That Isn't a Word!
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So I learned a new word after I started at McAfee. Before you jump to conclusions, all I'll say is it is clean. It was created by the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region, India specifically. From the same people who brought us "do the needful", I present the latest word...upgradation. That's right. You read that right. People here told me how people in APAC use that all the time, somehow totally oblivious that it doesn't exist in the English language. My mind was blown when I was on a call with a guy and he said they were "ordering an upgradation kit" for their server. Took everything I had to not tell him "umm...that's not a word..." but considering I need my job, I left it alone. However, it's been bugging me for days, so I had to rant. LOL
Thanks,
A.J. -
Irregardless, it is a mute point.
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AJ, Are you fluent in Hindi? Would you butcher any words if you tried to learn Hindi in the next year or two?
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@IRJ said:
AJ, Are you fluent in Hindi? Would you butcher any words if you tried to learn Hindi in the next year or two?
This isn't misspeaking. This is straight up making $4!+ up!
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@ajstringham said:
upgradation
Let's see how many dictionaries don't agree with your assessment of it not being a word...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/upgradation
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/upgradation
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/upgradation
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/upgradationBoth of the leading Internet dictionaries and both of the leading, traditional English language dictionaries (Oxford and Cambridge) list it as a noun. Based on what makes you think that it is not a broadly accepted word?
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@ajstringham said:
This isn't misspeaking. This is straight up making $4!+ up!
I have to disagree, making stuff up would apply to claiming that it is not a word. I see no basis for claiming that it is not an English word. Just because you are not familiar with a word does not mean that it does not exist. All words start somewhere. This one is so established that even Cambridge lists it.
This is even more of a word that performant, which we use commonly in IT. Performant is a word, but only in the nascent stages of broad acceptance.
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I've even found the word in translation dictionaries...
http://www.shabdkosh.com/translate/upgradation/upgradation-meaning-in-Hindi-English
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Here are some examples of the word used in government official documents...
http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/schemes/TEQUPDetail.htm
http://www.schooleducation.uk.gov.in/pages/display/100-upgradation-opening-of-new-schools -
@scottalanmiller , when was it made a word?
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@ajstringham said:
@scottalanmiller , when was it made a word?
When people started using it. That's how words become words. It become formally accepted when Oxford documented. English is not French and does not have a single governing body, it is a living language. Oxford is the globally accepted standard for documenting the language in use. Cambridge is the accepted standard for recording when is most broadly considered the accepted language. Two different mandates. When they agree, it is as formally a word as it can be in the accepted sense.
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As the largest lexicon in spoken history, knowing all words in English is effectively impossible.
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@scottalanmiller said:
As the largest lexicon in spoken history, knowing all words in English is effectively impossible.
Which is why (as I understand it anyway) English is the hardest language to learn as there are so many words, and different words for the same thing, and 'same words' for different things.
Hmm... that there is a run on sentence..
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@g.jacobse said:
@scottalanmiller said:
As the largest lexicon in spoken history, knowing all words in English is effectively impossible.
Which is why (as I understand it anyway) English is the hardest language to learn as there are so many words, and different words for the same thing, and 'same words' for different things.
Hmm... that there is a run on sentence..
I remember when I was younger wondering how people had such a hard time with English. I was ignorant at the time. It wasn't until I took Spanish in school that I learned how structured even the other Latin-based languages are. You compare those to English and English is a cluster...
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@ajstringham said:
People here told me how people in APAC use that all the time,
Well, don't believe them. As an APAC resident, I'd like it to go on record that I don't use it all the time. In fact, I've never used it.
I may have heard it used once before but that was more than likely a sales rep whose native language was not English. -
@ajstringham said:
English is a cluster...
Fuster Cluck?
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@nadnerB said:
@ajstringham said:
People here told me how people in APAC use that all the time,
Well, don't believe them. As an APAC resident, I'd like it to go on record that I don't use it all the time. In fact, I've never used it.
I may have heard it used once before but that was more than likely a sales rep whose native language was not English.It's possible. The guy had a crazy thick accent.
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@ajstringham said:
I remember when I was younger wondering how people had such a hard time with English. I was ignorant at the time. It wasn't until I took Spanish in school that I learned how structured even the other Latin-based languages are. You compare those to English and English is a cluster...
English is a Germanic language, it is not Latin based at all. The Latin based family (called Romantic languages) are primarily French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romansh. English is closest to German, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Danish and Norse.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Icelandic
Well, that explains a lot
Icelandic is regarded as one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn -
@nadnerB said:
Icelandic is regarded as one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn
Right after English itself probably
Icelandic is actually nearly identical to Old English. Old English is so different from modern English that it looks like a foreign language. But take Beowulf to Iceland and while it is odd and bizarre, they can nearly read it. Icelandic is the closest to the English root language that lives today and basically remained as it is today for a thousand years or more. Really interesting.
