In its narrowest sense, a synonym is a word or phrase that is perfectly substitutable in a context for another word or phrase. People who study language professionally agree that there is no such thing as an ideal synonym, for it is virtually impossible to find two words or phrases that are identical in denotation (meaning), connotation, frequency, familiarity, and appropriateness. Indeed, linguists have long noted the economy of language, which suggests that no language permits a perfect fit, in all respects, between any two words or phrases.

AN etymological dictionary supplies neither pronunciations nor definitions. Here, pronunciation is indicated only where it affects the origin or the development of a word; and definitions only where, in little-known words, they are necessary to an understanding of the problem. Wherever the meaning of a word has notably changed, the sensetransformation is explained, as, for instance, in knave, marshal, phoney, adjectival rum: here we enter the domain of semantics, the science of meanings, for semantics will sometimes resolve an otherwise insoluble problem.

This book is the result of hunting on the Internet for unrecorded words. In these pages, you’ll find words you’ve never seen before - even though they’ve been around for decades. You’ll find old words with new definitions. You’ll find foreign words tiptoeing into foreign Englishes, sports jargon butting into politics, street slang bouncing out of California, and Spanish moving comfortably into mainstream American English. From dozens of countries, from politics and sports, slang and jargon, humdrum to extraordinary, new and old, what you’ll read is language that deserves a little more attention.

From author: “Over the years I have often found myself both amazed and impressed by the level of wine knowledge and honesty of UK wine drinkers in discussing the taste of wine. Interestingly, the same cannot be said for our friends around the world. In fact, wine-producing countries, in my experience, often have the least well-informed citizens. I have puzzled over why this might be. Perhaps they are too close to the subject and, as they inevitably drink wine regularly, often every lunch and dinner, they don't tend to think much about what's in the glass”

The communications industry is in the process of convergence: data and voice services are provided by one extended network, wireless and wire-line networks are integrated, computers are connected through the big melting pot that is the Internet. So why shouldn't be a technical dictionary to match that convergence of technologies and services? This dictionary includes terms from multiple fields that were separated before. Terms, phrases used across multiple fields can mean many different things. Complicated. We mark every term by its primary fields so that readers can better understand the context and background of the term. Uncomplicated.

Emphasizing terms often encountered in documentation, online help, computer manuals, marketing and sales materials, the popular media, and the computer trade press, this dictionary provides concise definitions and explanations for some 3,000 terms.

This dictionary defines 10,000 terms and acronyms pertaining to all areas of computing, including hardware, networks, programming, applications, and databases.

Phrasal verbs, also called two-word verbs, are idiomatic expressions wherein the second element of the verb (the adverb or particle) is not necessarily predictable. For instance, why the word up in call up a friend? Why not say call on a friend or call in a friend? Actually, those are three separate, unpredictable combinations, and they each mean something completely different. For example, you can call up a friend on the telephone, call on a friend to visit a friend’s home, and call in a friend to come help you with something.

Architecture is unquestionably one of the arts, and certainly not a lesser one, but dealing with it purely as an art would be very incomplete. For, more than other arts, it depends heavily on technology as concerns materials used, construction techniques, and new technological possibilities in other fields. There is also a commercial aspect, as cost matters in many - if not quite all - cases. Meanwhile, broader trends in society and politics impinge on just what will be built, while aesthetic currents and even fads determine what style will be adopted…

From author: “As an undergraduate student some time last century, I remember grappling with a number of terms linked to the European Union (EU). These included words such as neo-functionalism, integration and supranationalism (to name but three). At that time, there was no resource to give brief explanations of such terms. Surprisingly, little has changed today. When people discuss issues surrounding the EU, they come into contact with terms which are unfamiliar to them. Concepts such as ‘subsidiarity’ or the ‘emergency brake’ may trip off the tongues of experts, but to the student or lay person they may as well be a foreign language”