Let ω > 0 be an angular frequency with units of radians/second. Then the function f(t) = −ωt + θ has slope −ω, which is called a negative frequency. But when the function is used as the argument of a cosine operator, the result is indistinguishable from cos(ωt − θ). Similarly, sin(− ωt + θ) is indistinguishable from sin(ωt − θ + π). Thus any sinusoid can be represented in terms of a positive frequency. The sign of the underlying phase slope is ambiguous.