- Text: a means to convey meaning with words, written or spoken
Technology: tool that makes work easier
- Internet Age Words: viral, computerTo Prune, to calculate, reckoner?
Cloud – vast expansiveness of the internet
Tablet – touchscreen
Text – piece of writing to study; to text; a style of handwriting
Firehose – large stream of data
Tag – link to another person’s profile on social media
Catfish – person who sets up a false personal profile for fraudulent purposes
Mouse cord, cordless
Google – now a verb. 1 followed by a 100 zeros – googol.
Other words that evolved in meaning: Code, Firewall, File, Cursor, Browser - OED(a) Text (c1369): “The wording of anything written or printed; the structure formed by the words in their order; the very words, phrases, and sentences as written.”
(b.) Technology (1612): “The branch of knowledge dealing with the mechanical arts and applied sciences; the study of this.”
- Occurrence of terms: 1500-2019 Google Ngram
Rise of the word “technology” was steep but also corresponded with a rise in the use of “text” a few years later. “Text” remained higher than “technology” probably because it is now used as a verb “to text”. The word “technology” may have declined in use after the 2000s because it is perhaps referred to with more specific terms or type of technology: computer or smartphone or Alexa, etc.
- Questions:
- What does the etymology of these words suggest about their inherent meanings?
- What, for example, does textiles have to do with text?
- How is technology related to text?
- What does teche(teaching) have to do with technology?
- How has the usage of these terms evolved over the centuries? Consider, for example, how the term technology is used at present by ministries or departments of education. Consider also why many scholars and performers speak of performance (dramatic, filmic, and so on), graphic art, etc., as “text.”
- Can you identify historical events that might have influenced changes in the usage of these terms over time as evidenced in the Google Ngram search?