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Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would
Subject:Re: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would From:Peter Neilson <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:08:16 -0500
There is also graceful degredation, in which a system fails, but does so
in such a manner that later recovery, or at least diagnosis, is possible
with little difficulty. Again, this is a technical term, well understood
by engineers in various fields.
My least-favorite technical terms are those that look exactly like words
with which they must not ever, in any way, be confounded. An adjective
(or perhaps noun) "close," in the sense adjacent-to, found its way into
a computer product where "close" as the opposite of open was already in
use. The engineer who invented the term saw no problem until I literally
beat him over the head with it. (When I say literally, I mean
figuratively, of course.)
Downing, David wrote:
> From: "Blount, Patricia A" <Patricia -dot- Blount -at- ca -dot- com>
> Subject: RE: I had to say it because I was afraid no one else would
>
> [snip]
>
> Sigh... I now have to determine how to handle this gem: "graceful
> recovery". (Shudder) Brings to mind images of tutus and plies.
>
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> So what's the next new word going to be -- "recoverize"? (Or perhaps
> that should be "recoverise"?)
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