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Title: Write a short story using modern terms Post by: Righ on October 19, 2004, 09:43:23 AM 101 years in 101 words (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3755482.stm)
Title: Write a short story using modern terms Post by: WonderBrick on October 19, 2004, 10:05:47 AM I am kinda surprised to see some words missing. Like computer related words, including "computer". or other words that have been added to the dictionary over the years. Or the term "OK" being used earlier, as a part of a presidential campaign.
Is "1971: green" a typo? Some of the other words listed, I need to go look up, because I am not familiar with them. It is interesting seeing words we take for granted, and imagining a world without them, and without the concepts they convey. Title: Write a short story using modern terms Post by: Samwise on October 19, 2004, 10:12:39 AM Quote from: WonderBrick I am kinda surprised to see some words missing. Like computer related words, including "computer". Pretty sure the term "computer" was coined more than 101 years ago. In fact... Quote According to the Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, computer came into use in English in 1646 as a word for a "person who computes" and then by 1897 as a "mechanical calculating machine." The word referred to an electronic machine by 1946, perhaps as early as 1941. It is formed from the word compute, which was borrowed in 1631 from the French computer, which was a learned borrowing from Latin computare, meaning "to count, sum up." http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/c/computer.html Title: Write a short story using modern terms Post by: Merusk on October 19, 2004, 10:20:09 AM Quote from: WonderBrick Is "1971: green" a typo? Might have something to do with the source Quote Source - Larpers and Shroomers: The language report Really, what do a bunch of LARPers and guys on 'shrooms know? Ok, easy joke aside they're referring to the term "green" as in "green" fuels, not the color. It's not a collection of words as they were invented, but when they entered the common lexicon. Title: Write a short story using modern terms Post by: Jayce on October 19, 2004, 10:21:05 AM Quote from: WonderBrick I Is "1971: green" a typo? Maybe a reference to Greenpeace's formation: Quote Green (adj.) in the sense of "environmental" is attested from 1972; Greenpeace, the international conservation and environmental protection group, is from 1971. From my favorite web site (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=green&searchmode=none). The BBC article -is- taking some liberties with certain words. "OK yah" they list as a word, when as someone pointed out, OK is from much earlier. |