Words' worth II
People. It's T. rex, not "T-Rex."
Also, silicon is an element (Si); silicone is a colloidal gel made with lots of water; silica is a compound (SiO2) which is the building block of many minerals.
Unique means "one of a kind." Therefore, applying modifiers to unique, like "very unique," or "most unique," add words without adding any additional meaning. If it's unique, it's unique. There's no such thing as "very one of a kind."
Thank you for your attention.
While I'm dispensing some advice, can someone give me some...? What's the difference in meaning between geologic and geological? And similarly, historic vs. historical?
What's the difference between silicic and siliceous?
Words' worth I
Also, silicon is an element (Si); silicone is a colloidal gel made with lots of water; silica is a compound (SiO2) which is the building block of many minerals.
Unique means "one of a kind." Therefore, applying modifiers to unique, like "very unique," or "most unique," add words without adding any additional meaning. If it's unique, it's unique. There's no such thing as "very one of a kind."
Thank you for your attention.
While I'm dispensing some advice, can someone give me some...? What's the difference in meaning between geologic and geological? And similarly, historic vs. historical?
What's the difference between silicic and siliceous?
Words' worth I
8 Comments:
Historic and historical have slightly different meanings. "Historic" effectively means "Historically significant" e.g. historic victory.
Geologic and geological mean the same and I think that the former is used more in US English and the latter in English English. However, I think I would use geophysical rather than geophysic and geochemical rather than geochemic.
Siliceous appears to be older (1600s) and related to the Latin "siliceus", meaning "of flint". Silicic is younger (1800s) and is just silic[a]+ic. Both appear to mean the same.
I'd probably use silicic for igneous material (silicic magma) and siliceous for sedimentary (siliceous cement) but I don't know of any formal convention.
Grading final papers, are we? :-)
I was under the impression that "geological" was more of an adjective while "geologic" is closer to a noun? But I'm no english major so don't take my word for it.
"don't take my word for it."
...Pun intended?
Callan, I don't think that "silicone is a colloidal gel made with lots of water" is an accurate definition. Silica gel is a colloidal gel made with lots of water. It would be better to state that "silicone is a man-made silica analogue of organic compounds." Even that definition isn't perfect, but it gets the point across better than one that also mentions siloxanes.
The USGS has recommended using "geological" for man-made entities like the US Geological Survey, and "geologic" for natural processes and maps that are representations of real geologoy - as in "geologic process" and "geologic map." I don't know if their style manual still makes the distinction between the two words.
I use "silicic" for things like magmas and "siliceous" for things like rocks (siliceous sinter), but might also say something like "silica-rich monzonite." Is there a convention?
Do you love David Foster Wallace with even a portion of the fondness you reserve for Our Man McPhee? Your post's consanguinity with his 2001 Harper's Essay, "Authority and American Usage," makes me think you might.
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/DFW_present_tense.html
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