Strict Standards: mktime(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
41
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
50
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
52
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
54
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
55
Strict Standards: mktime(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
41
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
50
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
52
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
54
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in
/homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line
55
Strict Standards: mktime(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in /homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line 41
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in /homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line 50
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in /homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line 52
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in /homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line 54
Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in /homepages/8/d91492417/htdocs/cattywampus/wp-includes/functions.php on line 55
September 26th, 2008
I’ve been thinking recently about words that have stuck around in English, even though their original definitions have either long since passed away, or are at least on their way out.
It seems like most of these words, the ones I’ve taken note of at any rate, are all related to technology in one way or another.
CC: - When we cc: someone in our e-mail, we know that this means that a second person will be “copied,” which is to say they will be sent a copy of the e-mail even though they are not the intended recipient. People a little older than I am, however, will remember a time when “CC” stood for “Carbon Copy,” referring to the actual piece of carbon sheet and second piece of paper that sits below the paper that’s being written or typed on, creating a copy through the pressure of the pen or the typewriter. We still occasionally see this old technology in the form of receipts from certain stores and shops. But I believe that the original reference to the “carbon” part of “cc” on e-mails is past anyone knowing what it refers to anymore.
hang up the phone - When you think about this one, it makes sense. However, I think that the literal meaning of “hanging up” a telephone had given way to the consequence of hanging up a phone, even in the times when we still hung telephone earpieces in their cradle on a wall. That is to say, hanging the phone in its cradle would give you the result that the telephone connection was closed. By the time I was growing up, however, “hanging up” had already moved to meaning “close the telephone connection.” These days, when we hang up our cell phones, there’s no hanging at all–it’s just a simple flip/close. But I can’t imagine “hang up the phone”, as a phrase, is going anywhere anytime soon.
shift key - This one occurred to me today while I was watching a software tutorial, which said that I could access certain functions in the software by using the shift key. It occurred to me that the word “shift” has no direct meaning on the computer keyboard, and hasn’t for all of my life. In the earlier days of typewriters, however, “shift” had a literal meaning. The type on the inside of the typewriter was mounted on long arms, two letter symbols per arm: the same letter, upper and lower case. (two more terms, incidentally, that tie back to the days of typesetting when large and small letters were stored in cases, one above the other) The “Shift” key was used to literally shift the arm to stamp the paper with a capital letter instead of a lower case letter. While I’m on the subject, the days of the typewriter give us another term I can think of off the top of my head: the ‘return’ key, which originally had the function of returning the typewriter’s roller carriage to the beginning of a new line. I confess, however, that I don’t know where the term ‘enter’ comes from.
turnstile - On my recent road trip, I visited several business an subway stations which required me to pass through a turnstile. But unlike the old turnstiles I was familiar with, these new electronic turnstiles had no spinning arms to push through; they were merely metal columns with protruding plastic door that would open or close depending on whether you were granted access. It occurred to me that nothing was visibly “turning,” even though the devices were still called “turnstiles.” I imagine that as time moves forward there will be newer and newer designs for letting people through one at a time, with less and less connection to any mechanical turning involved. This is an example of an object which is slowly in the process of losing its ties to the original and literal use of its name.
I’m sure there’s a word for this phenomenon in linguistics. If anyone knows what it is, please feel free to write in and tell me.
If you have other suggestions for words experiencing this same kind of definition death/reincarnation, let me know and I’ll be happy to collect them for a future post on the topic. 
Posted in Eric's Stories |
