Virtual Words

Language on the Edge of Science and Technology

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Technology, Social Aspects, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Linguistics, Engineering
Cover of the book Virtual Words by Jonathon Keats, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jonathon Keats ISBN: 9780199752904
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: October 14, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Jonathon Keats
ISBN: 9780199752904
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: October 14, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

The technological realm provides an unusually active laboratory not only for new ideas and products but also for the remarkable linguistic innovations that accompany and describe them. How else would words like qubit (a unit of quantum information), crowdsourcing (outsourcing to the masses), or in vitro meat (chicken and beef grown in an industrial vat) enter our language? In Virtual Words: Language on the Edge of Science and Technology, Jonathon Keats, author of Wired Magazine's monthly Jargon Watch column, investigates the interplay between words and ideas in our fast-paced tech-driven use-it-or-lose-it society. In 28 illuminating short essays, Keats examines how such words get coined, what relationship they have to their subject matter, and why some, like blog, succeed while others, like flog, fail. Divided into broad categories--such as commentary, promotion, and slang, in addition to scientific and technological neologisms--chapters each consider one exemplary word, its definition, origin, context, and significance. Examples range from microbiome (the collective genome of all microbes hosted by the human body) and unparticle (a form of matter lacking definite mass) to gene foundry (a laboratory where artificial life forms are assembled) and singularity (a hypothetical future moment when technology transforms the whole universe into a sentient supercomputer). Together these words provide not only a survey of technological invention and its consequences, but also a fascinating glimpse of novel language as it comes into being. No one knows this emerging lexical terrain better than Jonathon Keats. In writing that is as inventive and engaging as the language it describes, Virtual Words offers endless delights for word-lovers, technophiles, and anyone intrigued by the essential human obsession with naming.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The technological realm provides an unusually active laboratory not only for new ideas and products but also for the remarkable linguistic innovations that accompany and describe them. How else would words like qubit (a unit of quantum information), crowdsourcing (outsourcing to the masses), or in vitro meat (chicken and beef grown in an industrial vat) enter our language? In Virtual Words: Language on the Edge of Science and Technology, Jonathon Keats, author of Wired Magazine's monthly Jargon Watch column, investigates the interplay between words and ideas in our fast-paced tech-driven use-it-or-lose-it society. In 28 illuminating short essays, Keats examines how such words get coined, what relationship they have to their subject matter, and why some, like blog, succeed while others, like flog, fail. Divided into broad categories--such as commentary, promotion, and slang, in addition to scientific and technological neologisms--chapters each consider one exemplary word, its definition, origin, context, and significance. Examples range from microbiome (the collective genome of all microbes hosted by the human body) and unparticle (a form of matter lacking definite mass) to gene foundry (a laboratory where artificial life forms are assembled) and singularity (a hypothetical future moment when technology transforms the whole universe into a sentient supercomputer). Together these words provide not only a survey of technological invention and its consequences, but also a fascinating glimpse of novel language as it comes into being. No one knows this emerging lexical terrain better than Jonathon Keats. In writing that is as inventive and engaging as the language it describes, Virtual Words offers endless delights for word-lovers, technophiles, and anyone intrigued by the essential human obsession with naming.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book The Lost White Tribe by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Steel Drivin' Man : John Henry: The Untold Story Of An American Legend by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Complete Letters by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book If I Give My Soul by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Aftermath by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Adoption Beyond Borders by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Democratization and Authoritarian Party Survival by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book A Great Aridness by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Spirit Song by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Invisible City by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book The Republicans by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book Assembly by Jonathon Keats
Cover of the book One in Christ by Jonathon Keats
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy