit ramp. The question was phrased using the word "acceleration."

A few of the students said the question should have used the word "deceleration" instead of "acceleration" as the answer is a decrease of speed. I reminded them that the definition of "acceleration" is a change of velocity and that change can be an increase or decrease in velocity, so the term "acceleration" is correct in its usage in the question, and "deceleration" is not a term regularly used in the physics world and by educated scientists.

The students then asked why we have the word "deceleration." I told them it is a word made up by English majors to justify their existence.