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Skunked Term
A skunked term is a word that becomes difficult to use because it is transitioning from one meaning to another, perhaps inconsistent or even opposite, usage, or a word that becomes difficult to use due to other controversy surrounding the word. Purists may insist on the old usage, while descriptivists may be more open to newer usages. Readers may not know which sense is meant especially when prescriptivists insist on a meaning that accords with interests that often conflict. The term was coined by lexicographer Bryan A. Garner in ''Garner's Modern American Usage'' and has since been adopted by some other style guides.Ben Yagoda, ''How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them'', , 2013, p. 82 and ''passim''. Usage Garner recommends avoiding such terms if their use may distract readers from the intended meaning of a text. Some terms, such as " fulsome", may become skunked, and then eventually revert to their original meaning over time. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semantic Change
Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic progression, semantic development, or semantic drift) is a form of language change regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic (or historical) linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word. Every word has a variety of senses and connotations, which can be added, removed, or altered over time, often to the extent that cognates across space and time have very different meanings. The study of semantic change can be seen as part of etymology, onomasiology, semasiology, and semantics. Examples in English * Awful — Literally "full of awe", originally meant "inspiring wonder (or fear)", hence "impressive". In contemporary usage, the word means "extremely bad". * Awesome — Literally "awe-inducing", originally meant "inspiring wonder (or fear)", hence "impressive". In contemporary usage, the word mean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data (word)
The word ''data'' is most often used as a singular mass noun in educated everyday usage. However, due to the history of the word, considerable controversy has existed on whether it should be considered a mass noun used with verbs conjugated in the singular, or should be treated as the plural of the now-rarely-used ''datum''. Usage in English In one sense, ''data'' is the plural form of ''datum''. ''Datum'' actually can also be a count noun with the plural ''datums'' (see usage in datum article) that can be used with cardinal numbers (e.g., "80 datums"); ''data'' (originally a Latin plural) is not used like a normal count noun with cardinal numbers and can be plural with such plural determiners as ''these'' and ''many'' or as a mass noun with a verb in the singular form. Even when a very small quantity of data is referenced (one number, for example), the phrase ''piece of data'' is often used, as opposed to ''datum''. The debate over appropriate usage continues, but "data" as a sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
US English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances is the de facto common language used in government, education and commerce. Since the 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide. American English varieties include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other English dialects around the world. Any American or Canadian accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic or cultural markers is popularly called "General" or "Standard" American, a fairly uniform accent continuum native to certain regions of the U.S. and associated nationally with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not sup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to the collective dialects of English throughout the British Isles taken as a single umbrella variety, for instance additionally incorporating Scottish English, Welsh English, and Northern Irish English. Tom McArthur in the ''Oxford Guide to World English'' acknowledges that British English shares "all the ambiguities and tensions iththe word 'British' and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity". Variations exist in formal (both written and spoken) English in the United Kingdom. For example, the adjective ''wee'' is almost exclusively used in parts of Scotland, North East England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally Yorkshire, whereas the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dark Web
The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on ''darknets'': overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communicate and conduct business anonymously without divulging identifying information, such as a user's location. The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by web search engines, although sometimes the term ''deep web'' is mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web. The darknets which constitute the dark web include small, friend-to-friend peer-to-peer networks, as well as large, popular networks such as Tor, Freenet, I2P, and Riffle operated by public organizations and individuals. Users of the dark web refer to the regular web as Clearnet due to its unencrypted nature. The Tor dark web or onionland uses the traffic anonymization technique of onion routing under the network's top-lev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deep Web
The deep web, invisible web, or hidden web are parts of the World Wide Web whose contents are not indexed by standard web search-engine programs. This is in contrast to the "surface web", which is accessible to anyone using the Internet. Computer-scientist Michael K. Bergman is credited with inventing the term in 2001 as a search-indexing term. Deep web sites can be accessed by a direct URL or IP address, but may require entering a password or other security information to access actual content. Such sites have uses such as web mail, online banking, cloud storage, restricted-access social-media pages and profiles, some web forums and code language that require registration for viewing content. It also includes paywalled services such as video on demand and some online magazines and newspapers. Terminology The first conflation of the terms "deep web" with " dark web" happened during 2009 when deep web search terminology was discussed together with illegal activities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Telegraph (UK)
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as ''The Daily Telegraph & Courier''. Considered a newspaper of record over ''The Times'' in the UK in the years up to 1997, ''The Telegraph'' generally has a reputation for high-quality journalism, and has been described as being "one of the world's great titles". The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", appears in the editorial pages and has featured in every edition of the newspaper since 19 April 1858. The paper had a circulation of 363,183 in December 2018, descending further until it withdrew from newspaper circulation audits in 2019, having declined almost 80%, from 1.4 million in 1980.United Newspapers PLC and Fleet Holdings PLC', Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1985), pp. 5–16. Its sis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literally
''Literally'' is an English adverb. It has been controversially used as an intensifier for figurative statements. History The first known use of the word ''literally'' was in the 15th century, or the 1530s, when it was used in the sense of "in a literal sense or manner". The use of the word as an intensifier for figurative statements emerged later, in 1769, when Frances Brooke wrote the following sentence: Controversy The use of ''literally'' as an intensifier for figurative statements has been controversial since the early 20th century, when objections first started being raised. In 1909, the following entry was included in a blacklist of literary faults: Opponents state that this usage is contrary to its original meaning, that it is nonsensical for a word to mean two opposite things, that the use of the word ''literally'' as an intensifier can be substituted by other words ("‘absolutely", "definitely", "unquestionably") and that it makes the speaker look ridiculous. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media
Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks ** Digital media, electronic media used to store, transmit, and receive digitized information ** Electronic media, communications delivered via electronic or electromechanical energy ** Hypermedia, media with hyperlinks ** Interactive media, media that is interactive ** Mass media, technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication ** MEDIA Programme, a European Union initiative to support the European audiovisual sector ** Multimedia, communications that incorporate multiple forms of information content and processing ** New media, the combination of traditional media and computer and communications technology ** News media, mass media focused on communicating news ** Print media, communicati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oriental
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the continent of Asia, loosely classified into the Western Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and sometimes including the Caucasus. Originally, the term ''Orient'' was used to designate only the Near East, and later its meaning evolved and expanded, designating also the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, or the Far East. The term ''oriental'' is often used to describe objects from the Orient; however in the United States it is considered an outdated and often offensive term by some, especially when used to refer to people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent. Etymology The term "Orient" derives from the Latin word ''oriens'' meaning "east" (lit. "rising" < ''orior'' " rise"). The use of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
