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 Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630


Port Arthur
(China) Former name (to 1905) of the port and naval base of Lüshun in northeast China, now part of Dalian

Porter, William Sydney
Real name of the US author O Henry

polymorphism
(mineralogy) In mineralogy, the ability of a substance to adopt different internal structures and external forms, in response to different conditions of temperature and/or pressure. For example, diamond and graphite are both forms of the element carbon, but they have very different propert...

positron
Antiparticle of the electron; an elementary particle having the same mass as an electron but exhibiting a positive charge. The positron was discovered in 1932 by US physicist Carl Anderson at the California Institute of Technology, USA, its existence having been predicted by the British physicist Paul Dirac in 1928

poaching
Illegal hunting of game and fish on someone else's property. Since the creation of hunting grounds in the early Middle Ages, poaching has attracted heavy punishments. Deterrents have included special laws including the Night Poaching Act 1828 and the Game Act 1831. The battle of wits between gamekeepers and local poachers is part of English fol...

population
(society) The number of people living in a specific area or region, such as a town or country, at any one time. The study of populations, their distribution and structure, resources, and patterns of migration, is called demography. Information on population is obtained in a number of ways, suc...

potential difference
Difference in the electrical potential (see potential, electric) of two points, being equal to the electrical energy gained by a unit positive electric charge moving from one point to the other. Electrons (which are negatively charged) flow in a conducting material towards the part that is relatively more positive (fewer negative charges). The SI u...

power
(optics) In optics, a measure of the amount by which a lens will deviate light rays. A powerful converging lens will converge parallel rays strongly, bringing them to a focus at a short distance from the lens. The unit of power is the dioptre, which is equal to the reciprocal of focal length i...

power station
Click images to enlargeBuilding where electrical energy is generated from a fuel or from another form of energy. Fuels used include fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil, and the nuclear fuel uranium. Renewable sources of energy include gravitational potential energy, used to produce hydroelectric power, and wind power....

power transmission
Transfer of electrical power from one location, such as a power station, to another. Electricity is conducted along cables at a high voltage (up to 500 kilovolts (kV) on the super grid) in order to reduce the current in the wires, and hence minimize the amount of energy wasted as heat. Transformers are needed to step up the voltages for transmissio...

post-mortem
Another name for autopsy, dissection of a dead body to determine the cause of death

polytetrafluoroethene
Polymer made from the monomer tetrafluoroethene (CF2CF2). It is a thermosetting plastic with a high melting point that is used to produce `nonstick` surfaces on pans and to coat bearings. Its trade name is Teflon

politics
Ruling by the consent of the governed; an activity whereby solutions to social and economic problems are arrived at and different aspirations are met by the process of discussion and compromise rather than by the application of decree or force. A much misused term, it has been expounded by Bernard Crick in his classic book In Defence o...

postnatal depression
Mood change occurring in many mothers a few days after the birth of a baby, also known as `baby blues`. It is usually a short-lived condition but can sometimes persist; one in five women suffer a lasting depression after giving birth. The most severe form of post-natal depressive illness, puerperal psychosis, requires hospital...

Pole
People of Polish culture from Poland and the surrounding area. There are 37–40 million speakers of Polish (including some in the USA), a Slavic language belonging to the Indo-European family. The Poles are predominantly Roman Catholic, though there is an Orthodox Church minority. They are known for their distinctive cooking, folk festivals...

Portuguese
Inhabitants of Portugal. The Portuguese have a mixed cultural heritage that can be traced back to the Lusitanian Celts who were defeated by the Romans in about 140 BC. In the 5th century AD the Suebi, a Germanic group, overran the Iberian peninsula, and were later subdued by the Visigoths. In the 8th century AD southern Portugal was invaded by the ...

polluter-pays principle
The idea that whoever causes pollution is responsible for the cost of repairing any damage. The principle is accepted in British law but has in practice often been ignored; for example, farmers causing the death of fish through slurry pollution have not been fined the full costs of restocking the river

Powell, Colin Luther
US general, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1989–93, and US secretary of state 2001–04. A Vietnam War veteran, he first worked in government in 1972 and was national security adviser 1987–89. As chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was responsible for the overall administration of the Allied forces in Saudi Arabia during the Gul...

port
(computing) In computing, a socket that enables a computer processor to communicate with an external device. It may be an input port (such as a joystick port), or an output port (such as a printer port), or both (an i/o port). Mic...

political correctness
Shorthand term for a set of liberal attitudes about education and society, and the terminology associated with them. To be politically correct is to be sensitive to unconscious racism and sexism and to display environmental awareness. However, the real or alleged enforcement of PC speech codes (`people of colour` instead of `coloured...

point-of-sale terminal
Computer terminal used in shops to input and output data at the point where a sale is transacted; for example, at a supermarket checkout. The POS terminal inputs information about the identity of each item sold, retrieves the price and other details from a central computer, and prints out a fully itemized receipt for the customer. It may also i...

polder
Area of flat reclaimed land that used to be covered by a river, lake, or the sea. Polders have been artificially drained and protected from flooding by building dykes. They are common in the Netherlands, where the total land area has been increased by nearly one-fifth since AD 1200. Such schemes as the Zuider Zee project have provided some of t...

population control
Measures taken by some governments to limit the growth of their countries' populations by trying to reduce birth rates. Propaganda, freely available contraception, and tax disincentives for large families are some of the measures that have been tried. The population-control policies introduced by the Chinese government are the best known. I...

population density
The number of people living in a given area, usually expressed as people per square kilometre. It is calculated by dividing the population of a region by its area. Population density provides a useful means for comparing population distribution. Densities vary considerably over the globe. High population densities may amount to overpopulation where...

population distribution
The location of people within an area. Areas may be compared by looking at variations in population density. Population is unevenly distributed for a number of reasons. Pull factors (which attract people) include mineral resources, temperate climate, the availability of water, and fertile, flat land. Push factors (which repel people) include dense ...

population explosion
The rapid and dramatic rise in world population that has occurred over the last few hundred years. Between 1959 and 2000, the world's population increased from 2.5 billion to 6.1 billion people. According to United Nations projections, the world population will be between 7.9 billion and 10.9 billion by 2050. Most of the growth is currently tak...

population pyramid
Graph of the population of an area, such as a country or town, using age and sex groupings. The pyramid is arranged with the youngest age group at the bottom and the eldest at the top, at intervals of five to ten years. The pyramid is split down the middle, with one side showing male groups and the o...

port
(transport) Point where goods are transferred between water-based and land-based forms of transport. Most ports are coastal, though inland ports on rivers also exist. Ports often have specialized equipment to handle cargo in large quantities (for example, container or roll-on/r...

poverty cycle
Set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention. Once an area or a person has become poor, this tends to lead to other disadvantages, which may in turn result in further poverty. The situation is often found in inner city areas and shanty towns. Applied to countries, the poverty cy...

polis
In ancient Greece, a city-state, the political and social centre of most larger Greek communities. Membership of a polis as a citizen, participation in its cults and festivals, and the protection of its laws formed the basis of classical Greek civilization, which was marked by intense intercity rivalries and conflicts until the Hellenistic peri...

polypropylene
Plastic made by the polymerization, or linking together, of propene molecules (CH2CHCH3). Polypropylene is one of the most important plastics and has a large number of different uses, including packaging, house ware, textiles, carpets, artificial turf, and ropes. It is a very light synthetic fibre, whic...

portraiture
In the visual arts, a work of art about a person. Often portraits are intended to create a likeness of someone; others, such as some portraits by Picasso, may not look like the model, but are the artist's interpretation of the whole person. Portraits appear in many ancient cultures, but first flourished in the West in ancient Rome when stat...

pottery and porcelain
Click images to enlargeCeramics in domestic and ornamental use, including earthenware, stoneware, and bone china (or softpaste porcelain). Made of 5% bone ash and china clay, bone china was first made in the West in imitation of Chinese porcelain. The standard British bone china was developed about 1800, with a body o...

poverty trap
Situation where a person reduces his or her net income by taking a job, or gaining a higher wage, which disqualifies him/her from claiming social security benefits or raises his/her tax liability

pop-up menu
In computing, a menu that appears in a (new) window when an option is selected with a mouse or keystroke sequence in a graphical user interface (GUI), such as Microsoft Windows. Compare with pull-down menu

POP3
On the Internet, one of the two most common mail protocols. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer SMTP, POP3, or both. The primary difference to most users is the choice of software available. SMTP is older and more flexible, but POP3 is generally simpler for those accessing the Internet via a dial-up account

pornography, Internet
Material of an explicitly sexual nature, whether it be text, photographs, graphics, audio, or video available on the Internet. The amount of pornography and the ease of finding it has been exaggerated by both politicians and mass media. Nonetheless, there is material available on the Internet to offend almost everyone, and most governments are eith...

pocket borough
A borough in the UK before the Reform Act of 1832, where all the houses were owned by one man, whose vote returned two members of Parliament. An example was Gatton in Surrey. See also rotten borough

potato famine
Famine in Ireland, historically dated 1845–49, although now believed to have lingered until 1852, caused by the failure of the potato crop, the staple of the Irish diet, over four consecutive seasons. Nearly a million people died from malnutrition-related diseases such as a cholera, dysentery, and typhus and at least the same number again ...

Poole
(authority) Unitary authority in southwest England, created in 1997 from part of Dorset. Area 64 sq km/25 sq mi Towns and cities Poole (administrative headquarters), Broadstone, Hillbournes, Sandbanks Features River Stour formers ...

potato blight
Disease of the potato caused by a parasitic fungus Phytophthora infestans. It was the cause of the 1845 potato famine in Ireland. New strains of P. infestans continue to arise. The most virulent version so far is P. infestans US-8, which arose in Mexico in 1992 , spreading to North Americ...

Polar Regions
See Antarctica, Antarctic Ocean, Arctic, the, Arctic Ocean

polar bear
Large white-coated bear that lives in the Arctic. Polar bears are normally solitary, except for females when rearing cubs. They feed mainly on seals but will eat berries and scavenge when food is scarce. Males weigh 400–800 kg/880–1,760 lb and are up to 2.5 m/8.25 ft in length (twice as large as females, 200–400 kg). The ...

pole vault
Athletics field event in which the athlete attempts to clear a high cross bar by means of a long flexible pole. Competitive pole vaulting, for height as opposed to distance, began in the mid-19th century. It has been an Olympic sport for men since the first modern games in 1896; however, women's pole vaulting was not treated seriously b...

Pollack, Sydney
US director, actor, and producer. His work covered a variety of genres, including period pieces, action films, and comedies. He directed Out of Africa (1985), which won Academy Awards for best picture and best director. He also directed The Way We Were (1973), The Electric Horseman (1979), &l...

Portadown Bridge massacre
During the Great Rebellion in Ireland (1641–49), killing of Protestant planters (settlers) by Irish rebels at Portadown Bridge, County Armagh, in November 1641. The rebels attacked a group of English and Scottish planters who had been settled by the English government on confiscated Catholic Irish lands during the Plantation of Ireland. The pl...

polytych
In art, a single screen made up of several painted panels, usually of wood. The outer panels in the group are frequently hinged so that they can be folded onto the centre pieces. Polytychs were often used as altarpieces

portmanteau word
Artificial word combining two distinct words, for example brunch, a combination of breakfast and lunch. The use of `portmanteau`, which is French for a bag that opens in two, to refer to a word such as this, originates with the writer Lewis Carroll

power rating
Indication of the amount of electrical power at which electrical equipment can be safely used. Electrical power is defined as the rate of converting electrical energy into other forms of energy, and is measured in watts (joules per second). For example, a 100-watt light bulb converts electrical energy into heat and light at a rate of 100 joules...

Powell, Dilys
English writer, broadcaster, and film critic. She wrote for the Sunday Times and served as a governor of the British Film Institute from 1948 to 1952. She was appointed CBE in 1974. Powell was educated at Somerville College, Oxford University, and worked for the Sunday Times from 1928 to 1931, and again from 19...

PPP
Abbreviation for purchasing-power parity

pp
Abbreviation for per procurationem (Latin `by proxy`); in music (pp), pianissimo (Italian `very softly`)

Proust, Marcel
French novelist and critic. His immense autobiographical work A la Recherche du temps perdu/Remembrance of Things Past (1913–27), consisting of a series of novels, is the expression of his childhood memories coaxed from his subconscious; it is also a precise reflection of life in France at the end of the 19th century...

Proteus
In Greek mythology, the warden of the sea beasts of Poseidon; his flocks were usually said to comprise of seals. He possessed the gift of prophecy but could transform himself into many forms to evade questioning. At midday he would recline in the shadow of the rocks and if he was seized at that time, and his shape-changing ploys proved unsu...

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Region of southeast France, comprising the départements of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, and Vaucluse; area 31,400 sq km/12,123 sq mi; the administrative centre is Marseille; population (1999 est) 4,506,200. The Côte d'...

Protestantism
One of the main divisions of Christianity, which emerged from Roman Catholicism at the Reformation, a movement that questioned and `protested` against the teachings and authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Denominations include some groups within the Anglican communion, Baptists, Congregationalists (United Church of Christ), Lutherans,...

protectorate
Formerly in international law, a small state under the direct or indirect control of a larger one. The 20th-century equivalent was a trust territory. In English history the rule of Oliver and Richard Cromwell 1653–59 is referred to as the Protectorate

protectionism
In economics, the imposition of heavy duties or import quotas by a government as a means of discouraging the import of foreign goods likely to compete with domestic products. Price controls, quota systems, and the reduction of surpluses are among the measures taken for agricultural products in the European Union. The opposite practice is free trade

prostitution
Receipt of money for sexual acts. Society's attitude towards prostitution varies according to place and period. In some countries, tolerance is combined with licensing of brothels and health checks on the prostitutes (both male and female)

Prosecution Service, Crown
See Crown Prosecution Service

Proserpina
In Roman mythology, the goddess of the underworld. Her Greek equivalent is Persephone

prose
Spoken or written language without regular metre; in literature, prose corresponds more closely to the patterns of everyday speech than poetry, and often uses standard grammar and syntax and traditional rhetoric to achieve its ends. In Western literature prose was traditionally used for what is today called non-fiction – that is, histo...

proportional representation
Electoral system in which share of party seats corresponds to their proportion of the total votes cast, and minority votes are not wasted (as opposed to a simple majority, or `first past the post`, system). Forms of proportional representation include: party list system (PLS) or additional member system (AMS). As recommended by the Ha...

prophet
Person thought to speak from divine inspiration or one who foretells the future. Prophets whose words and actions are recorded in the Bible include Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. In Islam, Muhammad is believed to be the last and greatest of over 124,000 prophets beginning with Adam and including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. In the...

Prometheus
In Greek mythology, a Titan who stole fire from heaven for the human race. In revenge, Zeus chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to gnaw at his liver by day; the organ grew back each night. Heracles rescued him from the torture

proletariat
In Marxist theory, those classes in society that possess no property, and therefore depend on the sale of their labour or expertise (as opposed to the capitalists or bourgeoisie, who own the means of production, and the petty bourgeoisie, or working small-property owners). They are usually divided into the industrial, agricultural, and intellec...

Prokofiev, Sergey Sergeyevich
Russian composer. His music includes operas such as The Love for Three Oranges (after Carlo Gozzi, 1921); ballets for Sergei Diaghilev, including Romeo and Juliet (1935); seven symphonies including the Classical Symphony (1916–17); music for film, including Sergei Eisenstein&...

Prohibition
In US history, the period 1920–33 when the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was in force, and the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol was illegal. This led to bootlegging (the illegal distribution of liquor, often illicitly distilled), to the financial advantage of organized crime. The Eighteenth Amendment, ratified in ...

procurator fiscal
Officer of a Scottish sheriff's court who (combining the role of public prosecutor and coroner) inquires into suspicious deaths and carries out the preliminary questioning of witnesses to crime

Proconsul
Prehistoric ape skull found on Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria (Nyanza), East Africa, by Mary Leakey. It is believed to be 20 million years old

Procrustes
In Greek mythology, a robber of Attica who tied his victims to a bed and adjusted them to its length by amputating their legs or racking (stretching) their bodies. He was killed by the hero Theseus

probate
Formal proof of a will. In the UK, if a will's validity is unquestioned, it is proven in `common form`; the executor, in the absence of other interested parties, obtains at a probate registry a grant upon his or her own oath. Otherwise, it must be proved in `solemn form`: its validity established at a probate court (...

privy purse
Personal expenditure of the British sovereign, which derives from his/her own resources (as distinct from the civil list, which now finances only expenses incurred in pursuance of official functions and duties). The office that deals with this expenditure is also known as the Privy Purse

privacy
The right of the individual to be free from secret surveillance (by scientific devices or other means) and from the disclosure to unauthorized persons of personal data, as accumulated in computer data banks. Always an issue complicated by considerations of state security, public welfare (in the case of criminal activity), and other factors, it has ...

prison
Click images to enlargePlace of confinement for those accused or convicted of contravening the laws of the state; after conviction, most countries claim to aim also at rehabilitation and deterrence as well as punishment. For major crimes, life imprisonment (or death in some countries or US states; see capital puni...

Prypyat'
River in eastern Europe, flowing through southern Belarus and northern Ukraine; length 775 km/482 mi. The Pripyat' is a tributary of the River Dnieper, which it joins 80 km/50 mi above Kiev. The Pripyat' marshes, which lie near the river's source in a forested area called Polesye, near Pinsk, were of strategic importance in ...

printmaking
Creating a picture or design by printing from a plate (woodblock, stone, or metal sheet) that holds ink or colour. The oldest form of print is the woodcut, common in medieval Europe, followed by line engraving (from the 15th century), and etching (from the 17th century); in Japanese printmaking, the production of ukiyo-e (`pictures of ...

Princeton
Town and borough in Mercer County, west-central New Jersey, USA, 80 km/50 mi southwest of New York; population (2000 est) 14,200. It is the seat of Princeton University, fourth oldest university in the USA, which was founded as the College of New Jersey at Elizabethtown in 1746, and relocated to Princeton in 1756. The town is a centre f...

Prince Edward Island
Smallest province of Canada, situated in the Gulf of St Lawrence, separated from Nova Scotia (to the south and east) and New Brunswick (to the west) by the Northumberland Strait; area 5,700 sq km/2,200 sq mi; population (2001 est) 138,500. The capital is Charlottetown. Industries include ...

primary
In presidential election campaigns in the USA, a statewide ballot in which voters indicate their candidate preferences for the two main parties. Held in 41 states, primaries begin with New Hampshire in February and continue until June; they operate under varying complex rules. Primaries are also held to choose candidates for other posts, such a...

Priapus
In Greek mythology, the god of fertility, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, represented as grotesquely ugly, with an exaggerated phallus. He was later a Roman god of gardens, where his image was frequently used as a scarecrow

Previn, André George
German-born US pianist, conductor, and composer. He was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra 1968–79, music director 1985–86 and principal conductor 1985–92 of Britain's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic 1985–89, and music director of the Oslo Philharmonic 2...

Preston
Industrial city and administrative headquarters of Lancashire, northwest England, on the River Ribble, 34 km/21 mi south of Lancaster, at the highest navigable point of the Irish Sea estuary; population (2001) 184,800. Industries include textiles, chemicals, electrical goods, aircraft, plastics, and engineering; it is also an agricultur...

Presidential Medal of Freedom
Highest peacetime civilian award in the USA, instituted by President Kennedy in 1963. It is conferred annually on Independence Day by the president on those making significant contributions to the `quality of American life`, and often includes unknown individuals as well as artists, performers, and politicians. It replaced the Medal of Fr...

president
In government, the usual title of the head of state in a republic; the power of the office may range from the equivalent of a constitutional monarch to the actual head of the government. For presidents of the USA, see United States of America

prescription
(medicine) In medicine, an order written in a recognized form by a practitioner of medicine, dentistry, or veterinary surgery to a pharmacist for a preparation of medications to be used in treatment. By tradition it used to be written in Latin, except for the directions addressed to the patien...

Presbyterianism
System of Christian Protestant church government, expounded during the Reformation by John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, which gives its name to the established Church of Scotland, and is also practised in England, Wales, Ireland, Switzerland, North America, and elsewhere. There is no compulsory form of worship and each congregation is governed by...

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Click images to enlargeGroup of British painters (1848–53); Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and Holman Hunt – at this time young students at the Royal Academy – were the leading figures among the seven founders. They aimed to paint serious subjects, to study nature closely, and to return t...

Preminger, Otto
(Ludwig) Austrian-born US film producer, director, and actor. He directed and starred in Margin for Error (1943), and directed and produced The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Advise and Consent (1962), and The Human Factor&...

prehistory
Human cultures before the use of writing. The study of prehistory is mainly dependent on archaeology. General chronological dividing lines between prehistoric eras, or history and prehistory, are difficult to determine because communities have developed at differing rates. The Three Age System of classification (published in 1836 by the Danish arch...

predestination
In Christian theology, the doctrine asserting that God has determined all events beforehand, including the ultimate salvation or damnation of the individual human soul. Today Christianity in general accepts that humanity has free will, though some forms, such as Calvinism, believe that salvation can only be attained by the gift of God. The concept ...

prayer
Address to divine power, ranging from a ritual formula to attain a desired end, to selfless communication in meditation. Within Christianity, the Catholic and Orthodox churches sanction prayer to the Virgin Mary, angels, and saints as intercessors, whereas Protestantism limits prayer to God alone. Hindu prayer may be addressed to any god or to the ...

Praxiteles
Greek sculptor. His Aphrodite of Cnidus of about 350 BC is thought to have initiated the tradition of life-size free-standing female nudes in Greek sculpture. It was destroyed by fire in AD 475, but a Roman copy exists in the Vatican. Praxiteles was active in Athens. He worked in a softer, more poetic style than his prede...

prairie
Central North American plain, formerly grass-covered, extending over most of the region between the Rocky Mountains to the west, and the Great Lakes and Ohio River to the east. The term was first applied by French explorers to vast, largely level grasslands in central North America, centred on the Mississippi River valley, which extend from the...

prairie dog
Any of the North American genus Cynomys of burrowing rodents in the squirrel family (Sciuridae). They grow to 30 cm/12 in, plus a short 8 cm/3 in tail. Their `towns` can contain up to several thousand individuals. Their barking cry has given them their name. Perse...

Prague
Click images to enlargeCity and capital of the Czech Republic on the River Vltava; population (2001) 1,169,100. Industries include cars, aircraft, chemicals, paper and printing, clothing, brewing, and food processing. It was the capital of Czechoslovakia 1918–93. Features Charles University, founded in 1348 by Em...

praetor
In ancient Rome, a magistrate, elected annually, who assisted the consuls (the chief magistrates) and presided over the civil courts. After a year in office, a praetor would act as a provincial governor for a further year. The number of praetors was finally increased to eight. The office declined in importance under the emperors

Proxima Centauri
Closest star to the Sun, 4.2 light years away from the Sun. It is a faint red dwarf, visible only with a telescope, and is a member of the Alpha Centauri triple-star system. It is called Proxima because it is about 0.1 light years closer to us than its two partners

Prado
Spanish art gallery containing the national collection of pictures. The building was designed as a natural history museum and begun in 1785; it became an art gallery in 1818 under Ferdinand VII. It comprises many great works accumulated over three centuries by the monarchs Charles V, Philip II, and Philip IV and by the religious houses of Spain...

proper motion
Gradual change in the position of a star that results from its motion in orbit around our Galaxy, the Milky Way. Proper motions are slight and undetectable to the naked eye, but can be accurately measured on telescopic photographs taken many years apart. Barnard's Star is the star with the largest proper motion, 10.3 arc seconds per year