lectu ra 66 meyer mackintosh

Terminology Vol. 6(1), 2000. 111–138© John Benjamins Publishing Co.

When terms move into our everyday lives:An overview of de-terminologization*

Ingrid Meyer and Kristen Mackintosh

This article provides an overview of what can happen to a term when it tran-scends the boundaries of expert language and starts to be used by the generalpublic—a process we call de-terminologization. First, we analyze the semantic,grammatical, and pragmatic changes that terms undergo when they start to beused by laypersons. Second, we discuss the reasons why de-terminologizationoccurs. Third, we examine its lexical impact on general and specialized lan-guage. Finally,we discuss the practical implications of de-terminologization forthe day-to-day work of a terminographer.

Keywords: De-terminologization, semantics, knowledge society, pragmatics

1. Introduction

Normally, when one studies terms, it is useful to view them as highly “fixed”entities, marking clearly delineated conceptual spaces within a given domainof expertise. Opitz (1983: 60) has captured the essence of this approach elo-quently:

Regardless of their origin or method of construction, all terms aim at onecommon quality: a rigidly fixed obligatory range of meaning. And this isprecisely the significance of the expression “term”. As terminus, it denotesthe end in a line of changes and developments from which it is nowsafely—if forcibly—removed. What terms represent is the inventory, ornomenclature, of their underlying area of specialised pursuit. As soon asthe inventory changes, the terms may have to be reconsidered, but in themeantime nobody is expected to tamper with them.

112 Ingrid Meyer and Kristen Mackintosh

The “fixed” nature of terms, as they are used in expert discourse, is essentialto preserve expert knowledge and to ensure efficient communication of thisknowledge (Sager 1994). In this article, however, we shall be concerned notwith the fixedness of terms, but rather with the ways in which terminologicalmeaning and usage can “loosen” when a term captures the interest of the gen-eral public. In such a situation, a lexical item that was once confined to a fixedmeaning within a specialized domain is taken up in general language. We callthis process de-terminologization.1 Consider the following examples, takenfrom Canadian newspapers:

(1) Don’t hesitate to use the modern stand-alone pay toilets found on streetsthroughout the city if nature calls at a seemingly inopportune time.

(2) His company essentially consists of two virtual employees and a web sitethat gets a lot of traffic.

(3) Yeltsin asked the Duma to give the country’s crucial chief banker’s job toGerashchenko, a recycled official who was fired from an earlier govern-ment.

(4) But watch the stock market—and Canada’s anorexic dollar, which maycome under attack by merciless currency traders.

All the words highlighted in these examples are semantically related to termsin various domains—computing for (1) and (2), the environment and medicinefor (3) and (4) respectively. Clearly, however, these words have undergonesignificant meaning changes in their migration from terminological to general-language usage:

1. Stand-alonein its terminological, computer sense, modifies hardware andsoftware (a stand-alone computeris one that is not connected to a network).In its new general-language uses, stand-alonemodifies anything with somekind of independent status (stand-alone banks, stand-alone stories, evenstand-alone toilets!).

2. Virtual in its computer senses occurs mainly in the compounds virtualmem-ory (a kind of simulated memory) and virtual reality (a computer-simulatedenvironment). In its general-language uses, virtual has become a buzzwordthat one finds in combinations as varied as virtual sex, virtual classroom,virtual travel, virtual currency, etc.2

3. Recycling in the environmental domain refers to a method by which

An Overview of De-terminologization 113

wasteproducts (paper, glass, etc.) are treated to recover resources for humanuse. In general language, it has taken on the broader meaning of ‘re-use’,and can be applied not only to things, but even to people, as in the exampleabove.

4. Anorexiain the medical domain refers to a life-threatening illness. In gen-eral language, it has come to designate the notion of ‘smallness’ or ‘weak-ness’ for various types of entities and processes (e.g. an anorexic offenceinsports, an anorexic attention span)

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the phenomenon of de-terminologization and of its significance for terminography. In Sections 2–4,we analyze a variety of semantic, grammatical and pragmatic changes thatmay occur during de-terminologization. In Section 5, we examine the extra-linguistic and linguistic factors that cause and promote this process. In Sec-tion 6, we summarize the lexical impact of de-terminologization on general andspecialized language. In Section 7, we conclude by discussing the implicationsof de-terminologization for the practical work of a terminographer. All ourexamples are based on “real” speech and writing. Most are taken from a corpusof Canadian newspapers.

We employ termin its traditional sense of a lexical item as used in a particu-lar domain of expertise. We use wordwhen referring to general-language us-age. Lexical itemwill serve as a generic for both.

2. De-terminologization and meaning

When a term migrates into general language, it may undergo two types of se-mantic changes. On the one hand, the essence of the terminological sense (i.e.its domain sense) may be retained (2.1). On the other hand, semantic changescan be more substantial, involving a significant dilution of the terminologicalsense (2.2). Our discussion will focus more on the latter category, which isreally the heart of this article, having important implications for the grammati-cal and pragmatic aspects of de-terminologization discussed later.

2.1 Retention of fundamental domain sense

In the majority of cases, when a term starts to be used in general language, theessenceof the concept perceived by laypersons is similar to that perceived by


experts. Inotherwords,when laypersons refer to theconcept, they are still evok-ing its basic domain sense. Consider medical terms like HIV, tamoxifen, buli-mia,necrotizing fascitis(= flesh-eating disease),GIFT,MRI, or environmentalterms likeCFC gasesand greenhouse effect. In cases such as these, terms passinto general language because the reality that they designate for experts is alsoof great interest to a significant proportion of the general population.

Laypersons, then, understand the essence of the concept in much thesame way that the experts did. For example, bulimia is understood as a life-threatening eating disorder by experts and laypersons alike. Because the under-lying domain sense appears fundamentally unchanged, lexicologists andlexicographers sometimes refer to such lexical items (even when used ingeneral language) as terms. In this article, however, we prefer to call themde-terminologized words in the context of their general-language use: theyundergo minor conceptual shifts as they cross the border between specializedand general language, and are therefore not fully terminologicalin the strictestsense of this term.Shallower meaning. The primary change that occurs involves the depthof

the layperson’s understanding of the concept. The public’s understanding ofbulimia as a life-threatening eating disorder, for example, is much shallowerthan that of the medical expert, who would more likely associate the conceptwith etiology, symptomatology, treatment options, etc. 3

The layperson’s shallower understanding of specialized lexical items shapesthedefinitionsattached to themingeneral-languagedictionaries(Béjoint1988).The latter normally aim at a definition that describes the concept in less depththan a terminological dictionary would, avoiding technical terms in the defini-tion and focussing on elements of particular interest to laypersons. Kalliokuusiand Varantola (1998, 2000) illustrate the differences between terminologicaland general-language dictionaries using the example of a mushroom, the falsemorel, which is poisonous if not cooked properly. For a terminological dictio-nary, the authors propose a definition based on a biological taxonomy: “Anoperculate unitucate (macro)fungus of the order Pezizales, of the classAscomycetes”. This definition includes many technical terms, and assumesbiological domain knowledge. For a general-language dictionary, the authorspropose “a poisonous mushroom (Gyromitra esculenta) which closely resem-bles a brown ‘brain’ perched on a white stalk”. This definition focusses on theinformation that is of greatest immediate interest to laypersons, namely whatthe mushroom looks like, and that it is poisonous.


Added connotations. As well as being more superficial, the layperson’sunderstanding of a term may be coloured by connotations that were not presentin the expert’s original understanding. Savory (1967: 45) discusses the exampleof atomic, which in its original terminological sense refers to anything relatedto atoms. Laypersons, however, tend to associate atomicwith Hiroshima andatomic bombs. Similarly, in the case of peroxide, laypersons (particularlywomen) tend to associate this chemical with hair colouring.

Despite the various changes discussed above, all the de-terminologizedwords in this category designate the same fundamental concept in generallanguage as their equivalent terms do in specialized discourse. Sometimes,however, words in this category may undergo another semantic shift, becomingmore remote from their original terminological senses. Take anorexic, forexample. On the one hand, this word can be used by laypersons to mean ‘suf-fering from the life-threatening eating disorder called anorexia’. On the otherhand, anorexiccan also be used colloquially in a more figurative sense to mean‘extremely thin’, and with further shifting, to mean ‘weak’, as in anorexic plotand anorexic Canadian dollar.4

While the first use of anorexicfalls into the category of words discussedabove, the figurative uses are stronger cases of de-terminologization, involvingsignificant dilution of the original domain sense. This type of semantic changeis discussed next.

2.2 Dilution of original domain sense

In this category, the de-terminologized word has “loosened” so much that it nolonger designates the same concept that the original term did. In other words,when laypersons use the word, it is not with the intention of designating thebasicdomain senseof theoriginal term.Meaning transformationsmaymanifestthemselves in a surprisingly wide variety of ways. Let us re-examine our firstfour examples as well as two others (bandwidth, flatline).

2.2.1 Stand-aloneIn its computing sense, this adjective normally modifies computer hardware(stand-alonecomputer,stand-aloneworkstation). In its de-terminologizeduses,stand-alonetypically has nothing to do with computers. As illustrated below,almost any concept that has some notion of ‘independent status’ can be quali-fied as stand-alone:


(1) Don’t hesitate to use the modern stand-alone pay toilets found on streetsthroughout the city if nature calls at a seemingly inopportune time.

(5) Most of its 23 chapters can be read as stand-alone stories

(6) He promised to create a stand-alone new bank that would lend small busi-ness some $40 billion by 2004.

(7) The EI [employment insurance] account is not a stand-alone, segregatedinsurance fund. Its payroll tax revenue is part of the government’s generalrevenue stream.

2.2.2 RecycleIn its de-terminologized usage, recycleseems to designate the same generalsense of ‘transform’ that is intended in its environmental, waste-managementuses. However, the objects of recycling can include not only concrete items, butalso many types of creative events or trends (as in (8) and (9)). Recycling peo-ple is also a common theme, as we had already seen in (3).

(8) On its own primitive level, Saturday Night Fever does work—and thatplaces it a notch or so higher than most stage recyclings of film musicals.

(9) Whether you’re a Baby Spice, a Scary Spice or just naturally spicy inyour personal style, this recycling of ’70s fashion is the thing for poshgirls.

(3) Yeltsin asked the Duma to give the country’s crucial chief banker’s jobto Gerashchenko, a recycled official who was fired from an earlier gov-ernment.

2.2.3 BandwidthBandwidthhas terminological senses in the domains of telecommunicationsand computing, the latter sense derived from the former. In its de-terminol-ogized uses, bandwidthhas come to designate various aspects of ‘capacity’(space, time, energy, intellect). In some cases, just one aspect is involved(‘space’ in (10)), while in other cases, a variety of aspects come into play(‘time’ and ‘intellect’ in (11), ‘energy’, and ‘time’ in (12)).

(10) Newspaper bandwidth should not be wasted on a careless bunch ofadults; instead, feel sorry for the family, true victims of tragedy.


(11) ‘‘Instead of asking if we have time to do something or aptitude to handlea project, [clients] want to know if we have the ‘bandwidth,’’’ said ChrisLind, an executiveat thepublic relations agency,Neale-MayandPartners.

(12) The most common cry for help these days in Silicon Valley comes, as youmight expect, in the language of techno-speak. Ellie Nelson, a humanresources executive at 3Com, knows it well because she hears it oftenfrom her employees. ‘‘They throw up their hands and say, ‘I’m out ofbandwidth,’’’ she explains, meaning at wits’ end, out of capacity, andout of time.

2.2.4 AnorexicIn its original, medical sense, anorexicmeans ‘suffering from the disorderof anorexia nervosa’. In general language, it can be applied more loosely topeople who are simply very thin but not suffering from anorexia (13). It mayalso modify things which are small, as in (14). In other cases, it modifies thingsthat are weak, or lacking substance in some way, such as the anorexic offencein (15), the anorexic plotin (16), and the anorexic dollarin (4).

(13) Rhythmic gymnastics has been chided as a non-event, performed byanorexic little girls wearing too much makeup.

(14) Remember the Thunderbird? Dead as a Dodo bird. The entry-levelanorexic Aspire? Forget about it. [The Thunderbird and Aspire are bothcars].

(15) Hamilton [i.e. the city’s football team] had an anorexic offence last year.

(16) The plot [of the film] is positively anorexic.

(4) But watch the stock market—and Canada’s anorexic dollar, which maycome under attack by merciless currency traders.

2.2.5 FlatlineA medical term stemming from the early eighties, flatline in its terminologicalsense is usually intransitive, and means ‘to register no activity on a heart moni-tor’. It was formed with reference to the flatteningof the peaks on the line dis-played on a heart monitor. According to the Oxford Dictionary of New Words(1997), flatlinemoved into general language in 1990 with the release of a filmcalled Flatliners. In the film, a group of medical students (the flatliners) assist


each other in having near-death experiences. A student’s heart would bestopped (i.e. he/she would flatline), then would be restarted a few seconds later.

In its de-terminologized usage, flatline and its derivatives have undergonesignificant meaning shifts. Predictably, some uses highlight the feature of‘death’ (though in a metaphorical way), as in (17), where flatlinemeans ‘tocome to an end’. Also predictably, some uses focus on the feature of ‘flatten-ing’, as in (18) and (19). More surprisingly, other uses are extremely distantfrom the original sense, denoting things that are ‘flat’, ‘lacking in sparkle’,‘dull’, as in (20) and (21). While some of the semantic actants are things thatcould be graphed (17–19), this feature is lost in other cases (20–21).

(17) ABC’s Good Morning America seemed ever closer to flatlining, as theonce-dominant wakeup program continued to be clobbered by NBC’sToday.

(18) The two biggest trends are the flatline for the province’s population fig-ures, staying steady at about one million people, and the increasing ageof that population.

(19) College enrolment has fallen by 45 per cent and university enrolment hasflatlined.

(20) ‘‘Wooden’’ is too lively to describe the flat-liner delivery of the actors.

(21) Beautifully shot by veteran cinematographer Allen Daviau, even thewarmest interiors look dark and foreign, generating the tension in whatis otherwise a flatliner of a film.

2.2.6 VirtualIn computing,virtual is used in a number of terminological compounds, prin-cipally virtual memoryand virtual reality. It is clearly the latter concept,however, that launched virtual on its path of de-terminologization.Virtual real-ity is a technology that “permits people to behave as if they were somewherethey are not” (Laurel 1995: 90). In its strictest terminological sense, virtualreality requires users to wear specialized input/output devices (head-mounteddisplay, sensor-laden gloves) that allow them to “experience” a simulated worldin an interactive way, without a computer screen.

Unlike stand-alone, the de-terminologized usage of virtual is often stillclosely tied to the domain of computing. Interestingly, it has acquired a particu-larly strong link to the Internet, which was not part of the original meaning of


virtual reality. In a detailed analysis of virtual presented elsewhere (Meyer,Mackintosh, and Varantola 1997), we have argued that the de-terminologizeduses of virtual typically involve various combinations of three semantic fea-tures: [+internet], [+simulated co-presence] (participants linked by computerinstead of physically), and [+dynamic] (created for specific purpose and forlimited time). Consider the following examples:

(22) virtual application(23) virtual sex, virtual classroom, virtual travel(24) virtual corporation, virtual employee

The three semantic features involved in the de-terminologized uses of virtualmay be “activated” alone or in combination: virtual application(a computerapplication that runs on the Internet) involves only the [+internet] features;virtual sex, virtual classroomand virtual travel all involve [+internet] and[+simulated co-presence], a particularly strong feature combination forvirtual;virtual corporationandvirtual employeeinvolve all three features ([+dynamic]coming into the meaning because virtual corporations are set up for onelimited-time business opportunity).

2.2.7 SummaryThiscategoryofde-terminologizedwords is semantically interesting forseveralreasons. First, when laypersons use words in this category, they do not intendto designate the original domain sense, but rather a greatly diluted form of it.For example, when people speak of HIV, they are still referring to a medicalconcept. In contrast, when they use bandwidthor anorexicin the examplesabove, they are no longer referring to a computing or a medical concept, re-spectively. This does not always mean, however, that the originating domain“disappears” completely from the de-terminologized meaning. Rather, it maybe more or less present depending on the lexical item: virtual, for example, stillretains a strong meaning element of ‘computers’ in almost all uses, whilestand-alonetypically does not.

Second, there appears to be a wide variety of ways in which the originalterminological meaning “dilutes”. In some cases, it is simply a matter of anextension of the original sense, normally involving a broadening of possiblesemanticactants. In its terminological sense, for example,stand-alonemodifiedany computer that was independent of a more powerful computer. The de-terminologized sensehasbeendiluted tomean simply ‘independent from’,with


the actant no longer restricted to a computer. Recycle, in its environmentalsense, refers to ‘transforming waste material into something else’, whereas inits de-terminologized sense, it can refer to transforming almost anything, notjust waste material. Finally, bandwidthin its computing sense refers to the‘capacity’ of a communications channel. In its de-terminologized sense, it canrefer to other types of capacity, e.g. intellectual, emotional.

In other cases, we find that the extension of the basic terminological meaningcan be seen as a continuum of extensions, some closer to the original meaning,and some further away. Anorexic, for example, diluted its original meaningfrom ‘thinness due to a medical condition’ to simply ‘thinness’ (anorexic gym-nasts). A further dilution occurs from ‘thinness’ to ‘smallness’ (anorexic cars).Yet another dilution occurs from ‘physical smallness’ to ‘non-physical small-ness’, which can also be expressed as ‘weakness’ or ‘lack of substance’ (ano-rexic dollar, anorexic plot).

Finally, in some cases it appears that certain “clusters” of de-terminologizedmeanings appear, each cluster based on one semantic feature of the terminolog-ical sense. With flatline, for example, we noted a cluster of uses centeredaround a metaphorical sense of ‘death’ (flatlining TV show) and anothercentered around the notion of ‘flattening’ (flatlining population figures). Someuses still involve potential ‘graphability’, while others do not. With virtual, wenoted uses centered around the notions of ‘Internet’, ‘simulated co-presence’and ‘dynamic’, and even clusters activating certain combinations of these.

Finally, while dilution is clearly the overwhelming dynamic here (i.e. ele-ments of the original meaning are “lost”), it should be noted that sometimes, de-terminologization involves theadditionof a meaning element not present in theoriginal terminological sense. As noted also for the previously described cate-gory of words (see Section 2.1), this category of words may assume connota-tions that were not associated with the original term. For example, downloadin its terminological sense means ‘to transfer data from a larger computer (e.g.a server) to a small computer, via the Internet’. Recently, downloadhas ex-tended this meaning to ‘transferring responsibilities from a higher to a lowerlevel’, as in:

(25) The Liberal health critic is accusing the government of downloadinghealth-care costs to the public.

In this new sense, the objects of downloading are overwhelmingly negative


(costs, responsibilities). This negative connotation is not present in the termino-logical sense.

3. De-terminologization and grammar

When de-terminologization is of the latter type—i.e. significant dilution oforiginating domain sense—it may be accompanied by grammatical changesof various types. Changes involving nouns, verbs, adjectives/adverbs, andprepositions are discussed below.

3.1 Nouns

De-terminologized nouns are sometimes used verbally. Consider the followingexamples of bookmark, deriving from its Internet sense:

(26) The East Coast Music awards kind of bookmarks our career so far.

(27) He should be savouring the last few warm breezes of summer right aboutnow, remembering the heft of history in his fingers, bookmarking thesights and sounds of one of the great closing chapters in sports.

(28) And some other events to bookmark this week: Tomorrow GordonThiessen, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, will testify before theHouse of Commons Finance Committee.

Verbal usage was already part of bookmark’s terminological sense (one book-marksweb sites). The de-terminologized examples above are neverthelessstrikingbecausebookmark’soriginalgeneral-languagesensewasnotexpressedverbally.

3.2 Verbs

Flatline, discussed in Section 2.2.5, is a good example of a verb that canundergomanygrammaticalshiftsuponde-terminologizing.Flatlinein themed-ical domain was used primarily as an intransitive verb, as in “the patientflatlinedtwice during surgery”. In its de-terminologized usage flatlinemay beused transitively:


(29) With these school board changes, we canflatline the assimilation processand probably see more people being able to operate in both languages.

Verb-to-noun shifts have occurred as well, with the nominal use of flatlinein compound constructions, and with the derivative form flatliner:

(30) To those who dismiss embalmers and undertakers as ghoulish flatlinemerchants, Danziger makes swift response.

(31) Beautifully shot by veteran cinematographer Allen Daviau, even thewarmest interiors look dark and foreign, generating the tension in whatis otherwise a flatliner of a film.

Finally, verb-to-adjective shifts can be observed, when flatline is used in theextended sense of ‘dull’:

(32) In take after take, she delivers the line with exactly the same wooden,flatline tonality, mouthing the four words with equally emphasizedinflection.

When the meaning of a verb shifts so that a process becomes an entity, wemay see shifts from gerundial to regular noun use, as with recyclingin (33),used in the sense of ‘the items to be recycled, contained in a designatedrecycling box’.

(33) Somebody didn’t take out the recycling.

3.3 Adjectives and Adverbs

Virtual/virtually. In its original general-language uses, virtual is an attributiveadjective, e.g. a virtual dictator, but not *the dictator was virtual. Predicativeuse of virtual becomes possible with its de-terminologized form, as in:

(34) My travels are virtual these days.[travels are done via the Internet]

(35) The meeting will have to be virtual.[the participants will not be physically co-present; co-presence will besimulated using videoconferencing, Internet, etc.]

Virtual reality has also given birth to a new sense of the adverb virtually, asin to travel virtuallyand to interact virtually. In its original general-languageusage, virtually took the same sentence position as almost, as in he virtually


disappeared. In its de-terminologized uses, virtually follows the verb.Mega.In its original, general-language sense, megawas used as an attrib-

utive prefix, as in megalith and megaphone. In its new de-terminologizeduses,megacan be used as a predicative adjective (36, 37), and even as anadverb (38):

(36) Rosemary Conley’s Shape Up for Summerwill be mega too. It is herfirst one not published in January, and the first to deal specifically withthe bikini in mind.

(37) Why not call our fantastic computer game review line or our cheat andtips computer line—it’s totally mega!!

(38) The two top men at the company—John and David, who are greatgrandsons of the founder—are mega rich.

3.4 Prepositions

When a lexical item de-terminologizes, it is not necessarily accompanied by thesame preposition required by its terminological sense. Consider download, forexample. In its computer uses, one typically downloads data froma larger com-puter (for example, a web server) to a smaller computer (a personal computer,for instance). In its de-terminologized sense of ‘transferring responsibilitiesfrom a higher to a lower level’ (see Section 2.2.7), downloadmay be followedby to as in (39), but it is also used with onor on to:

(39) The Liberal health critic is accusing the government of downloadinghealth-care costs to the public.

(40) Municipal leaders say their relationship with the province is improvingafter several years of provincial cost-cutting and downloading on themunicipalities.

(41) Rather than looking for the resolve needed to ensure B.C. remains a goodplace for working British Columbians, their solutions for the most partseem to be downloading on to workers.

Prepositional shifts such as these may be motivated by one or both of twofactors. On the one hand, it is possible that the writer simply is not aware of thepreposition used for the terminological sense. On the other hand, the writer maybe influenced by a similar general-language sense, and adopt the corresponding


preposition. In the case of downloading, for example, one might speculate thatonand on toare being used in analogy with offloador unload(one offloads onsomeone, not to someone)

4. De-terminologization and pragmatics

Many de-terminologized lexical items—in particular, those that undergo a sig-nificant dilution of the original domain sense (see Section 2.2)—are used morecolloquially than theyare in specializeddiscourse. In some cases, usageborderson slang. This pragmatic shift can be seen in the simplification of signifiers onthe one hand, and in playful, humorous usage on the other hand.

4.1 Simplification of signifier

Abbreviation. De-terminologized items are often used in an abbreviated form.Examples include facsimile (fax), detoxification (detox), amniocentesis(amnio), meg(megabyte), schizophrenic(schizo) and influenza(flu). In somecases, an abbreviation already existed for the terminological form, while inother cases, the abbreviation is a consequence of its popularized use.5

Alternate lexical item. Some terms have a synonymous, less “scientific”sounding equivalent, which may be used in place of the original term. Thisphenomenon is widespread in medicine and botany, for example. As an illustra-tion,necrotizing fascitisis now referred to by the media as flesh-eating disease.Other examples includebovinespongiformencephalopathy(madcowdisease),public interest immunity certificate(gag order) andAurora Borealis(NorthernLights).

4.2 Playful and Humorous Usage

De-terminologized items that undergo a significant dilution of their domainsensesmaybeusedplayfullyandcreatively,oftenwiththeintentionofproducinga humorous effect. One gets the feeling that language users like to test just howfar a meaning can be stretched for effect. Consider the following examples:

(42) When do you think you’ll be upgrading my allowance?[asked by a pre-teen of his parent]


(43) Yours virtually, [found at the end of an email message]

(44) Recycle Yourself. Become A Donor.[motto of an advocacy group for organ transplants]

(45) Is reading in the bathroom considered multi-tasking?

(46) The [cosmetic] procedure is fast, knife-free, and won’t reverse-engineeryour face into some eerily young version of yourself.

(47) These are the places where we wait endlessly for a bartender to serve uswhat turns out to be an anorexic martini.

Some cases of word-play involve allusions to the originating terminologicalsenses. This is the case, for example, of virtual, which is often used in contextsthat play on virtual reality:

(48) There’s something deeply rooted in the Canadian character that dictatesa deck must be made of wood; wood is still the real thing in a world thatgets more virtual all the time.

(49) One of my actual sons, who has doubled as a virtual son ever since hediscovered computers.

Other examples of word-play are classic cases of puns:

(50) Horticultural producers will offer their wares today at the markets, not aminute too soon for winter-weary Montrealers itching to reboot theirgardens. [spring gardening requires boots]

Finally, word-play may be based on lexical imitation, involving new itemsthat are created in analogy with a trendy, de-terminologized one. The followingexamples illustrate lexical imitation of anorexiaandmulti-tasking:

(51) “People get obsessed about their home, about its appearance,” she says.“It’s almost like anorexia. I call it homerexia—never quite perfectenough.”

(52) It’s hard to see Adams [creator ofDilbert, the cartoon series] as a corpo-rate sellout when he comes up with such inspired concepts as “multi-shirking,” the oppositional answer to multi-tasking.


5. Why does de-terminologization occur?

The migration of terms into general language is by no means a new phe-nomenon: it is well known that some terms, originally used only by a com-munity of specialists, are later taken up by a broader language community.While de-terminologization clearly has a long history, many researchers havenoted that it has increased in the twentieth century. In the words of Savory(1967: 63):

The new words that have arisen since the beginning of the twentiethcentury provide something of a contrast with those of its predecessor, inthat a larger proportionof them are familiar outside the laboratory. Thepublic, which cared little for the fundamental principles of physics or bot-any or any other science as such, is now much more keenly alive to theeffects which scientific advances may have on their individual lives. Anydiscovery that is not too remotely academic is likely to provoke interestand discussion, to be heard on the radio and seen on television, with agenuine attempt to grasp and to use the new terms in which the noveltiesare described.

Whenlexical itemsde-terminologize,general-languagedictionariesmayaddthem as new terminological senses in their dictionaries, along with labels toindicate the originating domains. The handling of terminological senses in gen-eral-language dictionaries was traditionally a peripheral concern for lexicogra-phers. In recent years, however, they have become aware of a sharp increase inthe number of terms that interest the users of their dictionaries. In the words ofLandau (1974: 241):

At a conservative estimate, over 40 percent of the entries in an unabridgeddictionary are for such terms; in college and desk-sized dictionaries, thepercentage is smaller, perhaps 25–35, but it is still very considerable.

Why does de-terminologization occur? And why does it appear to be on theincrease? These questions are addressed below.

5.1 Emergence of the knowledge society

The recent increase in de-terminologization can best be explained by fun-damental changes occurring in modern society. We live in a world where


specialized knowledge has replaced manual labour as the driving force behindeconomic development. Peter Drucker, the famous economist, has dubbed thisnew era the knowledge society(Drucker 1993). In this knowledge society, peo-ple need to be aware of scientific and technical developments if they are to beproductive “knowledge workers”.

Computing is by far the best example of a specialized domain that is becom-ing critical in our everyday lives. However, other domains of expertise such aseconomics, environmental studies, genetics, and healthcare are also of greatinterest to the general public. Indeed, it appears that the public’s appetite fordomain knowledge of all kinds is voracious: witness, for example, the popular-ity of the “For Dummies” books, one of the best-selling publications of the1990s. Although the series made its debut in computing topics, it rapidlymoved into hundreds of other domains of knowledge that interest the public(Bellafante 1998).

The “For Dummies” series is just one example of the many ways in whichspecialized knowledge is percolating into ever more aspects of our everydaylives. Lexically speaking, this implies that increasing numbers of terms migrateinto general language.

5.2 Specific extra-linguistic events

Sometimes de-terminologization can be triggered by a specific extra-linguisticevent. As we already noted earlier, flatlinemoved into general language afterthe word appeared in the title of a popular film.

Events that have broad political or economic repercussions are commontriggers of de-terminologization. Canada’s conversion to the metric system inthe 1970s was a good example. Lexical items such asCelsius, centigrade, kilo-metre, centimetre, etc. that used to be considered technical terms by most Cana-dians have now become everyday words. In effect, almost any event that ob-tains extensive media coverage may trigger de-terminologization. After theChernobyl disaster, for example, becquerel(a unit measuring radioactivity)came to the public’s attention through media reports.

5.3 Nature of lexical items

Is it possible that certain lexical items, because of their nature, are more likelyto become popular than others? Items which are simple (and “user-friendly” in


other ways) probably have a higher likelihood of de-terminologizing than thosewhich are not.

Take computing, for example, which features many “user-friendly” lexicalitems. Their friendliness stems first of all from the fact that many are re-usesof existing general-language senses (e.g.mouse, desktop, boot,mega,mailbox,domain, virtual,windows). Furthermore, many are highly metaphorical, whichcontributes to their user-friendliness since, by their very nature, metaphorsconvey complex, unknown concepts via simple, known ones.

Other indications that simple terms may have more de-terminologizationpotential come from the medical domain. By tradition, medical terms havegenerally been complicated multi-word items, often based on Latin. As notedin Section 4.1, those that migrate into popular usage are often abbreviated (in-fluenza→ flu, anorexia nervosa→ anorexia, schizophrenic→ schizo, amnio-centesis→ amnio). In other cases, the non-Latin form is preferred (bovinespongiform encephalopathy→mad cow disease, carcinoma→ cancer).

As we move into the knowledge society, we suspect that experts willincreasingly name new concepts in such a way as to facilitate their eventualde-terminologization. This type of conscious naming is, of course, not a newphenomenon. Isaac Asimov (1964: 61), for example, discusses the evolutionof the term cortisone:

CompoundEcanbecalled11-dehydro-17-hydroxycorticosterone.But thisis too long, especially since, in 1948, it was discovered at the Mayo Clinicthat Compound E could give amazing relief in some types of arthritis.Anticipating much use of the name, Kendall [a biochemist at the MayoFoundation] and his group shortened it by taking certain letters out of thelong name and reducing it to just cortisone.

As we have argued in more detail elsewhere (Meyer, Zaluski, and Mackin-tosh 1997), conscious, simple naming—particularly in the form of meta-phors—is very much part of the computer world. In computing, metaphors aidin palliating technostress by allowing computer users to conceptualize a poten-tially complex concept in terms of a simple, well-known one. Indeed, softwaredevelopers have become keenly aware of the marketing potential of metaphors.Hence the many metaphorical terms found in the vocabulary of user interfaces,such as desktop, wallpaper,menu, file, to name just a few.

In summary, while the formof a lexical item is certainly not the only factorinfluencingits likelihoodofde-terminologizing—theprevious twofactorsmen-


tioned in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 are probably more important—there are manycases in which a simple, user-friendly form is at least a facilitator in the pro-cess. Furthermore, certain terms appear to be deliberatelyformed in a user-friendly way. Perhaps we may see more of this approach to term formation asexperts in this knowledge society become increasingly aware that certain con-cepts are likely to capture the interest of the general public.

5.4 Nature of discourse

Certain types of discourse are particularly rich in de-terminologized usage,notably usage that is playful, or that involves stretching of meaning for specialeffect. We have already noted in Section 4 that colloquial (spoken and written)discourse is more likely than formal discourse to adopt this type of de-terminologized usage. In written discourse, we have found it to be particularlyfrequent in newspaper sports reporting. This is perhaps because sports articlescover a highly restricted range of topics, and can therefore become repetitiveif writers do not adopt new words. As an illustration, consider the followingexamples:

(53) Hamilton had a notable defence last year but the anorexic offence hadlittle chance of converting turnovers into points.

(54) The Green Riders have missed the playoffs four times in the last fiveyears and are coming off their second straight loss. “It’s too early to giveup,” said corner Todd McMillon. “It’s too early to flat-line.”

6. The linguistic impact of de-terminologization

Thus far in our article, we have portrayed de-terminologization as a rather sim-ple, one-way path, where the starting pointis a fixed terminological sense ina given domain, and the end-pointis a related, but looser, sense in general lan-guage. In reality, the movement between general-language and specializedlanguage is more complex than this (see Opitz 1982: 1896 and Sager 2000: 527).At this point, we would like to explore some of the subtleties of the de-terminologization process, in terms of its broader lexical impact on generallanguage (6.1) and on specialized language (6.2).


6.1 Impact on general language

When de-terminologization involves a substantial dilution of the domain sense(see Section 2.2), we considered that we were dealing with one or several newsenses of the word in general language. For example, the de-terminologizedanorexicacquired a new general-language sense of ‘small’ or ‘weak’, which isdistinct from (though related to) its specialized medical sense.

It is important to note that in many cases, an older general-language sensealready existed. In other words, the terminological sense derives from ageneral-language sense (a common term formation process). For example,virtual has a general-language sense of ‘almost’ (virtual standstill, virtualdictator). This sense was borrowed and modified in a number of domains, in-cluding computing, and clearly underlies the meaning of virtual reality. Theoriginal general-language sense of virtual of course still existed when virtualde-terminologized. In the case of virtual and many other words, the newde-terminologized sense therefore co-existsin general language with an older,general-language sense of the same lexical item.

When senses co-exist in this way, the older, general-language sense is some-times “revived” as a result of the trendiness of the de-terminologized word.This revival is seen in an increased frequency of usage of the original word-sense. Considermegaas a simple example. In the days before computing, theprefixmegahad a general-language sense of ‘great’, ‘large’8, but its frequencywas not very high. When it terminologized into computing,megaacquired themore specialized sense of ‘bigger by a factor of 220 (i.e. about one million)’.These days, megais still used in its original general-language sense of ‘verybig’, but much more frequently because of its association with computing. Onefinds, for example,mega-store,mega-project, mega-show, etc. It appears thatbecause of its buzzword status, people are using megain contexts where theypreviously might have preferred other words such as large.

Sometimes the original, general-language word is used not just more fre-quently, but also rather creatively, at times even inappropriately. Consider thecase of delete, which already had a general-language sense of eliminatebeforethe days of computing. As a result of its buzz-word status, deletenow turns upin quite unexpected contexts:

(55) Start with the osso buco recipe above, butdelete the tomatoes and replacethe Marsala with an equal amount of dry white vermouth.


(56) Novosel was so impressed he went back this year for laser work to deletethe fatty deposits on his eyelids. And now he’s considering zapping someage lines.

(57) Mayor Walter Fitzgerald urged them not todelete the boarded-up fire hallafter complaining last week that the city needs to unload some of its un-needed inventory.

(58) Manners said his union didn’t buy that line and said there were otherways of meeting the new rules than adding an extra class and makingother deletions in staffing.

Clearly, in the pre-computing age, none of these contexts would have useddelete. Rather, one might have found leave outin (55), removein (56), demol-ish in (57), and reductionsin (58).

Another example of unexpected, rather creative use was found on a restau-rant menu, which offered virtual cheesecake(by which was meant a low-fatcheesecake). One might argue that this context is consistent with the original,‘almost’ sense of virtual (e.g. virtual dictator, virtual darkness), but clearly, thechoice of virtual here is highly motivated by virtual’s buzzword status thesedays. Anolder menu wouldprobably have read low-calorie cheesecake, low-fatcheesecake, or light cheesecake.

Inconclusion, the lexical impactofde-terminologizationongeneral languagecan go beyond the creation of a new word sense. When a term derives from apreviously existing general-language sense, this sense may enjoy a heightenedactivation. In other words, the end-point of de-terminologization may be notonly the de-terminologized sense, but also the original general-language sense.

6.2 Impact on specialized language

Thus far, we have viewed the end-points of de-terminologization as beinglocated only in general language. At this point, we would argue thatde-terminologization also has an impact on specialized language. In otherwords, ironically, de-terminologization has terminologizingeffects.

6.2.1 Loosening of terminological meaning in originating domainWhen a lexical item starts to become widely used in general language, it can bevery tempting for experts in the original domain to “cash in” on its popularityby re-applying it within the domain, but to concepts that are broader than the


original terminological concept. Virtual reality provides an excellent illustra-tion. In its original terminological sense, virtual reality designated only thosetechnologies featuring two characteristics: (1) the user’s sense of total immer-sionin the virtual world, via special input/output devices, and without any com-puter screen; (2) the user’s sense of interactivitywith (i.e. control over) thesimulated environment. In recent years, virtual reality has been used in muchlooser senses than the original one. For example, the first characteristic of totalimmersion has been lost in technologies such as virtual tours, where users geta 3D overview of some location via a computer screen, without the goggles andother special devices. The second characteristic of interactivity is lost in tech-nologies such as virtual motion rides, which do not allow users control overtheir experience.

These looser (but still rather terminological) uses of virtual are no doubtlinked in part to the fact that virtual has become a buzzword in general lan-guage. It is well known that experts often apply buzzwords to entities or pro-cesses that they invent, even if these are not fully consistent with the originalterminological sense. When this happens, those experts in the domain who areassociated with the original concept tend to bemoan the “devaluation” of theterm. In the case of virtual reality, for example, we found numerous exampleswhere experts took pains to distinguish between what they called “true” virtualrealityon the one hand, and newer, looser senses of the term on the other hand.

However experts may feel about this phenomenon, the fact remains thatwhen a term de-terminologizes, the resultant general-language usages maypercolate back againinto terminological discourse, in the form of senses thatare looser than the original terminological sense, but that are not loose enoughto be considered general-language senses either. In other words, the path ofde-terminologization has not only general-language “end-points”. Rather, itinvolves a number of different points on a scale from highly terminological tohighly general language.

6.2.2 New terminological senses in other domains

De-terminologized uses may return not only to the original domain of discourse(e.g. computing for virtual), but to other domains as well. When a term be-comes well-known, the general public begins to use it. This generalpublic,however, includes expertsin a variety of domains. Whether consciously orunconsciously, these experts may cash in on the word’s popularity and familiar-


ity by using it to designate new concepts in their domains of expertise.Consider virtual: when it started to become a buzzword in general language, italso percolated into a variety of specialized domains like economics, where itacquired new terminological uses (virtual currency, virtual economy, virtualcorporation).

Other examples of inter-domain crossovers that are likely to be encouragedby de-terminologization include the following:

virus: medicine → computingbig bang: astronomy → economics (referring to economic crashes and eco-

nomic reforms);clone: biology (computing);download: computing → politics (widely used in Canada for shifting responsi-

bility from a higher to a lower level of government);anorexia: medicine → economics (corporate anorexiarefers to a company’s

loss of effectiveness due to excessive cost-cutting measures).

7. De-terminologization and terminography

In the previous section, we saw that general language is not the only end-pointof the de-terminologization process. Rather, de-terminologization may haveterminologizingeffects. Hence, the process has implications for several aspectsof the traditional approach to terminography. Three of these aspects are dis-cussed below.

7.1 The monosemy-focussed approach

For efficient development and communication of expert knowledge, it is clearlyuseful to avoid the proliferation of polysemous terms (i.e. lexical items havingmore than one meaningwithin a given domain). And to the degree that they areable (e.g. through standardizing activities), terminographers are well advisedto promote intra-domain monosemy as much as possible.

Aswe noted in Section6.2.1, however, de-terminologizationmay sometimesplay a role in causing intra-domain polysemy, when experts cash in on thepopularity of a term by associating it with concepts that are “looser” than theoriginating terminological concept. It would be helpful for terminographers to


develop a greater sensitivity to this phenomenon, ideally describing it explicitlyin their term records. Without endorsing intra-domain polysemy, termino-graphers should at least make dictionary users aware that some experts use termX in one sense, while other experts in the same domain may use the term inanother, looser sense.

7.2 The one-domain-at-a-time approach

The fundamental unit of terminographic description is the term, which to aterminographer means ‘a lexical item as it is used in one particular domain’.Terminographers, therefore, tend to focus on one domain at a time9 in theirwork. This is a reasonable approach since the cornerstone of terminographyis a detailed analysis of a domain’s conceptual structures. A terminographer,after all, is a human being—one person cannot be expected to master hundredsof domains. Furthermore, the goal of a terminographic project is often to pro-duce a domain dictionary, or a cohesive system of term bank entries for adomain. Hence, it is not practical to fragment the terminographer’s attentiontoo much.

De-terminologization does, however, have an impact on this traditional,domain-focussed wayof working. Asmentioned inSection 6.2, de-terminolog-ization is much more than a “one-way” path from specialized to generallanguage. A de-terminologized lexical item originating in domain X may bepicked up by an expert in domain Y, who wishes to exploit its general-languagepopularity by using it to name a new concept in domain Y. In this way, throughthe medium of general-language, a de-terminologized item may re-enter theterminological sphere (one might say re-terminologize) when it moves intodomains other than the originating one (download: computing → general-language → politics).

This type of inter-domain lexical sharing is bound to increase as weevolve into a knowledge society. It is also consistent with the growing multi-disciplinarityof knowledge development, and convergenceof disciplines (forexample, computing and communications). While we are not suggestingthat terminographersabandontheir traditional, domain-focussed ways of work-ing, terminographers of the knowledge society need to take a somewhat multi-disciplinary view of terms, since the meaning of a term in one domain may becoloured by its uses in others. Furthermore, since the passage from one domain


to another is often made via general-language, terminographers may see anincreased blurring of the boundaries between terminography and lexicography(cf. Meyer 2000, Béjoint and Thoiron 2000: 15).

7.3 Neology and Standardization

In the future, de-terminologization may also have some effect on the traditionalterminological tasksof term-creation (neology) and standardization.The likeli-hood that a specialized concept will be of interest to the general public may beconsidered a factor in how a concept is named. Ideally, lexical items that arelikely to de-terminologize should be as user-friendly as possible.

8. Concluding remarks

In this article, we have portrayed de-terminologization as a journey that a lexi-cal item may undertake when the underlying terminological concept becomesinteresting not only to experts, but also to laypersons. We have seen that twotypes of meaning shift may take place during this process. On the one hand, inthe case of lexical items such as HIV and greenhouse effect, the underlyingdomainsenseremainsfundamentallyunchanged, thoughlaypersonswillunder-stand the concept less deeply than experts do. On the other hand, in the case oflexical items such asstand-aloneandflatline, the original terminologicalmean-ing loosens more dramatically. In such cases, the new de-terminologized itemmay be associated with grammatical shifts, and prone to colloquial, playful orhumorous usage.

We have also examined some broader lexical implications of de-terminologization for general and specialized language. Regarding generallanguage, the popularity of a de-terminologized word can cause an increaseduse of other, older senses of that word. Regarding specialized language, de-terminologization can create new, looser terminological senses of a term, bothin the original domain and in other domains. These linguistic phenomena havea practical impact on the daily work of terminographers: when they analyze anddescribe terms, terminographers need to be attentive to intra-domain polysemy,and apply a multi-domain approach to terms; when they create new termsor standardize existing ones, they need to assess the term’s potential forde-terminologizing effectively.


Lexicalmigrations fromterminological togeneral languagewill only increaseaswemove into the ageof theknowledge society.Asmore andmore specializedknowledge spills over into our daily lives, increasing numbers of lexical itemswillbecut loosefromtheirfixedterminologicalpositions,undergoingsemantic,grammatical and pragmatic changes in the process—changes that may have asignificant impact on the terminographer’s work in the twenty-first century.

University of Ottawa

Acknowledgements

This research has been financially supported by the Social Sciences andHumanities Research Council of Canada. Krista Varantola contributed manyuseful ideas to the initial phase of this project.

Notes

* This article is an extended version of another article published originally in French, cf. Meyerand Mackintosh 2000.

1. Loosely based on the French dé-spécialisation(Mazière 1981: 84). We prefer not to translateby de-specialization, since this term could apply to any lexical item (including non-termino-logical) where a lexical meaning becomes more general.

2. For a detailed analysis of both general-language and terminological senses of virtual, cf.Meyer, Mackintosh, and Varantola 1997, 1998.

3. It should be noted that depth of understanding may also vary from one expert to another. Forexample, a family doctor’s understanding of bulimia is likely to be shallower than that of aspecialist in eating disorders. Similarly, depth of understanding will vary from one laypersonto another. For example, an informed parent whose child is suffering from bulimia may knowmore about the illness than a person who is not personally touched by it.

4. The de-terminologization of anorexicis similar to that of anemicmany years ago: anemictook on the general meaning of ‘lacking vitality’ and began being used to modify things suchas money (e.g. the anemic dollar).

5. For example, theOxfordDictionary of NewWordsclaims that “The development of the short-ened form amniowas a natural consequence of [its] familiarity”.

6. Opitz says that he has “represented the transition [from general language to specialized lan-guage and back to general language] as a process along the temporal dimension, but in mostreal cases it is a lateral, synchronous exchange as well, and in many cases it is difficult, if notimpossible, to decide on the sequence of the steps involved.”


7. In the words of Sager, “Il y a un mouvement de va-et-vient constant entre les processus delexicalisation et de terminologisation. Une unité lexicale qui a été terminologisée peut serelexicaliser si elle est utilisée en tant que terme générique et perd de ce fait sa spécificité dansle domaine (par exemple ordinateur, puce, frein). Une unité lexicale peut se transformer enterme si elle n’est plus utilisée que dans des circonstances particulières et qu’elle ne peut plusservir de générique (charest maintenant un terme militaire qui n’est plus utilisé que dans lesens de véhicule armé et blindé).”

8. Definition taken from WWWebster Dictionary (Merriam Webster) at http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=mega

9. The domain-focussed approach is typical of the most common type of terminography,thematic terminography. However, a minority of terminographers practice term-orientedterminography, which is not domain-focussed (e.g. Canadian government terminograph-ers who answer telephone queries about individual problematic terms in a wide variety ofareas).

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