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


single European market
Single market within the European Union. Established under the Single European Act, it was the core of the process of European economic integration, involving the removal of obstacles to the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital between member states of the EU. It covers, among other benefits, the elimination of customs barriers, th...

site
(computing) Location at which computers are used. If a company uses only IBM computers, for example, it is known as an IBM site. The term is also used for a computer that acts as a server for files that can be accessed via the World Wide Web, also called a Web site

single parent
Parent who is responsible for raising children alone. Of single parents, 80–90 % are women. Some women choose to have children on their own but the majority become single parents after separation or the death of their partner. Numbers, UK and USA In the UK, single-parent families increased from 8% of families in 1971 to 21% in ...

single European currency
Former name for the euro

sitar
Large long-necked lute used mainly in North Indian (Hindustani) music. The hollow neck is made of wood, and the body is half a hollow gourd with a thin wooden belly. Some instruments have a small gourd resonator attached to the upper end of the neck. The neck has 16 to 24 curved, movable frets made of metal. Modern sitars have 6 or 7 playing st...

similar triangles
In geometry, triangles that have identical angles but different lengths of side. They are, therefore, identical shapes but different sizes. If each angle in a triangle corresponds to an identical angle in another triangle, then the two triangles are similar. For example, triangles ABC and DEF are similar: Similarity can apply to any two-di...

simple tense
Basic verb form of past tense, present and future tense

situation comedy
Serialized comedy on radio or television, involving the same set of characters in a different comic situation in each episode. The construction of a sitcom may be similar to those of farce, in that the characters may face bizarre circumstances, or it may be more similar to a comedy of manners, in that one or more of the central characters is satiri...

Sibir
Russian name for Siberia, the Asian region of Russia

Sicilia
Italian name for Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea

simple molecular structure
In chemistry, the structure of a non-metallic element or compound, in which groups of atoms are joined together by covalent bonds to form a molecule. The molecules of non-metals are often made up of two identical atoms covalently bonded together, for example: oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2), and ...

Simchat Torah
One-day Jewish festival that celebrates the joy of the Jewish religion, and receiving the Torah from God. It is held the day after the eight-day festival of Succoth, the last of the pilgrim festivals commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. Simchat Torah is said to derive from King Solomon's celebrations after he finished reading the Torah....

sine wave
(physics) In physics, graph demonstrating properties that vary sinusoidally. It is obtained by plotting values of angles against the values of their sines. Examples include simple harmonic motion, such as the way alternating current (AC) electricity varies with time

Sikh ethics
Questions of right and wrong considered according to Sikhism. Sikhs believe that the purpose of life is to love God, and to use self-discipline to replace greed, desire, anger, and pride, with contentment, humbleness, and forgiveness. Sikhs emphasize the importance of work with hands, head, and heart in the service of themselves, their family, ...

Siouan
Group of American Indian languages belonging to the Macro-Siouan language family. Siouan is the dominant language group of the Great Plains region of the USA and Canada. It has two branches: Siouan Proper and Catawba. Siouan Proper includes the languages of the Mandan, Crow, and Hocák (or Winnebago); the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota ...

Sjælland
Main island of Denmark, on which Copenhagen is situated; area 7,000 sq km/2,700 sq mi; population (2005) 2,108,900. It is low-lying with an irregular coastline. The chief industry is dairy farming

skunk
North American mammal of the weasel family. The common skunk Mephitis mephitis has a long, arched body, short legs, a bushy tail, and black fur with white streaks on the back. In self-defence, it discharges a foul-smelling fluid

skylark
A type of lark

skate
Any of several species of flatfish of the ray group. The common skate Raja batis is up to 1.8 m/6 ft long and greyish, with black specks. Its egg cases (`mermaids' purses`) are often washed ashore by the tide

skua
Dark-coloured gull-like seabird, living in Arctic and Antarctic waters. Skuas can grow up to 60 cm/2 ft long, with long, well-developed wings and short, stout legs; in colour they are greyish above and white below. They are aggressive scavengers, and seldom fish for themselves but force gulls to disgorge their catch, and also ea...

skull
In vertebrates, the collection of flat and irregularly shaped bones (or cartilage) that enclose the brain and the organs of sight, hearing, and smell, and provide support for the jaws. In most mammals, the skull consists of 22 bones joined by fibrous immobile joints called sutures. The floor of the s...

skin
Covering of the body of a vertebrate. In mammals, the outer layer (epidermis) is dead and its cells are constantly being rubbed away and replaced from below; it helps to protect the body from infection and to prevent dehydration. The lower layer (dermis) contains blood vessels, nerves, hair roots...

skink
Lizard of the family Scincidae, a large family of about 700 species found throughout the tropics and subtropics. The body is usually long and the legs are reduced. Some skinks are legless and rather snakelike. Many are good burrowers, or can `swim` through sand, like the sandfish genus Scincus of North Africa. Some skin...

skeleton
Click images to enlargeFramework of bones that supports and gives form to the body, protects its internal organs, and provides anchorage points for its muscles. It is composed of about 200 bones. Each bone is made of a mineral, calcium phosphate, and protein. Bones of the skeleton are joined to each other by ligaments. In...

skyscraper
Click images to enlargeVery tall building, so named because it appears to `scrape the sky`, developed in 1868 in New York City, where land prices were high and the geology allowed such methods of construction. Skyscrapers are now found in cities throughout the world. The world's tallest skyscraper is the Sea...

skydiving
The sport of freefalling from an aircraft at a height of up to 3,650m/12,000 ft, performing aerobatics, and opening a parachute when 600 m/2,000 ft from the ground

Skopje
Capital and industrial city of Macedonia; population (2002) 446,800. Industries include iron, steel, chromium mining, and food processing. History It stands on the site of an ancient town destroyed by an earthquake in the 5th century. The city was taken in 1282 by the Serbian king Milutin, who made it his capital, and in 1392 by the Turks, when...

skiing
Self-propulsion on snow by means of elongated runners (skis) for the feet, slightly bent upward at the tip. It is a popular recreational sport, as cross-country ski touring or as downhill runs on mountain trails; events include downhill; slalom, in which a series of turns between flag...

skating
Click images to enlargeSelf-propulsion on ice by means of bladed skates, or on other surfaces by skates with small rollers (wheels of wood, metal, or plastic). Ice-skating Following the opening of the first artificial ice rink in London, England, in 1876, ice-skating became possible as a world sport. The chief...

skateboard
Single flexible board mounted on wheels and steerable by weight positioning. As a land alternative to surfing, skateboards developed in California in the 1960s and became a worldwide craze in the 1970s. Skateboarding is practised in urban environments and has enjoyed a revival since the late 1980s

Skye
Click images to enlargeLargest island of the Inner Hebrides, Highland region, off the west coast of Scotland; area 1,740 sq km/672 sq mi; population (2001) 9,230. It is separated from the mainland to the southeast by the Sound of Sleat and by the islands of Raasay and Scalpay to the northeast. The chief port a...

Skriabin, Aleksandr Nikolaievich
Russian composer and pianist. His visionary tone poems such as Prometheus (1911), and symphonies such as Divine Poem (1903), employed unusual scales and harmonies

ska
Jamaican pop music, a forerunner of reggae, mingling the local calypso, mento, with rhythm and blues. Ska emerged in the early 1960s (a slower style, rock steady, evolved in 1966–68) and enjoyed a revival in the UK in the late 1970s. Prince Buster (1938– ) was an influential ska singer. A fascination with the begin...

sketch
In art, a rough, hasty, or unfinished drawing. The term also refers to a preliminary study for the composition of a piece of artwork

slate
Fine-grained, usually grey metamorphic rock that splits readily into thin slabs along its cleavage planes. It is the metamorphic equivalent of shale. Slate is highly resistant to atmospheric conditions and can be used for writing on with chalk (actually gypsum). Quarrying slate takes such skill a...

sloe
Fruit of the blackthorn bush

slow-worm
Harmless species of lizard Anguis fragilis, once common in Europe, now a protected species in Britain. Superficially resembling a snake, it is distinguished by its small mouth and movable eyelids. It is about 30 cm/1 ft long, and eats worms and slugs

slug
(zoology) Soft-bodied land-living gastropod (type of mollusc) related to the snails, but without a shell, or with a much reduced shell. All slugs have a protective coat of slime and a distinctive head with protruding tentacles. The eyes are at the end of the tentacles, which are also u...

sloth
Slow-moving South American mammal, about 70 cm/2.5 ft long, family Bradypodidae, order Edentata. Sloths are greyish brown and have small rounded heads, rudimentary tails, and prolonged forelimbs. Each foot has long curved claws adapted to clinging upside down from trees. On the ground the animals cannot walk, but drag themselves along. They...

slime mould
Extraordinary organism that shows some features of fungus and some of protozoa. Slime moulds are not closely related to any other group, although they are often classed, for convenience, with the fungi. There are two kinds, cellular slime moulds and plasmodial slime moulds, differing in their complex life cycles. Cellular slime moulds go through a ...

sleeping pill
Any sedative that induces sleep; in small doses, such drugs may relieve anxiety

slang
Very informal language usage that often serves to promote a feeling of group membership. It is not usually acceptable in formal speech or writing and includes expressions that may be impolite or taboo in conventional communication. Forms of slang develop among particular groups (for example soldiers, teenagers, and criminals), and are often extende...

sleeping sickness
Infectious disease of tropical Africa, a form of trypanosomiasis. Early symptoms include fever, headache, and chills, followed by anaemia and joint pains. Later, the disease attacks the central nervous system, causing drowsiness, lethargy, and, if left untreated, death. Sleeping sickness is caused by either of two trypanosomes, Trypanosoma...

sleep
State of natural unconsciousness that occurs at regular intervals in most mammals and birds, though there is considerable variation in the amount of time spent sleeping. Sleep differs from hibernation in that it occurs daily rather than seasonally, and involves less drastic reductions in metabolism. The function of sleep is unclear. People deprived...

slander
Spoken defamatory statement; if written, or broadcast on radio or television, it constitutes libel

Slav
Member of an Indo-European people in central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and parts of northern Asia, speaking closely related Slavonic languages, some written in the Cyrillic and some in the Roman alphabet. The ancestors of the Slavs are believed to have included the Sarmatians and Scythians. Moving west from central Asia, they settled in ...

Slovakia
(former republic) One of the two republics that formed the Federative Republic of Czechoslovakia. Settled in the 5th–6th centuries by Slavs; it was occupied by the Magyars in the 10th century, and was part of the kingdom of Hungary until 1918, when it became a province of Czechoslovak...

Slough
(town) Industrial town and administrative centre of Slough unitary authority in southern England, 32 km/20 mi west of London; population (2001) 126,300. Industries include pharmaceuticals, electronics, engineering, aviation support services, and the manufacture of chocolate, paint, and...

Sloane, Hans
British physician, born at Killyleagh in County Down, Ireland (now Northern Ireland). He settled in London, and in 1721 founded the Chelsea Physic Garden. He was president of the Royal College of Physicians 1719–35, and in 1727 succeeded the physicist Isaac Newton as president of the Royal Society, a post he occupied until 1740. Sloane can be ...

slide rule
Mathematical instrument with pairs of logarithmic sliding scales, used for rapid calculations, including multiplication, division, and the extraction of square roots. It has been largely superseded by the electronic calculator. It was invented in 1622 by the English mathematician William Oughtred. A later version was devised by the French army offi...

slavery
Click images to enlargeThe enforced servitude of one person (a slave) to another or one group to another. A slave has no personal rights and is considered the property of another person through birth, purchase, or capture. Slavery goes back to prehistoric times; it flourished in classical times, but declined in Europe...

Slovene
Member of the southern Slav people of Slovenia and parts of the Alpine provinces of Styria and Carinthia in Austria, and Gorizia and Carniola in Italy. Formerly under Habsburg rule, they united with the Serbs and Croats to form the state of Yugoslavia after World War II. There are 1.5–2 million speakers of Slovene, a language belonging to the ...

Sligo
(county) County of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, situated on the Atlantic coast of northwest Ireland; county town Sligo; area 1,800 sq km/695 sq mi; population (2002) 58,200. Limestone mountains rise behind a boggy coastal plain. There is some mineral we...

SLR
Abbreviation for single-lens reflex, a type of camera in which the image can be seen through the lens before a picture is taken. A small mirror directs light entering the lens to the viewfinder. When a picture is taken the mirror moves rapidly aside to allow the light to reach the film. The SLR allows different lenses, such as close-up or z...

Sluter, Claus
Netherlandish sculptor, in the service of Philip the Bold of Burgundy. He was active in Dijon (France) and at the Charterhouse in nearby Champinol. For the latter, he worked on the Well of Moses about 1395–1403 (now in the grounds of a hospital in Dijon) and the kneeling mourners, or pleurants, for the tom...

Slavonic languages
Branch of the Indo-European language family spoken in central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and parts of northern Asia. The family comprises the southern group (Slovene, Serbo-Croat, Macedonian, and Bulgarian); the western group (Czech and Slovak, Sorbian in Germany, and Polish and its related dialects); and the eastern group (Ru...

slaked lime
Common name for calcium hydroxide

slip decoration
Traditional decoration for earthenware with designs trailed in a thin, smooth mixture of clay and water (slip) or incised through a coating of slip. It is usually finished with a transparent lead glaze

slash and burn
Simple agricultural method whereby natural vegetation is cut and burned, and the clearing then farmed for a few years until the soil loses its fertility, whereupon farmers move on and leave the area to regrow. Although this is possible with a small, widely dispersed population, as in the Amazon rainforest for example, it becomes unsustainable with ...

slurry
Form of manure composed mainly of liquids. Slurry is collected and stored on many farms, especially when large numbers of animals are kept in factory units (see factory farming). When slurry tanks are accidentally or deliberately breached, large amounts can spill into rivers, killing fish and causing eutrophication. Some slurry is spread on fields ...

Sluis, Battle of
1340 naval victory for England over France which marked the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. England took control of the English Channel and seized 200 great ships from the French navy of Philip IV; there were 30,000 French casualties

Slovenia
Country in south-central Europe, bounded north by Austria, east by Hungary, west by Italy, and south by Croatia. Government Slovenia is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Under its 1991 constitution, it has a two-chamber parliament, comprising the National Assembly and the National Council. The lower house, the National Assembly, has 90 ...

Slavonia
Region of eastern Croatia bounded by the Sava, Drava, and Danube rivers; Osijek is the largest town. Eastern and western Slavonia declared themselves autonomous provinces of Serbia following Croatia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia 1991, and the region was the scene of fierce fighting between Croatian forces and Serb-domina...

slump
In the business or trade cycle, the period of time when the economy is in depression, unemployment is very high, and national income is well below its full employment level. In the UK, the economy experienced a slump in the 1930s (the Great Depression), in 1980–81, and 1990–92

slogan
Catchphrase of a type commonly used in advertising and politics. A slogan needs to be short and memorable. Wordplay and puns are often used in slogans (`Go to work on an egg` in the UK and `It takes a licking and keeps on ticking` in the USA)

Slovak Republic
(country) Landlocked country in central Europe, bounded north by Poland, east by the Ukraine, south by Hungary, west by Austria, and northwest by the Czech Republic. Government The 1992 constitution provides for a single-chamber, 150-member national assembly, the National Council of th...

slave trade
The transport of slaves from one country to work in another. British slaves were taken to Rome during the Roman occupation of Britain, and slaves from Ireland were imported to work in Bristol before the 11th century. The transportation of slaves from Africa to work in plantations in the New World began in the early 16th century. This stimulated a l...

slab building
In ceramics, the technique of building up a simple form by joining sections that have been cut from sheets of damp clay

smut
In botany, any of a group of parasitic fungi (see fungus) that infect flowering plants, particularly cereal grasses. (Order Ustilaginales.)

smelt
Small fish, usually marine, although some species are freshwater. They occur in Europe and North America. The most common European smelt is the sparling Osmerus eperlanus

small claims court
In the USA, a court that deals with small civil claims, using a simple procedure, often without attorney intervention

smelting
Processing a metallic ore in a furnace to produce the metal. Oxide ores such as iron ore are smelted with coke (carbon), which reduces the ore into metal and also provides fuel for the process. A substance such as limestone is often added during smelting to facilitate the melting process and to form ...

Smith, Stevie
(Florence Margaret) English poet and novelist. She made her debut with Novel on Yellow Paper (1936). She wrote nine volumes of eccentrically direct verse illustrated with her equally eccentric line drawings, including Not Waving but Drowning (1957), and tw...

Smith, Adam
Scottish economist. Until comparatively recently, Adam Smith was known only as the author of a single book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), published in the same year as the American Revolution. This book is said to have established economics as an autonomous subject and, at the same time, t...

Smith, Maggie
(Margaret Natalie Cross) English actor. She has a commanding presence, and delivers throwaway lines in a fluting voice. Her films include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969, Academy Award), California Suite (1978), A Private Function (1...

Smetana, Bedrich
Bohemian composer. He established a Czech nationalist style in, for example, the operas Prodaná Nevesta/The Bartered Bride (1866) and Dalibor (1868), and the symphonic suite Má Vlast/My Country (1875–80). He conducted at the National Theatre of Prague in 1866–74

smallpox
Acute, highly contagious viral disease, marked by aches, fever, vomiting, and skin eruptions leaving pitted scars. Widespread vaccination programmes have wiped out this often fatal disease. Smallpox was probably first brought to Europe by the returning crusaders, and as sea travel developed it was carried to the New World by explorers and settlers....

Smuts, Jan Christian
South African politician and soldier; prime minister 1919–24 and 1939–48. He supported the Allies in both world wars and was a member of the British imperial war cabinet 1917–18. During the Second South African War (Boer War) 1899–1902, Smuts commanded the Boer forces in his native Cape Colony. He subsequently worked for rec...

smuggling
Illegal import or export of prohibited goods or the evasion of customs duties on dutiable goods. Smuggling has a long tradition in most border and coastal regions; goods smuggled commonly include tobacco, spirits, diamonds, gold, and illegal drugs. Restrictions on imports, originally a means of preventing debasement of coinage (for example, in ...

Smollett, Tobias George
Scottish novelist. He wrote the picaresque novels Roderick Random (1748), Peregrine Pickle (1751), Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), Sir Launcelot Greaves (1760–62), and Humphrey Clinker (1771). His novels are full of gusto and vivid characterization

smog
Natural fog containing impurities, mainly nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from domestic fires, industrial furnaces, certain power stations, and internal-combustion engines (petrol or diesel). It can cause substantial illness and loss of life, particularly among chronic bronchitics, and damage t...

Smith, John
(colonist) Click images to enlargeEnglish colonist. After an adventurous early life he took part in the colonization of Virginia, acting as president of the North American colony 1608–09. He explored New England in 1614, which he named, and publ...

Smith, Bessie
(Elizabeth) US jazz and blues singer. Known as the `Empress of the Blues`, she established herself in the 1920s after she was discovered by Columbia Records. She made over 150 recordings accompanied by such greats as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Her popularity waned during the ...

Smith, David
(Roland) US sculptor and painter. His large openwork metal abstracts made a lasting impact on sculpture after 1945. Cubi XXVII (1965; Guggenheim Museum, New York) is typical of his late work. Smith trained as a steel welder in a car factory. He turned first to painting a...

small arms
One of the two main divisions of firearms: guns that can be carried by hand. The first small arms were portable handguns in use in the late 14th century, supported on the ground and ignited by hand. Today's small arms range from breech-loading single-shot rifles and shotguns to sophisticated automatic and semiautomatic weapons. The ...

smoking
(tobacco) Inhalation (breathing in) of the fumes from burning substances, generally tobacco in the form of cigarettes. The practice is habit-forming and dangerous to health, since carbon monoxide and other toxic materials result from the combustion process. Smoking is addictive (see addict...

smack
Slang term for heroin, an addictive depressant drug

Smith, John Maynard
English biologist, see Maynard Smith

smell
Sense that responds to certain molecules in the air. It works by having receptors for particular chemical groups, into which the airborne chemicals must fit to trigger a message to the brain. A sense of smell is used to detect food and to communicate with other animals (see pheromone and scent gland)...

Smythson, Robert
English architect. He built Elizabethan country houses, including Longleat (1568–75), Wollaton Hall (1580–88), and Hardwick Hall (1590–97). Their castlelike silhouettes, symmetry, and large gridded windows are a uniquely romantic English version of classicism

smart card
Plastic card with an embedded microprocessor and/or memory. It can store, for example, personal data, identification, and bank-account details, to enable it to be used as a credit or debit card. The card can be loaded with credits, which are then spent electronically, and reloaded as needed. Possible other uses range from hotel door `k...

smokeless fuel
Fuel that does not give off any smoke when burned, because all the carbon is fully oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2). Natural gas, oil, and coke are smokeless fuels

smart weapon
Programmable bomb or missile that can be guided to its target by laser technology, TV homing technology, or terrain-contour matching (TERCOM). A smart weapon relies on its pinpoint accuracy to destroy a target rather than on the size of its warhead. Examples are the cruise missile (Tomahawk), laser-guided artillery shells (Copperhead), lase...

smart drug
Any drug or combination of nutrients (vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and sometimes herbs) said to enhance the functioning of the brain, increase mental energy, lengthen the span of attention, and improve the memory. As yet there is no scientific evidence to suggest that these drugs have any significant effect on healthy people. Some smart drugs c...

Smyrna
Ancient city near the modern Turkish port of Izmir. The earliest remains date from the 3rd millennium BC, and excavations have revealed that by the 8th century BC the city had a circuit of defensive walls. This is one of the earliest signs of the revival of Greek culture after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization

smoking
(meat) Method of preserving fresh oily meats (such as pork and goose) or fish (such as herring and salmon). Before being smoked, the food is first salted or soaked in brine, then hung to dry. Meat is hot-smoked over a fast-burning wood fire, which is covered with sawdust, producing thi...

smoke
Suspension of a solid in a gas; the solid is in the form of extremely small particles and the smoke may be a colloid

smriti
Hindu scriptures regarded as `those that can be remembered`. Smriti are only memories of what God has said, not direct transmissions. They are not believed to be as accurate as sruti, which are `heard` directly from God. Smriti include epic stories such as the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad-Gita
SMS
Service for sending and receiving text messages (see text messaging) to and from mobile phones and other communication devices. SMS was created when it was incorporated into the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) digital mobile phone standard. The limited number of characters allowed per text message led to the evolution of a distinct form of abbrevia...

smart material
Material that responds in a predictable and useful – and often reversible – way to some external stimulus. For example, some smart materials have the ability to `remember` shapes. If a piece of thermoplastic has a mark pressed into it while it is hot, and the unmarked part of the plastic is then sanded down to the level of the m...