splice

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bbeeton
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splice

Postby bbeeton » Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:06 pm

To splice (verb) is to join two pieces of something, originally rope, but more recently recording tape or film. In the case of rope, strands are unraveled from the loose ends and then interwoven. Tape or film is clipped so the two ends match when butted together, and an adhesive element is applied to hold them together. A splice (noun) is the result of such a joining.

A comma splice is the stringing together of two independent clauses separated by a comma, and is a grammatical no-no. And then there's "splicing the mainbrace", a nautical expression describing an activity that has rendered the splicer less than fully competent.

This suggestion was precipitated by the (mis)use of the word in a scientific article re examining a specimen "without needing to splice it open." Should've read "split".

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Slava
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Re: splice

Postby Slava » Fri Sep 30, 2022 7:31 pm

Interesting how a root that means split has come to mean join.
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