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


soybean
Click images to enlargeLeguminous plant (see legume), native to East Asia, in particular Japan and China. Originally grown as a food crop for animals, it is increasingly used for human consumption in cooking oils and margarine, as a flour, soya milk, soy sauce, or processed into tofu, miso, or textured vegetable protein (...

soul music
Style of vocal popular music developed in the 1960s by African Americans. It is an emotionally intense style of rhythm and blues that combines blues, gospel music, and jazz. Among its main singers are James Brown, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and Otis Redding

Solyman I
Alternative spelling of Suleiman, Ottoman sultan

Southern Alps
Click images to enlargeRange of mountains running the entire length of South Island, New Zealand. They are forested to the west, with scanty scrub to the east. The highest peaks are Aoraki, 3,764 m/12,349 ft, and Mount Tasman 3,498m/11,476 ft. Scenic features include gorges, glaciers, lakes, and waterfalls. Among ...

sonar
Method of locating underwater objects by the reflection of ultrasonic waves. The time taken for an acoustic beam to travel to the object and back to the source enables the distance to be found since the velocity of sound in water is known. Sonar devices, or echo sounders, were developed in 1920, and are the commonest means of underwater navigation

solid
In physics, a state of matter that holds its own shape (as opposed to a liquid, which takes up the shape of its container, or a gas, which totally fills its container). According to the kinetic theory of matter, the atoms or molecules in a solid are packed closely together in a regular arrangement, and are not free to move but merely vibrate about ...

solubility
Measure of the amount of solute (usually a solid or gas) that will dissolve in a given amount of solvent (usually a liquid) at a particular temperature. Solubility may be expressed as grams of solute per 100 grams of solvent or, for a gas, in parts per million (ppm) of solvent

solid-state circuit
Electronic circuit in which all the components (resistors, capacitors, transistors, and diodes) and interconnections are made at the same time, and by the same processes, in or on one piece of single-crystal silicon. The small size of this construction accounts for its widespread use in all areas of electronics. See intergrated circuit

solder
Any of various alloys used when melted for joining metals such as copper, its common alloys (brass and bronze), and tin-plated steel, as used for making food cans. Soft solders (usually alloys of tin and lead, sometimes with added antimony) melt at low temperatures (about 200°C/392°F), and are widely used in the electrical industr...

solar pond
Natural or artificial `pond`, such as the Dead Sea, in which salt becomes more soluble in the Sun's heat. Water at the bottom becomes saltier and hotter, and is insulated by the less salty water layer at the top. Temperatures at the bottom reach about 100°C/212°F and can be used to generate electricity

Somme
(river) River in northern France, on which Amiens and Abbeville stand; length 245 km/152 mi. It rises in Aisne département near St Quentin and flows west through Somme département to the English Channel near St Valéry-sur-Som...

Somme, Battle of the
Allied offensive in World War I July–November 1916 on the River Somme in northern France, during which severe losses were suffered by both sides. It was planned by the Marshal of France, Joseph Joffre, and UK commander-in-chief Douglas Haig; the Allies lost over 600,000 soldiers and advanced approximately 8 km/5 mi (13 km/8...

sonata
In music, an important type of instrumental composition. Although it can be a piece for a solo player or a small ensemble, it is now commonly used to describe a work for solo piano (piano sonata), or piano and one other instrument (violin sonata – violin and piano; flute sonata – flute and piano). It usually consists of three or four ...

Social Democratic and Labour Party
Northern Ireland left-of-centre political party, formed in 1970. It aims ultimately at Irish unification, but has distanced itself from violent tactics, adopting a constitutional, conciliatory role. Its leader, John Hume, played a key role in the negotiations which ended in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement on power-sharing. It secured 24 ...

social science
The group of academic disciplines that investigate how and why people behave the way they do, as individuals and in groups. The term originated with the 19th-century French thinker Auguste Comte. The academic social sciences are generally listed as sociology, economics, anthropology, political science, and psychology. Western thought about soci...

society
The organization of people into communities or groups. Social science, in particular sociology, is the study of human behaviour in a social context, or setting. Various aspects of society are discussed under class, community, culture, kinship, norms, role, socialization, and status

social security
State provision of financial aid to reduce poverty. The term `social security` was first applied officially in the USA, in the Social Security Act of 1935. In Britain it was first used officially in 1944, and following the Beveridge Report of 1942 a series of acts was passed from 1945 to widen the scope of social security. Basic entitleme...

soap opera
Television or radio serial melodrama. It originated in the USA in the 1930s as a series of daytime radio programmes sponsored by soap-powder and detergent manufacturers

soprano
Highest range of the female voice, from around D4 (the D above middle C) to A6. Some operatic roles require the extended upper range of a coloratura soprano, reaching to around F6, for example Kiri Te Kanawa. It is also used before the name of an instrument that sounds in the same range as the sopran...

sonata form
In music, one of the most important forms. The structure divides into three main sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation. It introduced great dramatic possibilities and increased freedom for 18th-century music, which had previously been limited to closed dance routines. It developed initially in the instrumental sonata, from w...

Songhai Empire
Former kingdom of northwestern Africa, founded in the 8th century, which developed into a powerful Muslim empire under the rule of Sonni Ali (reigned 1464–92). It superseded the Mali Empire and extended its territory, occupying an area that included parts of present-day Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Ni...

South Korea
Click images to enlargeCountry in East Asia, bounded north by North Korea, east by the Sea of Japan, south by the Korea Strait, and west by the Yellow Sea. Government South Korea ia multiparty democracy with a presidential executive. Under its 1988 constitution, executive power is held by the president, who is directly el...

South Africa
Click images to enlargeCountry on the southern tip of Africa, bounded north by Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe and northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland. Government In November 1993 the South African government and the African National Congress (ANC) agreed on an interim constitution, which was adopted by the Transitional...

Solomon Islands
Click images to enlargeCountry in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of New Guinea, comprising many hundreds of islands, the largest of which is Guadalcanal. Government The Solomon Islands is a multiparty democracy with a prime ministerial political executive. Its constitution, which dates from 1978, provides for a constit...

Somalia
Country in northeast Africa (the Horn of Africa), on the Indian Ocean, bounded northwest by Djibouti, west by Ethiopia, and southwest by Kenya. Government Since the overthrow of the Barre regime in 1991, the country has been in a state of near-anarchy, with no effective national government, rival warlords and clans disputing control, and region...

Solomon's seal
Any of a group of perennial plants belonging to the lily family, native to Europe and found growing in moist, shady woodland areas. They have drooping bell-like white or greenish-white flowers which appear just above the point where the leaves join the arching stems, followed by blue or black berries. (Genus Polygonatum, ...

Solidarity
National confederation of independent trade unions in Poland, formed under the leadership of Lech Walesa September 1980. An illegal organization from 1981 to 1989, it then headed a coalition government following elections that year. Divisions soon emerged in the leadership and in 1990 its political wing began to fragment (Walesa resigned as chairma...

solipsism
In philosophy, a view that maintains that the self is the only thing that can be known to exist. It is an extreme form of scepticism. The solipsist sees himself or herself as the only individual in existence, assuming other people to be a reflection of his or her own consciousness

Sokoto
(state) State in Nigeria, established 1976; capital Sokoto; area 102,500 sq km/39,565 sq mi; population (1991 est) 2,418,600. It was an Islamic Fula sultanate from the 16th century until occupied by the British in 1903

social democracy
Political ideology or belief in the gradual evolution of a democratic socialism within existing political structures. The earliest was the German Sozialdemokratische Partei (SPD), now one of the two main German parties, which had been created in 1875 by the amalgamation of other groups including August Bebel's earlier German Social Democratic W...

South Sea Bubble
Financial crisis in Britain in 1720. The South Sea Company, founded in 1711, which had a monopoly of trade with South America, offered in 1719 to take over more than half the national debt in return for further concessions. Its 100 shares rapidly rose to 1,000, and an orgy of speculation followed. Wh...

soma
Intoxicating drink made from the fermented sap of the Asclepias acida plant, used in Indian religious ritual as a sacrifice to the gods. Its consumption also constituted the central rite in Zoroastrian ritual, where it was known as haoma. Some have argued that the plant was in fact a hallucogenic mushroom

Sophocles
Athenian dramatist. He is credited with having developed tragedy by introducing a third actor and scene-painting, and ranked with Aeschylus and Euripides as one of the three great tragedians. He wrote some 120 plays, of which seven tragedies survive. These are Antigone (443 BC), Oedipus the King (429), <...

sole trader
One person who runs a business, receiving all profits and responsible for all liabilities. Many small businesses are sole traders

soft currency
Vulnerable currency that tends to fall in value on foreign-exchange markets because of political or economic uncertainty. Governments are unwilling to hold soft currencies in their foreign-exchange reserves, preferring strong or hard currencies, which are easily convertible

Sons of Liberty
In American colonial history, the name adopted by those colonists opposing the Stamp Act of 1765. Merchants, lawyers, farmers, artisans, and labourers joined what was an early instance of concerted resistance to British rule, causing the repeal of the act in March 1766

soul
According to many religions, an intangible part of a human being that survives the death of the physical body. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach that at the end of the world each soul will be judged and assigned to heaven or hell on its merits. According to orthodox Jewish doctrine, most souls first spend time in purgatory to be purged of ...

Sontag, Susan
US critic and writer. She established herself as a critic with the influential cultural essays `Against Interpretation` (1966) and `Styles of Radical Will` (1969). Subsequent critical works include On Photography (1976), the powerful Illness as Metaphor (1978), Aids and its Metaphor...

social realism
In painting, art that realistically depicts the life, struggles, and urban environment of the lower classes in the 20th century, and focuses on subjects of social and political concern, such as poverty and deprivation. Those described as Social Realists include: in the USA, members of the Ashcan School, Ben Shahn, Jacob Lawrence, and Romare Bea...

Somali
Member of a group of East African peoples from the Horn of Africa. Although the majority of Somalis live in the Somali Republic, there are minorities in Ethiopia and Kenya. Primarily nomadic pastoralists and traders, they live in families, grouped in clans, under an elective or hereditary chieftain. They are mainly Sunni Muslims. Their Cushitic lan...

Social and Liberal Democrats
Original name for the British political party formed in 1988 from the former Liberal Party and most of the Social Democratic Party. Since 1989 the party has been called the Liberal Democrats

soil erosion
Click images to enlargeWearing away and redistribution of the Earth's soil layer. It is caused by the action of water, wind, and ice, and also by improper methods of agriculture. If unchecked, soil erosion results in the formation of deserts (desertification). It has been estimated that 20% of the world's cult...

softball
Bat-and-ball game, a form of baseball played with similar equipment. The two main differences are the distances between the bases (18.3 m/60 ft) and that the ball is pitched underhand in softball. There are two forms of the game, fast pitch and slow pitch; in the latter the ball must be delivered to home plate in an arc that must no...

South Holland
Low-lying coastal province of the Netherlands, bounded to the north by North Holland, to the east by Utrecht and North Brabant, to the south by Zeeland, and to the west by the North Sea; area 2,910 sq km/1,124 sq mi; population (1997) 3,344,700. The capital is the Hague. There are chemical, textile, distilling, and petroleum refinin...

southern lights
Common name for the aurora australis

Social Democratic Federation
In British history, a socialist society, founded as the Democratic Federation in 1881 and renamed in 1884. It was led by H M Hyndman (1842–1921), a former conservative journalist and stockbroker who claimed Karl Marx as his inspiration without obtaining recognition from his mentor. In 1911 it became the British Socialist Party. The SDF organiz...

Somoza
(García) Nicaraguan soldier and politician, president 1937–47 and 1950–56. As head of the Nicaraguan army, he deposed President Juan Bautista Sacasa, his uncle, in 1936 and assumed the presidency the following year, ruling as a virtual dictator from 1937 until his assassination ...

Somoza Debayle, Anastasio
Nicaraguan soldier and politician, president 1967–72 and 1974–79. The second son of Anastasio Somoza García, he succeeded his brother Luis Somoza Debayle as president of Nicaragua in 1967, to head an even more oppressive and corrupt regime, characterized by tightened press censorship and rising popular discontent as the economic situ...

sorting
In computing, arranging data in sequence. When sorting a collection, or file, of data made up of several different fields, one must be chosen as the key field used to establish the correct sequence. For example, the data in a company's mailing list might include fields for each customer's first names, surname, address, and telephone number....

source language
In computing, the language in which a program is written, as opposed to machine code, which is the form in which the program's instructions are carried out by the computer. Source languages are classified as either high-level languages or low-level languages, according to whether each notation in the source language stands for many or o...

solar radiation
Radiation given off by the Sun, consisting mainly of visible light, ultraviolet radiation, and infrared radiation, although the whole spectrum of electromagnetic waves is present, from radio waves to X-rays. High-energy charged particles, such as electrons, are also emitted, especially from solar flares. When these reach the Earth, they cau...

sol
Colloid of very small solid particles dispersed in a liquid that retains the physical properties of a liquid. A sol can under certain conditions convert into an apparently solid, jelly-like state known as a gel

solidification
Change of state from liquid (or vapour) to solid that occurs at the freezing point of a substance

solution
(chemistry) Two or more substances mixed to form a single, homogenous phase. One of the substances is the solvent and the others (solutes) are said to be dissolved in it. The constituents of a solution may be solid, liquid, or gaseous. The solvent is normally the substance that is present in g...

solute
Substance that is dissolved in another substance (see solution)

solvent
Substance, usually a liquid, that will dissolve another substance (see solution). Although the commonest solvent is water, in popular use the term refers to low-boiling-point organic liquids, which are harmful if vapour from them is breathed in as a result of their use in a confined space, or from skin contact with the liquid. They can give...

sousaphone
Large bass tuba designed to wrap round the player in a circle and having a forward-facing bell. The form was suggested by US bandmaster John Sousa. Today sousaphones are largely fabricated in lightweight fibreglass

song cycle
Sequence of songs related in mood and sung as a group, used by romantic composers such as Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Hugo Wolf

solenoid
Click images to enlargeCoil of wire, usually cylindrical, in which a magnetic field is created by passing an electric current through it (see electromagnet). This field can be used to temporarily magnetize, and so move, an iron rod placed on its axis. Mechanical valves attached to the rod can be operated by switching the ...

Sousa, John Philip
US bandmaster and composer of marches. He wrote `The Stars and Stripes Forever` in 1897

Southern Uplands
One of the three geographical divisions of Scotland, being most of the hilly Scottish borderland to the south of a geological fault line that stretches from Dunbar, East Lothian, on the North Sea to Girvan, South Ayrshire, on the Firth of Clyde. The Southern Uplands, largely formed by rocks of the Silurian and Ordovician age, are intersected by the...

social history
Branch of history that documents the living and working conditions of people rather than affairs of state. In recent years, television programmes, books, and museums have helped to give social history a wide appeal. History became a serious branch of study in the 18th century, but was confined to ancient civilizations and to recent political and re...

sound wave
Longitudinal wave motion with which sound energy travels through a medium. It carries energy away from the source of the sound without carrying the material itself with it. Sound waves are mechanical; unlike electromagnetic waves, they require vibration of their medium's molecules or particle...

sodium chloride
White, crystalline compound found widely in nature. The crystals are cubic in shape. It is a typical ionic solid with a high melting point (801°C/1,474°F); it is soluble in water, insoluble in organic solvents, and is a strong electrolyte when molten or in aqueous solution. Found in concentrated deposits as the mineral halite, it ...

sodium hydroxide
Commonest alkali. The solid and the solution are corrosive. It is used to neutralize acids, in the manufacture of soap, and in drain and oven cleaners. It is prepared industrially from sodium chloride by the electrolysis of concentrated brine

soft water
Water that contains very few dissolved metal ions such as calcium (Ca2+) or magnesium (Mg2+). It lathers easily with soap, and no scale is formed inside kettles or boilers. It has been found that the incidence of heart disease is higher in soft-water areas

souring
Change that occurs to wine on prolonged exposure to air. The ethanol in the wine is oxidized by the air (oxygen) to ethanoic acid. It is the presence of the ethanoic (acetic) acid that produces the sour taste: CH3CH2OH(aq) + O2(g) ® CH...

South, the
Historically, the states of the USA bounded on the north by the Mason–Dixon Line, the Ohio River, and the eastern and northern borders of Missouri, with an agrarian economy based on plantations worked by slaves, and which, as the Confederacy, seceded from the Union in 1861, beginning the American Civil War. The term is now loosely applied in a...

South Carolina
State in eastern USA, bordered to the north and northeast by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia, and to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; area 77,982 sq km/30,109 sq mi; population (2006) 4,321,200; capital and largest city Columbia. South Carolina is the smallest sta...

social costs and benefits
In economics, the costs and benefits to society as a whole that result from economic decisions. These include private costs (the financial cost of production incurred by firms) and benefits (the profits made by firms and the value to people of consuming goods and services) and external costs and benefits (affecting those not directly involved in pr...

Sotho
A large ethnic group in southern Africa, numbering about 7 million (1987) and living mainly in Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa. The Sotho are predominantly farmers, living in small village groups. They speak a variety of closely related languages belonging to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family. With English, Sotho is the official la...

Soseki, Natsume
Japanese novelist. His works are deep psychological studies of urban intellectual lives. Strongly influenced by English literature, his later works are somewhat reminiscent of Henry James; for example, the unfinished Meian/Light and Darkness (1916). Soseki is regarded as one of Japan's greatest writers. Soseki was bor...

South American Common Market
Alternative name for Mercosur

solifluction
Movement (flow) of topsoil that has become saturated with water. It is an important process of transportation in periglacial environments where water released by the spring thaw cannot percolate downwards because the ground below is permanently frozen (permafrost). The saturated topsoil may then flow slowly downhill to form a solifluction lobe

solution
(earth science) In earth science, process by which the minerals in a rock are dissolved in water. Solution is one of the processes of erosion as well as weathering (in which the breakdown of rock occurs without transport of the dissolved material). An example of this is when weakly acidic rain...

Southern Ocean
Corridor linking the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, all of which receive cold polar water from the world's largest ocean surface current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which passes through the Southern Ocean

Soviet Central Asia
Former name (to 1991) of the Central Asian Republics

Soviet Far East
Former name (to 1991) of a geographical division of Asiatic Russia, now known as the Russian Far East

Song dynasty
Chinese imperial family ruling from 960 to 1279, founded by northern general Taizu or Zhao Kuangyin (928–76). A distinction is conventionally made between the Northern Song period (960–1126), when the capital was at Kaifeng, and Southern Song (1127–1279), when it was at Hangzhou (Hangchow). A stable government was supported by a thor...

soliloquy
In drama, thinking aloud. A soliloquy is a speech for the benefit of the audience only and by convention is not heard by any other actor on stage at the time. Soliloquy is a form of monologue. It literally means `talking to oneself` and, in dramatic convention, it usually means a character is talking about him- or herself, revealing t...

sopranino
Term in music describing an instrument of higher range than soprano. An alternative term is piccolo

social Darwinism
See Darwinism, social

Society of Jesus
Official name of the Roman Catholic order commonly known as the Jesuits

South Ossetia
Autonomous region of the Georgian republic, part of the region of Ossetia; population (1990 est) 99,800. It lies on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains, mostly above 1,000 m/3,300 ft above sea level. Its capital is Tskinvali. Its rivers are used to produce hydroelectric power, and less than 10% of the land is cultivate...

Social Chapter
Chapter of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union relating to social policy and workers' rights. It required European Community (EC) member states to adopt common social policies and was intended to implement the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights, which was adopted by 11 EC member states, but opposed by British prime minister...

software piracy
In computing, unauthorized duplication of computer software. Although some software piracy is done by companies for financial gain, most piracy is done by private individuals who lend disks to friends or copy programs from the workplace to their computers at home. Software manufacturers' attempts to protect their property – for example, by...

South Gloucestershire
Unitary authority in southwest England created in 1996 from part of the former county of Avon. Area 497 sq km/192 sq mi Towns and cities Thornbury (administrative headquarters), Patchway, Yate, Chipping Sodbury Features River Severn borders northwest; Vale of Berkeley; Severn Road Bridge&...

South Ayrshire
Unitary authority in southwest Scotland, created in 1996 from Kyle and Carrick district (1975–96), Strathclyde region. Area 1,245 sq km/480 sq mi Towns Ayr (administrative headquarters), Prestwick, Girvan, Troon, Maybole Physical coastal plain which rises to higher ground inland (500 m/1...

South Lanarkshire
Unitary authority in south central Scotland, created in 1996 from three districts of Strathclyde region. Area 1,772 sq km/684 sq mi Towns Hamilton (administrative headquarters), Lanark, Rutherglen, East Kilbride, Carluke, Cambuslang Physical area of stark contrast: predominantly rural to the ...

soldier beetle
Reddish beetle with soft, black elytra (wing cases) and a black patch and black legs. It reaches a length of 15 mm/0.5 in and can be found in the daytime during the months of April to July on field, garden, and forest plants. It feeds particularly on aphids. Its larvae are black, and are to be found in the soil or among moss. Classification The...

South Pacific Commission
Former name, until February 1998, of the Pacific Community

South Pacific Forum
Former name, until October 2000, of Pacific Islands Forum

socialism, Russian
From the mid-19th century the ideas of socialism, such as the establishment of a classless society and public ownership, began to influence early Russian radicals. Their work inspired the Russian revolutionary Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders who eventually seized power in the 1917 Russian Revolution. Lenin's modification of traditional Ma...

South China Sea
See China Sea

Soul
Alternative spelling of Seoul, the capital of South Korea

Sofiya
Alternative spelling of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria

Song Hông
Vietnamese name for the Red River, a river in north Vietnam

Song Kran
Thai Buddhist New Year festival held in mid-April. People wear garlands of jasmine buds, buy and release birds, and splash each other with water to symbolize new life. Talcum powder is applied to the face and body to protect the wearer from evil. Water scented with flower petals is used to bathe images of the Buddha and poured over the hands of...

sonorous
One of the physical properties of a metal, by which sound is produced when a metal is struck. For example, aluminium produces a high pitch sound when struck. Many metals are used to make musical instruments in order to exploit their sonorous properties. Changing the structure of a metal varies the sound produced. In the manufacture of a steel drum,...

soluble
Describing a substance that can be dissolved in a liquid. For example, sodium chloride (table salt) is soluble in water