Copy of `Talk Talk - Communication terms`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.


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


Rossi, Aldo
Italian architect and theorist. He was the leading exponent of neo-rationalism. Though comparatively few of his designs have been built, his theories on the nature of design – offering an alternative to the technological and functional emphasis of modernism – formed an important part of contemporary architectural debate. His designs w...

Rowland, Tiny
British entrepreneur, financier, and newspaper proprietor. Rowland emigrated to Southern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe), in 1947. He was co-chief executive and managing director of Lonrho (originally the London and Rhodesia Mining and Land Company) from 1961 to 1994, and transformed it from a small mining company into a huge international conglomera...

royal prerogative
Powers, immunities, and privileges recognized in common law as belonging to the crown. Most prerogative acts in the UK are now performed by the government on behalf of the crown. The royal prerogative belongs to the Queen as a person as well as to the institution called the crown, and the award of some honours and dignities remain her personal choi...

Roman Empire
From 27 BC to the 5th century AD; see Rome, ancient

Rottweiler
Breed of dog originally developed in Rottweil, Germany, as a herding and guard dog, and subsequently used as a police dog. Powerfully built, the dog is about 63–66 cm/25–27 in high at the shoulder, black with tan markings. It has a short coat and docked tail

root
(inverse of power) In mathematics, a number which when multiplied by itself will equal a given number (the inverse of an exponent or power). On a calculator, roots may be found by using the buttons marked or inv xy. For example, the cubed root of 27 i...

row
In mathematics, a matrix, a horizontal line of numbers. Matrices are made up of rows and columns. A matrix that consists of one row only is called a row matrix, while a matrix with one column only is called a column matrix

rotation
In geometry, a transformation in which a figure is turned about a given point, known as the centre of rotation. A rotation of 180° is known as a half turn. Three things are needed to describe a rotation: the angle of rotation, the direction of rotation (clockwise or anticlockwise), and the centre of rotation. For example, in the diagram, t...

rounding
In mathematics, a process by which a number is approximated to the nearest above or below with fewer decimal places. For example, 34.3583 might be rounded to 3 decimal places – 34.358 (the 3 is below 5), whereas 34.3587 would be rounded to 34.359 (the 7 is above 5). Similarly, 3,587 might be rounded to the nearest thousand (or to 1 significant...

Roger II
King of Sicily from 1130, the second son of Count Roger I of Sicily (1031–1101). By the time he was crowned king on the authority of Pope Innocent II (died 1143), he had achieved mastery over the whole of Norman Italy. He used his navy to conquer Malta and territories in north Africa, and to harass Byzantine possessions in the eastern Mediterr...

Robert Guiscard
Norman adventurer and duke of Apulia. Robert, also known as `the Wizard`, carved out a fiefdom centred on Apulia in southern Italy, of which he became duke in 1059. By 1071 he had expelled the Byzantines from southern Italy and the Arabs from Sicily, establishing his younger brother Roger as count and laying the foundations for the Norman...

Robert
(I) Duke of Normandy from 1027. Also known as the Magnificent, he was the father of William the Conqueror, and was legendary for his cruelty. He became duke after the death of his brother Richard III, in which he may have been implicated

Rozwi empire
Highly advanced empire in southeastern Africa, located south of the Zambezi River and centred on the stone city of Great Zimbabwe. It replaced the gold-trading empire of Mwene Mutapa from the 15th century. The Rozwi empire survived until the Mfecane of the 1830s, when overpopulation to the south drove the Nguni and Ndebele people northwards int...

Rosas, Juan Manuel de
Argentine soldier, gaucho (cowboy), and dictator 1835–52. Rosas used his private gaucho army to overthrow the Liberal regime of Bernardino Rivadavia in 1827. A Buenos Aires Federalist, he was governor of that city 1829–32 and, when he was also dictator of Argentina, presided over a reign of terror. While appealing to the urban masses, he ...

root
(language) In language, the basic element from which a word is derived. The root is a morpheme, a unit that cannot be subdivided. The Latin word dominus (`master`), for example, is a root from which many English words are derived, such as `dominate`, ...

rock music
Another term for pop music and also for rock and roll. When a distinction is made between rock and pop, rock is generally considered to cover the less commercial and more adult end of the music spectrum

rockabilly
The earliest style of rock and roll as it developed in the US South with a strong country (hillbilly) element. The typical rockabilly singer was young, white, male, working class, and recorded for the Sun label in Memphis; among them were Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. Many rockabilly performers late...

robe
Long and loose flowing outer garment, often the official dress used to indicate the profession of a peer, judge, or academic. The term `gown` is also used

Roman architecture, ancient
Architecture of the Roman Empire, spanning the period 4th century BC–5th century AD. The Romans' mastery of concrete (used in combination with bricks) freed the orders (column and entablature) from their earlier structural significance and enabled the development of such rounded forms as the...

Royal Doulton
British pottery firm. See Henry Doulton

router
In computing, a device that pushes traffic through a packet-switched network. On the Internet, traffic travels through a series of routers that relay each packet of data to its destination by the best possible route. A router is a device that may be used to connect two or more networks together, or to connect a network to the Internet. The rout...

rondeau
French medieval lyric poem form of 10 or 13 lines with only two rhymes throughout, and with the opening words used twice as a refrain. The term `rondeau` is a later form of rondel, and first occurs in the 13th century, when it was used for lyrics accompanying a dance or `round`

Robson, Bobby
English footballer and manager who coached England from 1982 to 1990 before enjoying considerable success in Europe at PSV Eindhoven, Porto, and Barcelona. As a player he scored 133 goals in 584 league appearances for West Bromwich Albion and Fulham 1951–67, and 4 goals in 20 full internationals for England 1957–62. Career highlights (as ...

Ronaldo
Brazilian footballer who was voted FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996, 1997, and 2002. A prolific goal-scorer, he moved from PSV Eindhoven to Barcelona for £13.25 million in 1996, then a year later to Inter Milan for an estimated £20 million, a world transfer record at the time. He made his full international debut in 1994. He was ...

royalty
(government) Status of a person of royal rank, such as a king, queen, reigning prince, or grand duke, or any of their family. The possession of such status in no way decides either the actual or legal political powers which the possessor may have. The powers possessed by people of royal rank h...

Royalist
Term often used to describe monarchist factions. In England, it is used especially for those who supported Charles I during the English Civil War. They are also known as `Cavaliers`, and their opponents as `Parliamentarians` or Roundheads. The Royalists first appeared as a distinct group in Parliament during the debates on the ...

Rowling, J(oanne) K(athleen)
English children's novelist. Her series of novels about Harry Potter, a schoolboy wizard, achieved great critical and commercial success and were made into successful films. Rowling made publishing history when her books hit the top of the (adult) best-seller lists in both the UK and the USA in 2000. The series comprises Harry Pott...

rotation
(physics) In astronomy, movement of a planet rotating about its own axis. For the Earth, one complete rotation takes 23 hours and 56 minutes. The Earth rotates in an anticlockwise direction (as viewed looking along its axis from north...

Roman medicine
Medicine of ancient Rome; a civilization founded on the city of Rome that lasted from 753 BC to AD 476, and stretched at its peak in the 1st century AD from Britain to Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and much of North Africa. Pliny the Elder regarded the art of medicine as a Greek invention, writing in the 1st century AD that the Roman people had sur...

Rodopi Planina
Alternative name for the Rhodope Mountains, a mountain range on the border between Greece and Bulgaria

romalla
In Sikhism, a square of silk used to cover the Guru Granth Sahib in the gurdwara (Sikh temple) when it is not being read. Romallas are sometimes brought as gifts when people attend the services

role
In theatre, an alternative word for character, a person in a play portrayed by an actor

Rostow model of development
Model of economic growth suggesting that all countries pass through a series of stages of development as their economies grow. US economist Walt Rostow presented this model in 1960 following a mainly European-based study. Rostow described the first stage of development as traditional society. This is defined as subsistence economy based mainly ...

rock cycle
The recycling of the Earth's outer layers. Rocks are continually being formed, destroyed, and re-formed in an endless cycle of change that takes millions of years. The processes involved include the formation of igneous rock from magma (molten rock); surface weathering and erosion; the compaction and cementation of sediments into se...

roller printing
Method of printing used to decorate large quantities of fabric on a commercial basis. The design is engraved on the surface of a metal roller, to which dye is applied, and the excess is scraped off the roller's surface, leaving dye in the engraved sections. When it rolls across the fabric, the dye on the roller transfers to the fabric

RPI
Abbreviation for retail price index

rpm
Abbreviation for revolutions per minute

RSVP
Abbreviation for répondez s'il vous plaît (French `please reply`)

RSFSR
Abbreviation for Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, a republic of the former Soviet Union

RSI
Abbreviation for repetitive strain injury, a condition that can affect people who repeatedly perform certain movements with their hands and wrists for long periods of time, such as typists, musicians, or players of computer games

Rt Hon
Abbreviation for Right Honourable, title of members of the Privy Council (including all present and former UK Cabinet members)

RTF
In computing, file format designed to facilitate the exchange of documents between different word-processing programs. RTF text files make it possible to transfer both the text and its formatting features, such as font styles or paragraph indents, from one program to another. A further advantage is that Microsoft Word files sent as RTF cannot c...

rue
Shrubby perennial herb native to southern Europe and temperate Asia. It bears clusters of yellow flowers. An oil extracted from the strongly scented blue-green leaves is used in perfumery. (Ruta graveolens, family Rutaceae.)

rush
Any of a group of grasslike plants found in wet places in cold and temperate regions. The round stems and flexible leaves of some species have been used for making mats and baskets since ancient times. (Genus Juncus, family Juncaceae.)

rubber plant
Asiatic tree belonging to the mulberry family, native to Asia and North Africa, which produces latex in its stem. It has shiny, leathery, oval leaves, and young specimens are grown as house plants. (Ficus elastica, family Moraceae.)

rubber
(substance) Coagulated latex of a variety of plants, mainly from the New World. Most important is Para rubber, which comes from the tree Hevea brasiliensis, belonging to the spurge family. It was introduced from Bra...

rule of the road
Convention or law that governs the side of the road on which traffic drives. In Britain, this states that vehicles should be kept to the left of the road or be liable for any ensuing damage. The reverse applies nearly everywhere else in the world, all traffic keeping to the right, which is also the rule at sea and for two ships crossing, when the o...

Ruhr
River in Germany, length 235 km/146 mi. It rises in the Rothaargebirge Mountains at the eastern boundary of North Rhine-Westphalia, and flows west, past Witten, Essen, and Mülheim, to join the Rhine at Duisburg. The Ruhr Valley, a metropolitan industrial area, produces petrochemicals, cars, iron, and steel at Duisburg and Dortmund;...

Rudolf, Lake
Former name (to 1979) of Lake Turkana in eastern Africa

Rugby
Market town and railway junction in Warwickshire, central England, on the River Avon, 19 km/12 southeast of Coventry; population (2001) 61,400. Industries include engineering and the manufacture of cement, and the town has a cattle market. Rugby School (1567), a private school for boys, established its reputation under headmaster Thomas Arn...

Rubicon
Ancient name of the small river flowing into the Adriatic that, under the Roman Republic, marked the boundary between Italy proper and Cisalpine Gaul. When Caesar led his army across it 49 BC, he therefore declared war on the Republic; hence to `cross the Rubicon` means to take an irrevocable step. The Rubicon is believed to be the pr...

Rubens, Peter Paul
Flemish painter. He was one of the greatest figures of the baroque period. Bringing the exuberance of Italian baroque to northern Europe, he created innumerable religious and allegorical paintings for churches and palaces. These show mastery of drama and movement in large compositions, and a love of rich colour and texture. He also painted portrait...

Rub' al Khali
Vast sandy desert in southern Saudi Arabia and Yemen; area 650,000 sq km/250,000 sq mi. In 1930–31 the British explorer Bertram Thomas became the first European to cross it

Ruyter, Michiel Adriaanszoon de
Dutch admiral who led his country's fleet in the wars against England. On 1–4 June 1666 he forced the British fleet under Rupert and Albemarle to retire into the Thames, but on 25 July was heavily defeated off the North Foreland, Kent. In 1667 he sailed up the Medway, burning three men-of-war at Chatham, and capturing others

Ruthenia
Region in western Ukraine, central Europe, on the southern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, home of the Ruthenes or Russniaks. Dominated by Hungary from the 10th century, it was part of Austria-Hungary until World War I. In 1918 it was divided between Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania; independent for a single day in 1938, it was immed...

Russo-Japanese War
War between Russia and Japan 1904–05, which arose from conflicting ambitions in Korea and Manchuria, specifically, the Russian occupation of Port Arthur (modern Lüshun) in 1897 and of the Amur province in 1900. Japan successfully besieged Port Arthur May 1904–January 1905, took Mukden (modern Shenyang, see Mukden, Battle of) on 29 Fe...

Russian art
Painting and sculpture of Russia, including art from the USSR 1917–91. For centuries Russian art was dominated by an unchanging tradition of church art inherited from Byzantium, responding slowly and hesitantly to Western influences. Briefly, in the early 20th century, it assumed a leading and influential role in European avant-garde art. ...

Russell, John
British Liberal politician, son of the 6th Duke of Bedford. He entered the House of Commons in 1813 and supported Catholic emancipation and the Reform Bill. He held cabinet posts 1830–41, became prime minister 1846–52, and was again a cabinet minister until becoming prime minister again 1865–66. He retired after the defeat of his Ref...

Russell, Bertrand Arthur William
English philosopher, mathematician, and peace campaigner. He contributed to the development of modern mathematical logic and wrote about social issues. His works include Principia Mathematica (1910–13; with A N Whitehead), in which he attempted to show that mathematics could be reduced to a branch of logic; ...

Russell, William, Lord
British Whig politician. Son of the 1st Duke of Bedford, he was among the founders of the Whig Party and actively supported attempts in Parliament to exclude the Roman Catholic James II from succeeding to the throne. In 1683 he was accused, on dubious evidence, of complicity in the Rye House Plot to murder Charles II, and was executed. He used the ...

Ruskin, John
English art and social critic. Much of his finest art criticism appeared in two widely influential works, Modern Painters (1843–60) and The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849). He was a keen advocate of painters considered unorthodox at the time, such as J M W Turner and members of the Pre-Raphaelite Br...

Runyon,
(Alfred) US journalist. Primarily a sports reporter, his short stories in `Guys and Dolls` (1932) deal wryly with the seamier side of New York City life in his own invented jargon

Rundstedt,
(Karl Rudolf) German field marshal in World War II. Largely responsible for the German breakthrough in France in 1940, he was defeated on the Ukrainian front in 1941. As commander-in-chief in France from 1942, he resisted the Allied invasion in 1944 and in December launched the tempora...

rutile
Titanium oxide mineral, TiO2, a naturally occurring ore of titanium. It is usually reddish brown to black, with a very bright (adamantine) surface lustre. It crystallizes in the tetragonal system. Rutile is common in a wide range of igneous and metamorphic rocks and also occurs concentrated in sands; the coastal sands of ...

ruthenium
Hard, brittle, silver-white, metallic element, atomic number 44, relative atomic mass 101.07. It is one of the so-called platinum group of metals; it occurs in platinum ores as a free metal and in the natural alloy osmiridium. It is used as a hardener in alloys and as a catalyst; its compounds are used as colouring agents in glass a...

rust
(chemistry) Reddish-brown oxide of iron formed by the action of moisture and oxygen on the metal. It consists mainly of hydrated iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3.H2O) and ...

rubidium
Soft, silver-white, metallic element, atomic number 37, relative atomic mass 85.47. It is one of the alkali metals in Group 1 of the periodic table. Reactivity of the alkali metals increases down the group and so rubidium is more reactive than lithium, sodium, and potassium. Rubidium ignites spontaneously in air and reacts violently with water....

ruff
(zoology) Bird Philomachus pugnax of the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. The name is taken from the frill of erectile purple-black feathers developed in the breeding season around the neck of the male. The females (reeves) have no ruff; they lay four spotted green egg...

russula
Any of a large group of fungi (see fungus), containing many species. They are medium-to-large mushrooms with flattened caps and many are brightly coloured. (Genus Russula.) R. emetica is a common species found in damp places under conifer trees. Up to 9 cm/3.5 in across, the cap is scarlet, fading t...

ruminant
Any even-toed hoofed mammal with a rumen, the `first stomach` of its complex digestive system. Plant food is stored and fermented before being brought back to the mouth for chewing (chewing the cud) and then is swallowed to the next stomach. Ruminants include cattle, antelopes, goats, d...

rule of law
Doctrine that no individual, however powerful, is above the law. The principle had a significant influence on attempts to restrain the arbitrary use of power by rulers and on the growth of legally enforceable human rights in many Western countries. It is often used as a justification for separating legislative from judicial power

Russia
Country name originally designating the prerevolutionary Russian Empire (until 1917), now used to refer informally to the Russian Federation

Russian Revolution
Click images to enlargeTwo revolutions of February and October 1917 (Julian calendar) that began with the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty and ended with the establishment of a communist soviet (council) state, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In October Bolshevik workers and sailors, led by Vladimir Ilyich...

Ruanda
Part of the former Belgian territory of Ruanda-Urundi until it achieved independence as Rwanda, a country in central Africa

Rutherford, Ernest
New Zealand-born British physicist. He was a pioneer of modern atomic science. His main research was in the field of radioactivity, and he discovered alpha, beta, and gamma rays. He was the first to recognize the nuclear nature of the atom in 1911. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1908 for his work in atomic disintegration and th...

rust
(botany) In botany, common name for a group of minute parasitic fungi (see fungus) that appear on the leaves of their hosts as orange-red spots, later becoming darker. The commonest is the wheat rust Puccinia graminis, order Uredinales

ruby
Red transparent gem variety of the mineral corundum Al2O3, aluminium oxide. Small amounts of chromium oxide, Cr2O3, substituting for aluminium oxide, give ruby its colour. Natural rubies are found mainly in Myanmar (Burma), but rubies can also be produced ar...

rupture
In medicine, another name for hernia

Russell, Ken
(Henry Kenneth Alfred) English film director. His work, typified by stylistic extravagance, includes Women in Love (1969), The Music Lovers (1970), Tommy (1975), Lisztomania (1975), Altered States (1...

Ruisdael, Jacob Isaakszoon van
Dutch artist. He is widely considered the greatest of the Dutch landscape painters. He painted scenes near his native town of Haarlem and in Germany, his works often concentrating on the dramatic aspects of nature. A notable example of his atmospheric style is The Jewish Cemetery (c. 1660; Gemäldegaler...

rubato
In music, a pushing or dragging against the beat for expressive effect

Rudolph I
Holy Roman Emperor from 1273. Originally count of Habsburg, he was the first Habsburg emperor and expanded his dynasty by investing his sons with the duchies of Austria and Styria

Rudolph II
Holy Roman Emperor from 1576, when he succeeded his father Maximilian II. His policies led to unrest in Hungary and Bohemia, which led to the surrender of Hungary to his brother Matthias in 1608 and religious freedom for Bohemia

rum
Spirit fermented and distilled from sugar cane. Scummings from the sugar pans produce the best rum, molasses the lowest grade. Puerto Rico and Jamaica are the main producing countries

rugby
Contact sport that is traditionally believed to have originated at Rugby School, England, in 1823 when a boy, William Webb Ellis, picked up the ball and ran with it while playing football (now soccer). It is now played in two forms: Rugby League and Rugby Union

Rugby League
Form of rugby football founded in England in 1895 as the Northern Union when a dispute about pay caused northern clubs to break away from the Rugby Football Union. The game is similar to Rugby Union, but the number of players was reduced from 15 to 13 in 1906, and other rule changes have made the game more open and fast-moving. There are also d...

Rugby Union
Form of rugby in which there are 15 players on each side. Points are scored by `tries`, scored by `touching down` the ball beyond the goal line or by kicking goals from penalties. The Rugby Football Union was formed in 1871 and has its headquarters in England (Twickenham, Middlesex). Formerly an amateur game, the game's stat...

Rump, the
English parliament formed between December 1648 and November 1653 after Pride's purge of the Long Parliament to ensure a majority in favour of trying Charles I. It was dismissed in 1653 by Cromwell, who replaced it with the Barebones Parliament. Reinstated after the Protectorate ended in 1659 and the full membership of the Long Parliament was r...

Rublev, Andrei
Russian icon painter. He is considered the greatest exponent of the genre in Russia. Only one documented work of his survives, the Old Testament Trinity (c. 1411; Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). This shows a basically Byzantine style, but with a gentler expression. He was probably the pupil at Moscow of Theopha...

rubella
Technical term for German measles

Russell, Jane
US actor. She was discovered by the producer Howard Hughes, and promoted as a `pin-up girl`. Her first film The Outlaw (1943), was not fully released for several years because of censorship problems. Other films include The Paleface (1948), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and &...

rubber
(slang) Slang term for a condom

Ruysdael, Jacob van
Dutch painter; see Jacob van Ruisdael

Russian civil war
Bitter conflict in Russia (1918–21), which followed Russian setbacks in World War I and the upheavals of the 1917 Russian Revolution. In December 1917 counter-revolutionary armies, the Whites, began to organize resistance to the October Revolution of 1917. The Red Army (Bolsheviks), improvis...

Russian Orthodox Church
Another name for the Orthodox Church

Russian revolution, 1905
Political upheaval centred in and around St Petersburg, Russia (1905–06), leading up to the February and October revolutions of 1917. On 22 January 1905 thousands of striking unarmed workers marched to Tsar Nicholas II's Winter Palace in St Petersburg to ask for reforms. Government troops fired on the crowd, killing many people. After this...

Russian
Member of the majority ethnic group living in Russia. Russians are also often the largest minority in neighbouring republics. The Russian language is a member of the East Slavonic branch of the Indo-European language family and was the official language of the USSR. It has 130–150 million speakers and is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. T...

rug
Small carpet

RU486
Another name for mifepristone, an abortion pill

rural depopulation
Loss of people from remote country areas to cities; it is an effect of migration, due to the pull factors of urban areas, such as employment opportunities, health care, and schools. In poor countries, large-scale migration to urban core regions may deplete the countryside of resources and workers. The population left behind will be increasi...