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


sort
In computing, a specific function used in a spreadsheet program to arrange selected items into ascending or descending order. Information contained in tables (for example in Microsoft Word) can also be sorted

Socrates, José
Portuguese Socialist Party politician, prime minister from 2005. A former environment minister 1999–2002, he was elected leader of the Socialist Party in September 2004, while in opposition, and led it to a landslide victory in the February 2005 general election. He became prime minister in March 2005 and pledged to kick-start Portugal'...

Spode, Josiah
English potter. Around 1800, he developed bone porcelain (made from bone ash, china stone, and china clay), which was produced at all English factories in the 19th century. He became potter to King George III in 1806. His father, Josiah Spode the elder (1733–1797), founded the Spode factory at Stoke-on-Trent in 1770. He succeeded to th...

Spock, Benjamin
(McLane) US paediatrician and writer on child care. His Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946) urged less rigidity in bringing up children than had been advised by previous generations of writers on the subject, but this was misunderstood as advocating permissivenes...

Split
Port in Croatia, on the Adriatic coast; population (2001) 188,700. Industries include engineering, cement, and textiles. Split was bombed during 1991 as part of Yugoslavia's blockade of the Croatian coast. The Roman emperor Diocletian retired here in 305

Spitsbergen
Mountainous island with a deeply indented coastline, situated in the Arctic Ocean between Franz Josef Land and Greenland. It is the main island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, 657 km/408 mi north of Norway, and now owned by that country; area 39,043 sq km/15,075 sq mi. Fishing, hunting, and coal mining are the chief economic a...

Sphinx
Mythological creature, depicted in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek art as a lion with a human head. The Greek Sphinx of Thebes was winged with a woman's breasts, and was adopted as an emblem of wisdom. She killed all those who failed to answer her riddle about which animal went on four, then two, a...

Spengler, Oswald
German philosopher whose Decline of the West (1918) argued that civilizations go through natural cycles of growth and decay. He was admired by the Nazis

Spenser, Edmund
English poet. His major work is the allegorical epic The Faerie Queene, of which six books survive (three published in 1590 and three in 1596). Other books include The Shepheard's Calendar (1579), Astrophel (1586), the love sonnets ...

spinel
Any of a group of `mixed oxide` minerals consisting mainly of the oxides of magnesium and aluminium, MgAl2O4 and FeAl2O4. Spinels crystallize in the cubic system, forming octahedral crystals. They are found in high-temperature igneous and metam...

spiraea
Any of a group of herbaceous plants or shrubs, which includes many cultivated species with ornamental sprays of white or pink flowers; their delicate appearance has given rise to the popular name bridal wreath. (Genus Spiraea, family Rosaceae.)

spearmint
Perennial herb belonging to the mint family, with aromatic leaves and spikes of purple flowers; the leaves are used for flavouring in cookery. (Mentha spicata, family Labiatae.)

Spender, Stephen
(Harold) English poet and critic. His early poetry has a left-wing political content. With Cyril Connolly he founded the magazine Horizon (of which he was co-editor 1939–41), and Spender was co-editor of Encounter 1953–66. His
Special Air Service
Specialist British regiment recruited from regiments throughout the army. It has served in Malaysia, Oman, Yemen, the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as against international urban guerrillas, as in the siege of the Iranian embassy in London in 1980

spastic
Term applied generally to limbs with impaired movement, stiffness, and resistance to passive movement, and to any body part (such as the colon) affected with spasm

Speaker
Presiding officer charged with the preservation of order in the legislatures of various countries. In the UK House of Commons the Speaker is elected for each parliament, usually on an agreed basis among the parties, but often hold the office for many years. The original appointment dates from 1377. The House of Commons speaker is Michael Martin fro...

Spartacus
Thracian gladiator. In 73 BC he led a revolt of gladiators and slaves in Capua, near Naples, and swept through southern Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. He was eventually caught by Roman general Crassus 71 BC. The fate of Spartacus is not known, although his followers were executed in mass crucifixions

Sparta
Ancient Greek city-state in the southern Peloponnese (near Sparte), developed from Dorian settlements in the 10th century BC. The Spartans, known for their military discipline and austerity, took part in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. The Dorians formed the ruling race in Sparta, the original inhabitants being divided into perioec...

Spark, Muriel
Scottish-born novelist. Her early novels are mostly dark and witty fantasies, focusing on social misfits, such as feature in The Comforters (1957) (her first novel), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), The Girls of Slender Means (1963), and A Far Cry from Kensington (...

Spanish Civil War
1936–39. See Civil War, Spanish

Spanish Succession, War of the
War 1701–14 of Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Denmark (the Allies) against France, Spain, and Bavaria. It was caused by Louis XIV's acceptance of the Spanish throne on behalf of his grandson, Philip, in defiance of the Partition Treaty of 1700, under which it would have passed to Archduke Charles of Austria (later Holy Ro...

Spanish art
Painting and sculpture of Spain. Spanish art has been fashioned by both European and Islamic traditions, with notable regional adaptations. Whatever the source of its influences, Spanish art has always transformed styles and given them a distinctively Spanish character. Historical background Spain was under Roman dominance 218 BC–AD 414, and t...

Spaak, Paul-Henri
Belgian socialist politician. From 1936 to 1966 he held office almost continuously as foreign minister or prime minister. He was an ardent advocate of international peace

Spanish Armada
Fleet sent by Philip II of Spain against England in 1588. Consisting of 130 ships, it sailed from Lisbon and carried on a running fight up the Channel with the English fleet of 197 small ships under Howard of Effingham and Francis Drake – although only three Spanish ships were lost to the English attack. The Armada anchored off Calais but the ...

Sputnik
Click images to enlargeSeries of ten Soviet Earth-orbiting satellites launched from 1957 by R-7 rockets. Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite, launched on 4 October 1957. It weighed 84 kg/184 lb, with a 58 cm/23 in diameter, and carried only a simple radio transmitter, which allowed scientists to t...

spacesuit
Protective suit worn by astronauts and cosmonauts during launch and in space. During launch it acts as a high-altitude pressure suit and also guards against depressurization in the vacuum of space. A spacesuit has to be worn outside the spacecraft during extravehicular activity. It provides an insulated, air-conditioned cocoon in which a pe...

space station
Any large structure designed for human occupation in space for extended periods of time. Space stations are used for carrying out astronomical observations and surveys of Earth, as well as for biological studies and the processing of materials in weightlessness. The first space station was the Soviet Salyut 1, launched in 1971. I...

space shuttle
Click images to enlargeReusable crewed spacecraft developed by NASA to reduce the cost of using space for commercial, scientific, and military purposes. The orbiter, the part that goes into space, is 37.2 m/122 ft long and weighs 68 tonnes. The prototype, Enterprise, was first flown on 12 August 197...

space probe
Any instrumented object sent beyond Earth to collect data from other parts of the Solar System and from deep space. The first probe was the Soviet Lunik 1, which flew past the Moon in 1959. The first successful planetary probe was the US Mariner 2, which flew past Venus in 1962, using a transfer orbit. The first space probe to leave the Solar Syste...

space
Void that exists beyond Earth's atmosphere. Above 120 km/75 mi, very little atmosphere remains, so objects can continue to move quickly without extra energy. The space between the planets is not entirely empty, but filled with the tenuous gas of the solar wind as well as dust. Highly rarefied...

spreadsheet
In computing, a program that mimics a sheet of ruled paper, divided into columns down the page, and rows across. The user enters values into cells within the worksheet, then instructs the program to perform some operation on them, such as totalling a column or finding the average of a series of numbers. Calculations are made by using a formula. Hig...

speech synthesis
Computer-based technology for generating speech. A speech synthesizer is controlled by a computer, which supplies strings of codes representing basic speech sounds (phonemes); together these make up words. Speech-synthesis applications include children's toys, car and aircraft warning systems, and talking books for the blind

speech recognition
In computing, any technique by which a computer can understand ordinary speech. Spoken words are divided into `frames`, each lasting about one-thirtieth of a second, which are converted to a wave form. These are then compared with a series of stored frames to determine the most likely word. Research into speech recognition started in ...

spoonbill
Any of several large wading birds of the ibis family Threskiornithidae, order Ciconiiformes, characterized by a long, flat bill, dilated at the tip in the shape of a spoon. Spoonbills are white or pink, and up to 90 cm/3 ft tall. Their feet are adapted for wading, and the birds obtain their food,...

spider
Any arachnid (eight-legged animal) of the order Araneae. There are about 30,000 known species, mostly a few centimetres in size, although a few tropical forms attain great size, for example, some bird-eating spiders attain a body length of 9 cm/3.5 in. Spiders produce silk, and many spin ...

sparrow hawk
Small woodland hawk Accipiter nisus, of the family Falconidae, order Falconiformes, found in Eurasia and North Africa. It is bluish-grey, with brown and white markings, and has a long tail and short wings. The male grows to 28 cm/11 in long, and the female to 38 cm/15 in. It hunts small birds and mice

sparrow
Any of a family (Passeridae) of small Old World birds of the order Passeriformes with short, thick bills, but applied particularly to the different members of the genus Passer in the family Ploceidae, order Passeriformes. Many members of the New World family Emberizidae, which includes warblers, orioles, and buntings, are also ca...

spaniel
Any of several breeds of small and medium-sized gundog, characterized by large, drooping ears and a wavy, long, silky coat. Spaniels are divided into two groups: those that are still working gundogs – Clumber, cocker, Irish water, springer, and Sussex – and the toy breeds that are kept as pets – including the Japanese, King C...

spine
Backbone of vertebrates. In most mammals, it contains 26 small bones called vertebrae, which enclose and protect the spinal cord (which links the peripheral nervous system to the brain). The spine articulates with the skull, ribs, and hip bones, and provides attachment for the back muscles. In humans...

species
In biology, a distinguishable group of organisms that resemble each other or consist of a few distinctive types (as in polymorphism), and that can all interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Examples include lions, Douglas firs, cabbage white butterflies, humans, and sperm whales. Species are the lowest level in the system of biological classifica...

speciation
Emergence of a new species during evolutionary history. One cause of speciation is the geographical separation of populations of the parent species, followed by reproductive isolation and selection for different environments so that they no longer produce viable offspring when they interbreed. Other causes are assortative mating and the establishme...

spring
(water) In geology, a natural flow of water from the ground, formed at the point of intersection of the water table and the ground's surface. The source of water is rain that has percolated through the overlying rocks. During its ...

sponge
Any saclike simple invertebrate of the phylum Porifera, usually marine. A sponge has a hollow body, its cavity lined by cells bearing flagellae, whose whiplike movements keep water circulating, bringing in a stream of food particles. The body walls are strengthened with protein (as in the bath sponge) or small spikes of silica, or a framework of ca...

spit
Ridge of sand or shingle projecting from the land into a body of water. It is formed by a combination of longshore drift, tides, river currents, and/or a bend in the coastline. The decrease in wave energy causes more material to be deposited than is transported down the coast, building up a finge...

spruce
Coniferous tree belonging to the pine family, found over much of the northern hemisphere. Pyramidal in shape, spruces have rigid, prickly needles and drooping, leathery cones. Some are important forestry trees, such as the sitka spruce (P. sitchensis), native to western North Ameri...

speedwell
Any of a group of flowering plants belonging to the snapdragon family. Of the many wild species, most are low-growing with small bluish flowers. (Genus Veronica, family Scrophulariaceae.)

spore
Small reproductive or resting body, usually consisting of just one cell. Unlike a gamete, it does not need to fuse with another cell in order to develop into a new organism. Spores are produced by the lower plants, most fungi, some bacteria, and certain protozoa. They are generally light and easily dispersed by wind movements. Plant spores are hapl...

springbok
South African antelope Antidorcas marsupialis about 80 cm/30 in at the shoulder, with head and body 1.3 m/4 ft long. It may leap 3 m/10 ft or more in the air when startled or playing, and has a fold of skin along the middle of the back which is raised to a crest in alar...

speedway
Sport of motorcycle racing on a dirt track. Four riders compete in each heat over four laps. A series of heats make up a match or competition. In Britain there are two main leagues, the Elite League and the Premier League. World championships exist for individuals, pairs (first held in 1970), four-rider teams (first held in 1960), long-trac...

sporophyte
Diploid spore-producing generation in the life cycle of a plant that undergoes alternation of generations

spermatophyte
Another name for a seed plant

spikelet
In botany, one of the units of a grass inflorescence. It comprises a slender axis on which one or more flowers are borne. Each individual flower or floret has a pair of scalelike bracts, the glumes, and is enclosed by a membranous lemma and a thin, narrow palea, which may be extended into a long, slender bristle, or awn

spiracle
In insects, the opening of a trachea, through which oxygen enters the body and carbon dioxide is expelled. In cartilaginous fishes (sharks and rays), the same name is given to a circular opening that marks the remains of the first gill slit. In tetrapod vertebrates, the spiracle of early fishes has evolved into the Eustachian tube, which connects t...

spinal cord
Major component of the central nervous system in vertebrates. It consists of bundles of nerves enveloped in three layers of membrane (the meninges) and is bathed in cerebrospinal fluid. The spinal cord is encased and protected by the vertebral column, lying within the vertebral canal formed by the posterior arches of successive vertebrae. In humans...

spiral
Plane curve formed by a point winding round a fixed point from which it distances itself at regular intervals, for example the spiral traced by a flat coil of rope. Various kinds of spirals can be generated mathematically – for example, an equiangular or logarithmic spiral (in which a tangent at any point on the curve always makes the same ang...

spring
(coil) Device, usually a metal coil, that returns to its original shape after being stretched or compressed. Springs are used in some machines (such as clocks) to store energy, which can be released at a controlled rate. In other machines (such as engines) they are used to close valves. In veh...

spark plug
Plug that produces an electric spark in the cylinder of a petrol engine to ignite the fuel mixture. It consists essentially of two electrodes insulated from one another. High-voltage (18,000 V) electricity is fed to a central electrode via the distributor. At the base of the electrode, inside the cylinder, the electricity jumps to another elect...

spoonerism
Exchange of elements in a flow of words. Usually a slip of the tongue, a spoonerism can also be contrived for comic effect (for example `a troop of Boy Scouts` becoming `a scoop of Boy Trouts`). William Spooner gave his name to the phenomenon

Spanish language
Member of the Romance branch of the Indo-European language family, traditionally known as Castilian and originally spoken only in northeastern Spain. As the language of the court, it has been the standard and literary language of the Spanish state since the 13th century. It is now a world language, spoken in Mexico and all South and Central Ame...

Spinoza, Benedict
Dutch philosopher. He believed in a rationalistic pantheism that owed much to René Descartes's mathematical appreciation of the universe. Mind and matter are two modes of an infinite substance that he called God or Nature, good and evil being relative. He was a determinist, believing that human action was motivated by self-preservation...

Spence, Basil Urwin
Scottish architect. For nearly 20 years his work comprised houses, factories, theatres, and the Scottish Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition in 1938. In 1951 he won the competition for Coventry Cathedral, and in 1952 began the Nuclear Physics Building at Glasgow University. He was professor of architecture at the Royal Academy, London, from 1961 to 1...

spectrum
Click images to enlargeIn physics, the pattern of frequencies or wavelengths obtained when electromagnetic radiations are separated into their constituent parts. Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum and most sources emit waves over a range of wavelengths that can be broken up or `dispersed`;...

Spring, Dick
Irish Labour Party leader 1982–97 and foreign minister 1993–97. He entered into a coalition with Garret FitzGerald's Fine Gael in 1982 as deputy prime minister (with the posts of minister for the environment 1982–83 and minister for energy 1983–87). In 1993 he became deputy prime minister to Albert Reynolds in a Fianna F...

specific gravity
Alternative term for relative density

specific heat capacity
Quantity of heat required to raise unit mass (1 kg) of a substance by one kelvin (1 K). The unit of specific heat capacity in the SI system is the joule per kilogram per kelvin (J kg-1 K-1)

spectroscopy
Study of spectra (see spectrum) associated with atoms or molecules in the solid, liquid, or gaseous phase. Spectroscopy can be used to identify unknown compounds and is an invaluable tool in science, medicine, and industry (for example, in checking the purity of drugs). Emission spectroscopy is the study of the characteristic series of sharp lines ...

spectacles
Another name for glasses, worn to correct or assist defective vision

speleology
Scientific study of caves, their origin, development, physical structure, flora, fauna, folklore, exploration, mapping, photography, cave-diving, and rescue work. Potholing, which involves following the course of underground rivers or streams, has become a popular sport. Speleology first developed in France in the late 19th century, where the S...

sphygmomanometer
Instrument for measuring blood pressure. Consisting of an inflatable arm cuff joined by a rubber tube to a pressure-recording device (incorporating a column of mercury with a graduated scale), it is used, together with a stethoscope, to measure arterial blood pressure

spina bifida
Congenital defect in which part of the spinal cord and its membranes are exposed, due to incomplete development of the spine (vertebral column). It is a neural tube defect. Spina bifida, usually present in the lower back, varies in severity. The most seriously affected babies may be paralysed below the waist. There is also a risk of mental retardat...

spinach
Annual plant belonging to the goosefoot family. It is native to Asia and widely cultivated for its leaves, which are eaten as a vegetable. (Spinacia oleracea, family Chenopodiaceae.)

spinet
17th-century domestic keyboard instrument. It has a laterally tapered case with a single manual (keyboard) of up to a three-and-a-half octave range, having a plucking action and single strings. It was the precursor of the harpsichord

spinning
Art of drawing out and twisting fibres (originally wool or linen) into a long thread, or yarn, by hand or machine. Synthetic fibres are spun when the liquid is forced through the holes of a spinneret (a piece of metal with very fine holes in it). Once through the spinneret the filaments (strands or f...

spiritualism
Belief in the survival of the human personality and in communication between the living and those who have died. The spiritualist movement originated in the USA in 1848. Adherents practise mediumship, which claims to allow clairvoyant knowledge of distant events and spirit healing. The writer Arthur Conan Doyle and the Victorian prime minister Will...

spoils system
In the USA, the granting of offices and favours among the supporters of a party in office. The spoils system, a type of patronage, was used by President Jackson in the 1830s in particular, and by Republican administrations after the Civil War. The practice remained common in the 20th century in US local government. The term is derived from a speech...

special education
Education, often in separate `special schools`, for children with specific physical or mental problems or disabilities

Springsteen, Bruce
US rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His music combines melodies in traditional rock idiom and reflective lyrics about working-class life and the pursuit of the American dream on such albums as Born to Run (1975), Born in the USA (1984), Human Touch (1992), and The Rising&l...

Spain
Click images to enlargeCountry in southwestern Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, bounded north by France and west by Portugal. Government The 1978 constitution provides for a hereditary monarch as formal head of state. The monarch appoints a prime minister, called presi...

spice
Click images to enlargeAny aromatic vegetable substance used as a condiment and for flavouring food. Spices are mostly obtained from tropical plants, and include pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon. They have little food value but increase the appetite and may help digestion

spikenard
Either of two plants: a Himalayan plant belonging to the valerian family whose underground stems produce a perfume used in Eastern aromatic oils; or a North American plant of the ginseng family, with fragrant roots. (Himalayan Nardostachys jatamansi, family Valerianaceae; North American Aralia racemosa
Spanish Main
Common term for the Caribbean Sea in the 16th–17th centuries, but more properly the South American mainland between the River Orinoco and Panama

speakeasy
Bar that illegally sold alcoholic beverages during the Prohibition period (1920–33) in the USA. The term is probably derived from the need to speak quickly or quietly to the doorkeeper in order to gain admission

Spartacist
Member of a group of left-wing radicals in Germany at the end of World War I, founders of the Spartacus League, which became the German Communist Party in 1919. The league participated in the Berlin workers' revolt of January 1919, which was suppressed by the Freikorps on the orders of the so...

Spitz, Mark Andrew
US swimmer. He won a record seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games, all in world record times. Career highlights Olympic Games gold 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay 1968, 1972; 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay 1968, 1972; 4 × 100-metre medley relay 1972; 100-metre freestyle 1972; 200-metre freestyle...

speed
(medicine) Common name for amphetamine, a stimulant drug

special relationship
Belief that ties of common language, culture, and shared aims of the defence of democratic principles should sustain a political relationship between the USA and the UK, and that the same would not apply to relationships between the USA and other European states. Close cooperation in the sharing of nuclear-weapons technology has usually been ci...

spa town
Town with a spring, the water of which, it is claimed, has the power to cure illness and restore health. Spa treatment involves drinking and bathing in the naturally mineralized spring water. The name derives from the Belgian town of Spa, whose mineral springs have attracted patients since the 14th century. The earliest spas date from Roman times

special constable
In the UK, a part-time volunteer who supplements local police forces as required. Special constables were established by the Special Constabulary Act 1831. They number some 16,000. They wear a police uniform and have all the powers and privileges of a regular constable, and are bound by the same duties and responsibilities. They do not speciali...

Spica
Brightest star in the constellation Virgo and the 16th-brightest star in the night sky. Spica has a true luminosity of over 1,500 times that of the Sun and is 260 light years from the Sun. It is a spectroscopic binary star, the components of which orbit each other every four days

speculative action
Law case taken on a `no-win, no-fee` basis, legal in the USA and Scotland, but not in England

speed of light
Speed at which light and other electromagnetic waves travel in a vacuum. Its value is 299,792,458 m per second/186,282 mi per second but for most calculations 3 × 108 m s-1 (300 million metres per second) suffices. In glass the speed of light is two-thirds of its speed in air, about 200...

speed of sound
Speed at which sound travels through a medium, such as air or water. In air at a temperature of 0°C/32°F, the speed of sound is 331 m/1,087 ft per second. At higher temperatures, the speed of sound is greater; at 18°C/64°F it is 342 m/1,123 ft per second. It is also affected by the humidity of the air. It is ...

spooling
In computing, the process in which information to be printed is stored temporarily in a file, the printing being carried out later. It is used to prevent a relatively slow printer from holding up the system at critical times, and to enable several computers or programs to share one printer

spermicide
Any cream, jelly, pessary, or other preparation that kills the sperm cells in semen. Spermicides are used for contraceptive purposes, usually in combination with a condom or diaphragm. Sponges impregnated with spermicide have been developed but are not yet in widespread use. Spermicide used alone is only 75% effective in preventing pregnancy

space-time
In physics, combination of space and time used in the theory of relativity. When developing relativity, Albert Einstein showed that time was in many respects like an extra dimension (or direction) to space. Space and time can thus be considered as entwined into a single entity, rather than two separate things. Space-time is considered to have f...

sphalerite
Mineral composed of zinc sulphide with a small proportion of iron, formula (Zn,Fe)S. It is the chief ore of zinc. Sphalerite is brown with a non-metallic lustre unless an appreciable amount of iron is present (up to 26% by weight). Sphalerite usually occurs in ore veins in limestones, where it is often associated with galena. It crystallize...

Spanish-American War
Brief war in 1898 between Spain and the USA over Spanish rule in Cuba and the Philippines; the complete defeat of Spain made the USA a colonial power. The Treaty of Paris ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the USA; Cuba became independent. The USA paid $20 million to Spain. T...

spark chamber
Electronic device for recording tracks of charged subatomic particles, decay products, and rays. At its simplest, it consists of two smooth threadlike electrodes that are positioned 1–2 cm/0.5–1 in apart, the space between being filled with a mixture of neon and helium gas. Sparks jump through the gas along the ionized path created by...

Spratly Islands
Disputed group of small islands, coral reefs, and sandbars dispersed over a distance of 965 km/600 mi in the South China Sea. The islands are of strategic importance, commanding the sea passage from Japan to Singapore, and in 1976 oil was discovered. Used as a submarine base by the Japanese during World War II, the islands are claimed in whole ...

spiny anteater
Alternative name for echidna