Alternative to "minuend" and "subtrahend"

In math, I just learned that when performing subtraction, the terms for each number are as follows:

minuend − subtrahend = difference

I have never heard of minuend and subtrahend before, and I'm fairly certain the majority of people I encounter have never heard these terms before either. Is there a better alternative to these two words?

Context: I'm writing some software that subtracts a set of items from another set of items, such as in this math.SE question. I need to name these two sets of items so they are easy to understand for an average user, or a future developer working on the same software.

Edit:

For those who want to see code, I'm writing a PowerShell cmdlet that would be used like so:

Get-Difference -Minuend "a.csv" -Subtrahend "b.csv"

and in the code I may write something like:

var minuendData = readFile(minuendFilePath)

Currently I have the following comment at the top of my code:

// If you don't know what a minuend or a subtrahend is, then shame on you!
// http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minuend
// http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/subtrahend

I could just use something like "A" or "B" but that is not as descriptive as I'd like it to be.

Solution 1:

How about:

Base - Diminisher = Difference

Solution 2:

My feeling is, if you've found a word that means exactly the thing that you need to express, then you should use it. If you worry that the words won't be understood by a broader audience because they are very domain-specific, include an option to see the definitions, or explain the terms in your help or usage text. It's never too late to help people become more educated.

Plus if it's for a PowerShell Cmdlet, it's a lot more likely that your target audience is familiar with the domain in question anyway. (I certainly do remember what the minuend and subtrahend are, even if I am far removed from 5th grade.)

Solution 3:

For a similar purpose, providing functionality in an engineering application, I am using Minuend and Subtrahend. They are obscure terms, but unambiguous. I would suggest that "Base" or "Start" may be ambiguous. If you are looking at the net effects of doing something, then you want to calculate (Number after doing something) - (Base Number)

Solution 4:

Since this is for a program, why limit it to one word? As a replacement forsubtrahend, I would personally use something like subtractValue, or since it looks like you're referencing files, subtractFile, or maybe even subFile for short. As for a minuendreplacement, startFile, baseFile, or even base seem to be decent choices.

Solution 5:

Re: Alternative to “minuend” and “subtrahend”

For A + B = C A = AugEnd or NumStart B = AddEnd or NumAdd C = Total or Sum or NumEnd

For A – B = C A = MinuEnd or NumStart B = SubtrahEnd or SubEnd or NumSub C = Total or Difference or NumEnd