Comments on: Speeding Language Change http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416 A Blog about Words and Language(s) from alphaDictionary.com Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:00:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.6 By: Carol http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416&cpage=1#comment-155654 Carol Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:57:41 +0000 http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416#comment-155654 Really, the internet is more likely to cause dialect leveling, because it allows more people to talk to each other. Dialects are formed when groups of speakers are isolated from each other. When they become isolated from the "standard" (this is all relative) their speech is no longer in sync with the speech of the standard language, and when they make changes, their speech starts to diverge from the "standard". Could the internet cause specialized groups to come up with new vocabulary that is hard for a layperson to understand? Of course, but how easily can you understand scientific or legal jargon? Embrace language change! There's no stopping it! Really, the internet is more likely to cause dialect leveling, because it allows more people to talk to each other. Dialects are formed when groups of speakers are isolated from each other. When they become isolated from the “standard” (this is all relative) their speech is no longer in sync with the speech of the standard language, and when they make changes, their speech starts to diverge from the “standard”.
Could the internet cause specialized groups to come up with new vocabulary that is hard for a layperson to understand? Of course, but how easily can you understand scientific or legal jargon?
Embrace language change! There’s no stopping it!

]]> By: ian http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416&cpage=1#comment-155220 ian Sat, 10 Apr 2010 09:15:43 +0000 http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416#comment-155220 In England the word Nonce , in case you didn't know- is prison slang for a friend of the guards.. or more generally a homosexual In England the word Nonce , in case you didn’t know- is prison slang for a friend of the guards.. or more generally a homosexual

]]> By: Stargzer http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416&cpage=1#comment-153768 Stargzer Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:53:28 +0000 http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=416#comment-153768 Just as fishing is not always the catching of fish (just ask any fisherman who's been skunked"), Phishing is not Identity Theft per se; Identity Theft is the result of someone's falling for the bait in a phishing scam. The Cambridge International Dictionary defines it as: Definition phishing noun /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/ n [U] an attempt to trick someone who has an internet bank account into giving information that would allow someone else to take money out of the account phisher noun /ˈfɪʃ.ər/ (US) /-ɚ/ n [C] Notice the word "attempt." Wikipedia says: A phishing technique was described in detail in 1987, and the first recorded use of the term "phishing" was made in 1996. The term is a variant of fishing, probably influenced by phreaking, and alludes to baits used to "catch" financial information and passwords. Wikipedia references this Language Log article ( http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001477.html ) from another distinguished Pennsylvania Institution of Learning: " ...The basic etymology is simple and obvious -- the scammers are "fishing" for gullible customers. The orthographic substitution of ph for f is by analogy to "phone phreaking". I suspect that the band Phish may have been inspired to use the same f-to-ph substitution by the same analogy, but I haven't been able to confirm this. ..." (Researching "phone phreaking" is left as an exercise to the reader. Hint: Look up Captain Crunch) Phishing can target any usefull information, not just bank account information. A User's computer ID and password can be usee to mount an attack on the user's computer and network, which in turn can lead to theft of thousands or millions of pieces of identity information (Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, and so forth). Carrying the analogy further, just as Phishing is analagous to fishing, i. e., the use of bait to catch any Phish (fish) which is dumb enough to take the bait, Spear Phishing is analagous to spear fishing, i. e., targeting a particular Phish (fish). Spear Phishing involves an attack directed to a specific individual, say, a higher-level executive whose computer access rights may allow him access to higher levels of the network or applications. For instance, a higher-ranking executive may have the authority to transfer much larger sums of of money than an underling or a private individual. Spear Phishing obviously involves a bit of "social engineering," in that the targets are identified in advance and the Phishing scam is customized to appeal to them. This type of target is often clueless as to security, and poses a greater risk to the organization. Just as fishing is not always the catching of fish (just ask any fisherman who’s been skunked”), Phishing is not Identity Theft per se; Identity Theft is the result of someone’s falling for the bait in a phishing scam. The Cambridge International Dictionary defines it as:

Definition
phishing noun
/ˈfɪʃɪŋ/ n [U]
an attempt to trick someone who has an internet bank account into giving information that would allow someone else to take money out of the account
phisher noun
/ˈfɪʃ.ər/ (US) /-ɚ/ n [C]

Notice the word “attempt.”

Wikipedia says:

A phishing technique was described in detail in 1987, and the first recorded use of the term “phishing” was made in 1996. The term is a variant of fishing, probably influenced by phreaking, and alludes to baits used to “catch” financial information and passwords.

Wikipedia references this Language Log article ( http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001477.html ) from another distinguished Pennsylvania Institution of Learning:

” …The basic etymology is simple and obvious — the scammers are “fishing” for gullible customers. The orthographic substitution of ph for f is by analogy to “phone phreaking”. I suspect that the band Phish may have been inspired to use the same f-to-ph substitution by the same analogy, but I haven’t been able to confirm this. …”

(Researching “phone phreaking” is left as an exercise to the reader. Hint: Look up Captain Crunch)

Phishing can target any usefull information, not just bank account information. A User’s computer ID and password can be usee to mount an attack on the user’s computer and network, which in turn can lead to theft of thousands or millions of pieces of identity information (Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, and so forth).

Carrying the analogy further, just as Phishing is analagous to fishing, i. e., the use of bait to catch any Phish (fish) which is dumb enough to take the bait, Spear Phishing is analagous to spear fishing, i. e., targeting a particular Phish (fish). Spear Phishing involves an attack directed to a specific individual, say, a higher-level executive whose computer access rights may allow him access to higher levels of the network or applications. For instance, a higher-ranking executive may have the authority to transfer much larger sums of of money than an underling or a private individual. Spear Phishing obviously involves a bit of “social engineering,” in that the targets are identified in advance and the Phishing scam is customized to appeal to them. This type of target is often clueless as to security, and poses a greater risk to the organization.

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