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


Court of Appeal
UK law court comprising a Civil Division and a Criminal Division, set up under the Criminal Appeals Act 1968. The Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal has the power to revise (alter) sentences or quash a conviction on the grounds that in all the circumstances of the case the verdict is unsafe or unsatisfactory, or that the judgement of the orig...

computer art
Art produced with the help of a computer. From the 1950s the aesthetic use of computers became increasingly evident in most artistic disciplines, including film animation, architecture, and music. Computer graphics (CG) has been the most developed area, with the `paint-box` computer liberating artists from the confines of the canvas. ...

conceptual art
Type of modern art in which the idea or ideas that a work expresses are considered its essential point, with its visual appearance being of secondary (often negligible) importance. Conceptual art challenges the validity of traditional art, and claims that the materials used and the product of the process are unnecessary. As the idea or ideas are of...

concerto grosso
Composition that contrasts two groups of instruments: a group of solo instrumentalists called a concertino against a string orchestra called a ripieno. The concertino instruments sometimes play alone and sometimes are heard in combination with the ripieno group

consonance
In music, a combination of two or more notes that `agree` with each other (due to their relationship within the naturally occurring harmonic series) and thus sound pleasing to the ear. It is the opposite of dissonance

composition
(music) Art of combining sounds to create an original piece of music. It is also another word for the piece of music itself

common market
Organization of autonomous countries formed to promote trade; see customs union

covenant
Solemn agreement between two parties. In Judaism, it describes especially the relationship between God and the Jewish people, based on God's promise to Abraham and his descendants in the Book of Genesis: `I will be your God and you will be my people`. Jewish life and practice are based on the covenant relationship with God: Go...

command line interface
In computing, a character-based interface in which a prompt is displayed on the screen at which the user types a command, followed by carriage return, at which point the command, if valid, is executed. Additional options may be used after the command in a line; these are known as command line parameters. A typical example of a command line ...

composition
(art) In art, the arrangement of elements within an artwork to give a desired effect, often described as pleasing (unified and appealing to the eye) or expressive (intended to evoke a particular mood, feeling, or idea). The elements of pleasing compositions are usually held together by placing...

Communications Decency Act
1996 rider (supplement) to the US Telecommunications Bill seeking to prevent the transmission of indecent material to minors via the Internet. It was struck down by a federal court in the same year, and declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a landmark decision of June 1997, which ruled that the Internet was entitled to the free speech p...

communications program
In the early days of electronic communication, general-purpose program for accessing older online systems and bulletin board systems which used a command-line interface; also known as a terminal emulator. Programs such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, Outlook Express, and Eudora subsequently rendered the complexities of setting up such p...

computer crime
Broad term applying to any type of crime committed via a computer, including unauthorized access to files. Most computer crime is committed by disgruntled former employees or subcontractors. Examples include the releasing of viruses, hacking, and computer fraud. Many countries, including the USA and the UK, have specialized law enforcement units to...

Computer Misuse Act
UK law passed in 1990 that makes it illegal to hack into computers (see hacking). The Act introduced three new offences: unauthorized access to computer material (for example out of curiosity), unauthorized access with intent to facilitate the commission of a crime (for example fraud or blackmail), and unauthorized modification of computer mate...

conjugation
In grammar, term applied to a verb to denote its different forms, such as `I am`, `you are`, and `he is`. These forms may be obtained by inflection or by the use of particles. Verbs are conjugated to express differences of voice, mood, or tense. They are often grouped into systems following the same inflectional patter...

coffee house
Alternative to ale-houses as social meeting place, largely for the professional classes, popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Christopher Bowman opened the first Coffee House in London (later known as the `Pasqua Rosee`) in St Michael's Alley, Cornhill, in 1652 and others soon fo...

Conwy
(authority) Unitary authority in north Wales, created in 1996 from parts of the former counties of Clwyd and Gwynedd. Area 1,107 sq km/427 sq mi Towns Conwy (administrative headquarters), Abergele, Llandudno, Llanrwst Physical riv...

complementary medicine
In medicine, systems of care based on methods of treatment or theories of disease that differ from those taught in most Western medical schools. See medicine, alternative

constipation
In medicine, the infrequent emptying of the bowel. The intestinal contents are propelled by peristaltic contractions of the intestine in the digestive process. The faecal residue collects in the rectum, distending it and promoting defecation. Constipation may be due to illness, alterations in food consumption, stress, or as an adverse effect of cer...

Cotopaxi
(volcano) Active Andean volcano in north-central Ecuador on the border of the Cotopaxi, Napo, and Pichincha provinces. It is located 48 km/30 mi south of Quito at an altitude of 5,897 m/19,347 ft above sea level. It one of the highest volcanoes in the world. It is now contained wit...

corgi
Breed of dog. See Welsh corgi

Colorado beetle
North American black and yellow striped beetle that is a pest on potato crops. Although it was once a serious pest, it can now usually be controlled by using insecticides. It has also colonized many European countries. Classification Colarado beetles Leptinotarsa decemlineata are in the family Chrysomelidae, order Coleoptera, cla...

cocoon
Pupa-case of many insects, especially of moths and silkworms. This outer web or ball is spun from the mouth by caterpillars before they pass into the chrysalis state

Cowdrey,
(Michael) English cricketer. An orthodox but elegant right-handed batsman and a brilliant slip fielder, who when his international career ended in 1975 held the record for both the most runs and catches in test match cricket. He scored 42,719 first class runs between 1950 and 1976, a caree...

compulsory tendering
Policy introduced by the UK Conservative government requiring local authorities and other public bodies to put out to tender work which might normally be done `in house`. This approach stemmed from a political conviction that the private sector was always more efficient and cost-effective than the public. Critics of the practice would...

Constantinople
Ancient city founded by the Greeks as Byzantium in about 660 BC and refounded by the Roman emperor Constantine (I) the Great in AD 330 as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) was the impregnable bastion of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, its successor, until it fell to the Turks on 29 ...

concrete poetry
20th-century form of poetry in which graphic effects created by words and letters replaces the use of conventional verse forms. It flourished in particular in the 1950s and 1960s, though one of the earliest (and most inventive) poets to use concrete poetry was the French writer Guillaume Apollinaire, whose 1918 poem Il pleut/It rai...

compound word
Word that is formed from two or more other words. For example, teapot, from tea and pot; blackbird, from black and bird. Most compound words are nouns, but adjectives and verbs are also formed in this way. Some examples of nouns are...

connective
General term for a word or phrase that links sentences, clauses, or phrases. There are two main types: conjunctions and adverbs that link one clause to another. Examples of conjunctions are and, or, but, as in `I speak German but I don't speak Spanish`. Ad...

colour
(art) In art, one of the most powerful of the visual or formal art elements, and a property of light. Specifically, colour is the quality or wavelength of light emitted or reflected from an object. Colours may be produced by the use of pigment (paint or dye), by the choice of naturally coloure...

contraceptive
Any drug, device, or technique that prevents pregnancy. The contraceptive pill (the Pill) contains female hormones that interfere with egg production or the first stage of pregnancy. The `morning-after` pill can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected intercourse. Barrier contraceptives include condoms (sheaths), diaphragms, and spo...

Colum Cille, St
See St Columba

continental climate
Type of climate typical of a large, mid-latitude land mass. This type of climate is to be found in the centre of continents between approximately 40° and 60° north of the Equator. The two main areas are the North American prairies and the Russian steppes (both grasslands). Areas with a continental climate are a long way from the ocean...

cowboy
US cattle herder working on horseback; one of the great figures of American history and part of the folklore of the rugged adventurous West portrayed in books, films, and plays. Thousands of cowboys worked across the Great Plains in the heyday of the early US cattle industry 1866–87, initially on the long cattle drives, herding cattle from...

coal mining
(Industrial Revolution) The expansion of the British coal mining industry to meet the needs of the Industrial Revolution is discussed in Industrial Revolution, coal

communism, German
Revolutionary socialism that emerged in Germany between 1918 and 1933. Inspired by the Russian Bolshevik revolution of 1917, it sought to replace the democratic system of the Weimar Republic with a Soviet-style dictatorship of the proletariat. Although communist uprisings in 1919 and 1920 were crushed, the German Communist Party (KPD) emerged a...

consensus politics
Phrase used to describe the practice of government in Britain between 1945 and 1979. The phenomenon was observed by political scientists and media commentators; Britain's two major political parties, the Conservative Party and Labour Party, were in agreement, or consensus, over certain basic government policies in the decades after World Wa...

counter example
Method for disproving a statement by finding an example that is not true. For example, the statement: if x < 4 then x2 < 16, can be proved or disproved by inserting -5 as the value of x. When x = -5, x
coiling
In ceramics, a basic technique of forming pottery out of sausage-like lengths of clay. The pottery is built up in layers of coils into the required shape and height. Once the basic shape has been achieved, the surface can either remain corrugated, showing the coil structure, or smoothed. Coiling was the principle method used in pottery-maki...

configuration
(art) In art, the arrangement of individual elements and shapes within the content of an artwork, and the overall meaning when these elements are brought together in their relative context. A flower in one painting may have the relative meaning of symbolizing love and fertility, whereas in ano...

contour
(art) In art, a line that defines a shape more three-dimensionally than an ordinary outline in drawing. By changing the thickness and intensity (darkness), a contour line can give the impression of texture, shape, form, and spatial relationships between objects. A contour drawing, or line ...

colour wash
In painting, a thin, translucent layer of colour, usually in watercolour or India ink. The technique of colour washing is often used to provide a background to a picture, and is applied quickly using broad brushstrokes

conceit
In literature, an elaborate and, sometimes, far-fetched image, which extends a metaphor into as many layers of meaning as it will bear. Conceits thrive on relating apparently impossible objects or emotions. Shakespeare's Richard II attempts to compare his prison cell with the world. John Donne compares an icy garden to his frozen feelings a...

Council of the European Union
Main decision-making and legislative body of the European Union (EU). Member states are represented at council meetings by the ministers appropriate to the subject under discussion (for example, ministers of agriculture, environment, education, and so on). The presidency of the Council changes every six months and rotates in turn among the 25 E...

continuous tense
Verb form of the past tense, present and future tense, that expresses that an action continues, as opposed to it being finished

content
In art theory, the meaning of a work of art. The content of an artwork is not the same as its subject, such as a still life or landscape. Content includes such factors as the social or historical context of a piece, its subject and form, techniques used, and the message that the artist is trying to convey to the viewer. Features to be considered wh...

comic relief
In literature and the media, a common device employed in serious texts to relieve tension, and sometimes to provide antithesis or irony as a comment on more serious action. One that provides all three is the `gravedigger` scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet

connotation
Additional meaning or meanings carried by a word which exceed the obvious or literal definition. The most common usage is in metaphor. Calling someone a `sloth`, instead of meaning that the person looks like a sloth, uses the connotation of that animal with its characteristic slow movement, thus the metaphor is employed to suggest that th...

comedy of humours
Dramatic genre inspired by the theory of humours. Each character is the embodiment of a `humour` and what it represents, such as melancholy or anger. The most famous example of a comedy of humours is Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humour (1598). Comedies of humours are vehicles for satire, especially of materialistic...

comedy of ideas
Dramatic genre that combines comedy with political, philosophical, and controversial attitudes. The aim is to make an impact upon the audience's social conscience as well as upon their emotions. The Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw wrote a number of such plays, including Arms and the Man (1894), Devil's Discip...

comedy of manners
Dramatic genre that is generally a satire upon social attitudes, most often attacking superficiality and materialism. The genre has its roots in Restoration comedy, although there have been changes within the comedy of manners as a genre. The more romantic 18th- and early 19th-century works present the triumph of truth and virtue over vice ...

Cordillera Cantábrica
Spanish for the Cantabrian Mountains, a mountain range running along the north coast of Spain

Costa de Mosquitos
Spanish name for Mosquito Coast, an area of coast in Honduras and Nicaragua

commentary
Description or evaluation of an event or piece of work. In literary terms, a commentary can range from being a series of explanatory notes on a whole work (sometimes as notes alongside the text, but often in an introduction or appendix), to a full-length historical narrative. In the media, a commentary is a broadcast description of an event tak...

communion wafer
Round wafer used during the celebration of the Eucharist (Holy Communion, Mass) to represent the body of Jesus. They replace the real bread traditionally used in churches for Communion. The wafers often have an imprint of a crucifix or cross on them. When the priest consecrates the `bread` (wafer), some Christians believe it becomes the b...

commemoration
In the Free Church, the belief that the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is purely a memorial to the Last Supper, which Jesus ate with his disciples, rather than a re-offering or re-enactment of Jesus' sacrifice. The bread and wine serve as reminders of what Jesus did, and the emphasis is on fellowship. Through Holy Communion, Christians of t...

communion of saints
Another term for the Christian church community, favoured in particular by Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican Christians. It includes those Christians who are alive (the Church Militant) and those who have died and are in heaven (the Church Triumphant). The New Testament describes saints as people who are made holy by the work of the Holy Spiri...

concept keyboard
In computing, a keyboard containing a continuous surface that can be defined as anywhere from 1 to 256 keys. A wide variety of overlays are available from third-party manufacturers. One use of concept keyboards is to facilitate access to a computer for the disabled

coastal cliff
Click images to enlargeSteep slope rising from the sea to a considerable height, and consisting of either bare rock or an accumulation of deposited material such as clay. The nature of the cliff depends on a number of factors such as the nature of the rock (its strength, weaknesses in the rock and bedding planes), its exp...

coastal deposition
Click images to enlargeThe laying down of sediment (deposition) in a low-energy environment with constructive waves. Coastal deposition occurs where there is a large supply of material from cliffs, rivers, or beaches, longshore drift, and an irregular coastline. Geographical features include the spit, bar, beach, fore...

competition reaction
Chemical process that uses oxygen to compare the reactivity of metals, hydrogen, and carbon. A competition reaction is a redox reaction, in which one reactant is reduced and the other reactant oxidized. More reactive metals will compete for the oxygen combined to less reactive metals. By comparing how different metals compete for oxygen a reactivit...

contingency table
In data handling, a table listing information classified as variable according to two or more independent attributes. Such tables are used commonly in commerce, notably by insurance companies

Community Service Volunteers
UK organization which recruits volunteers into community work. CSV is the largest volunteer organization in the UK; over 100,000 people volunteer through CSV every year. Placements (ranging from four to twelve months) are available to people of any age, and no specific skills or qualifications are needed. Volunteers work in a variety of communi...

composite timber
Timber that has been reformed and glued to make products that have a variety of different properties. Manufactured timber has been developed to extend the range of timber products available. Manufactured timber falls into three main categories – laminated timber, particle boards, and fibreboards

coast
Meeting place of land and sea. The coast is changed by the physical processes of coastal erosion and coastal deposition, which include the action of waves, rain, wind, and frost

compression
(physics) Region of a sound wave where the particles of the medium through which it is travelling have been pushed close together, initially by the vibrating object that is the source of the sound. Sound waves consist of alternate regions of compressions and rarefactions travelling away from t...

colour separation
Process of splitting a full-colour image into separate colour layers to allow professional printing. Typically the minimum number of colours is three (cyan, magenta, and yellow) plus black. Graphics software is used to analyse the image and produce four different colour pictures that will recreate the original image when overlaid. This process ...

community service
In the US penal system, unpaid work in the service of the community (aiding children, the elderly, or the disabled), performed by a convicted person by order of the court as an alternative to prison

community punishment
In the UK penal system, unpaid work in the service of the community (aiding children, the elderly, or the disabled), performed by a convicted person by order of the court as an alternative to prison. It was known as community service until 2001

cool jazz
Style of jazz featuring soft tones and a subdued character, but with an intricate composition, that emerged in the USA during the late 1940s and early 1950s, especially on the West Coast. It was pioneered by trumpeter Miles Davis and adopted by many jazz greats including saxophonists Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, and Lester Young, and pianist Lennie T...

Cowen, Brian
Irish politician, Taoiseach (prime minister) from 2008. A member of the lower house of Ireland's parliament from the age of 24, representing the Republican centrist Fianna Fáil, he accumulated a wealth of ministerial experience before becoming Taoiseach in May 2008. He served under his close ally Albert Reynolds as labour minister (1992...

CPU
In computing, abbreviation for central processing unit

CPVE
Abbreviation for Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education, in the UK, an educational qualification introduced in 1986 for students over 16 in schools and colleges who want a one-year course of preparation for work or further vocational study

crane
(engineering) In engineering, a machine for raising, lowering, or placing in position heavy loads. The three main types are the jib crane, the overhead travelling crane, and the tower crane. Most cranes have the machinery mounted on a revolving turntable. This may be mounted on trucks or be se...

crocus
Click images to enlargeAny of a group of plants belonging to the iris family, with single yellow, purple, or white flowers and narrow, pointed leaves. They are native to northern parts of the Old World, especially southern Europe and Asia Minor. (Genus Crocus, family Iridaceae.) During the dry season of...

cryolite
Rare granular crystalline mineral (sodium aluminium fluoride), Na3AlF6, used in the electrolytic reduction of bauxite to aluminium. It is chiefly found in Greenland. In the extraction of aluminium from the ore bauxite (impure aluminium oxide), the alumina (pure aluminium oxide) has to be molten for elec...

critical mass
In nuclear physics, the minimum mass of fissile material that can undergo a continuous chain reaction. Below this mass, too many neutrons escape from the surface for a chain reaction to carry on; above the critical mass, the reaction may accelerate into a nuclear explosion

cress
Any of several plants of the cress family, characterized by a pungent taste. The common European garden cress (Lepidium sativum) is cultivated worldwide. (Genera include Lepidium, Cardamine, and Arabis; family Cruciferae.)

cranberry
Any of several trailing evergreen plants belonging to the heath family, related to bilberries and blueberries. They grow in marshy places and bear small, acid, crimson berries, high in vitamin C content, used for making sauce and jelly. (Genus Vaccinium, family Ericaceae.)

crab apple
Any of 25 species of wild apple trees, native to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Numerous varieties of cultivated apples have been derived from Malus pumila, the common native crab apple of southeastern Europe and central Asia. The fruit of native species is smaller and more bitter than that of cultivated varieties ...

Crab Nebula
Cloud of gas 6,000 light years from Earth, in the constellation Taurus. It is the remains of a star that, according to Chinese records, exploded as a supernova observed as a brilliant point of light on 4 July 1054. At its centre is a pulsar that flashes 30 times a second. It was named by Lord Rosse after its crablike shape

crystallography
Scientific study of crystals. In 1912 it was found that the shape and size of the repeating atomic patterns (unit cells) in a crystal could be determined by passing X-rays through a sample. This method, known as X-ray diffraction, opened up an entirely new way of `seeing` atoms. It has been found that many substances have a unit c...

crystal
Regular-shaped solid that reflects light. Examples include diamonds, grains of salt, and sugar. Particles forming a crystal are packed in an exact and ordered pattern. When this pattern is repeated many millions of times, the crystal is formed. Such an arrangement of particles, that is regular an...

crustacean
One of the class of arthropods that includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, woodlice, and barnacles. The external skeleton is made of protein and chitin hardened with lime. Each segment bears a pair of appendages that may be modified as sensory feelers (antennae), as mouthparts, or as swimming, walking, o...

Crick, Francis Harry Compton
English molecular biologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962, together with Maurice Wilkins and James Watson, for the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA and of the significance of this structure in the replication and transfer of genetic information. Using Wilkins's and others' discoveries, ...

crow
Any of 35 species of omnivorous birds in the genus Corvus, family Corvidae, order Passeriformes, which also includes choughs, jays, and magpies. Crows are usually about 45 cm/1.5 ft long, black, with a strong bill feathered at the base. The tail is long and graduated, and the wings are long and pointed, except in the jays and...

crossbill
Species of finch, genus Loxia, family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes, in which the hooked tips of the upper and lower beak cross one another, an adaptation for extracting the seeds from conifer cones. The red or common crossbill Loxia curvirostra is found in p...

crocodile
Click images to enlargeLarge scaly-skinned reptile with a long, low body and short legs. Crocodiles can grow up to 7 m/23 ft in length, and have long, powerful tails that propel them when swimming. They are found near swamps, lakes, and rivers in Asia, Africa, Australia, and Central America. They are fierce hunter...

cricket
(insect) In zoology, an insect belonging to any of various families, especially the Gryllidae, of the order Orthoptera. Crickets are related to grasshoppers. They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. The males make a chirping noise by rubbing together special areas on the forewing...

crane fly
Any fly of the family Tipulidae, with long, slender, fragile legs. They look like giant mosquitoes, but the adults are quite harmless. The larvae live in soil or water. Females have a pointed abdomen; males have a club-shaped one

crayfish
Freshwater decapod (ten-limbed) crustacean belonging to several families structurally similar to, but smaller than, the lobster. Crayfish are brownish-green scavengers and are found in all parts of the world except Africa. They are edible, and some species are farmed. There are 300–400 s...

crake
Any of several small birds of the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes, related to the corncrake

crab
Any decapod (ten-legged) crustacean of the division Brachyura, with a broad, rather round, upper body shell (carapace) and a small abdomen tucked beneath the body. Crabs are related to lobsters and crayfish. Mainly marine, some crabs live in fresh water or on land. They are alert carnivores and s...

crop rotation
System of regularly changing the crops grown on a piece of land. The crops are grown in a particular order to utilize and add to the nutrients in the soil and to prevent the build-up of insect and fungal pests. Including a legume crop, such as peas or beans, in the rotation helps build up nitrate in the soil, because the roots contain bacteria ...

crop
(zoology) In birds, the thin-walled enlargement of the digestive tract between the oesophagus and stomach. It is an effective storage organ especially in seed-eating birds; a pigeon's crop can hold about 500 cereal grains. Digestion begins in the crop, by the moisturizing of fo...

creep
In civil and mechanical engineering, the property of a solid, typically a metal, under continuous stress that causes it to deform below its yield point (the point at which any elastic solid normally stretches without any increase in load or stress). Lead, tin, and zinc, for example, exhibit creep at ordinary temperatures, as seen in the movement of...

crust
Rocky outer layer of the Earth, consisting of two distinct parts – the oceanic crust and the continental crust. The oceanic crust is on average about 10 km/6 mi thick and consists mostly of basaltic rock overlain by muddy sediments. By contrast, the continental crust is largely of granitic c...

Cretaceous
Period of geological time approximately 143–65 million years ago. It is the last period of the Mesozoic era, during which angiosperm (seed-bearing) plants evolved, and dinosaurs reached a peak. The end of the Cretaceous period is marked by a mass extinction of many lifeforms, most notably the dinosaurs. The north European chalk, which form...

craton
The relatively stable core of a continent that is not currently affected by tectonics along plate boundaries. Cratons generally consist of highly deformed metamorphic rock that formed during ancient orogenic explosions. Cratons exist in the hearts of all the continents, a typical example being the Canadian Shield

crater
(depression) Click images to enlargeBowl-shaped depression in the ground, usually round and with steep sides. Craters are formed by explosive events such as the eruption of a volcano or the impact of a meteorite. The Moon has more than 300,000 cr...