brian, obviously it did not clarify yours.

that is what happens when one expects a 10 second sound bite from CNN and/or
Google to bring universal enlightenment.



You are using "asymptote" in a metaphoric, rather than mathematical
sense.

Hah, another bald statement of what's right and what's wrong:
let's go for some clarifications:

[lifted from a math site]

Definition of a horizontal asymptote: The line y = y0 is a "horizontal
asymptote" of f(x) if and only if f(x) approaches y0 as x approaches +
or - inf
Definition of a vertical asymptote: The line x = x0 is a "vertical
asymptote" of f(x) if and only if f(x) approaches + or - inf as x
approaches x0 from the left or from the right.

Definition of a slant asymptote: the line y = ax + b is a "slant
asymptote" of f(x) if and only if lim (x--+/-) f(x) = ax + b.
************************************************* ********************

Does this clarify your thoughts on what is and is not asymptotic?

:-)

Brian W