Difference between revisions of "Term of convenience"
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Often it is necessary to discuss a concept for which there is no generally recognized word or phrase. Within the context of hypertext writing, however, it is simple enough to decide on a term which is at least unambiguous (i.e. not easily confused with another existing term) and link initial usages of that term to a page describing its [[contextual usage]] in more detail. (If a better or more widely-recognized term is found later on, it is simple enough – though possibly somewhat tedious – to search for and replace all uses of the term of convenience with the preferred term.) | Often it is necessary to discuss a concept for which there is no generally recognized word or phrase. Within the context of hypertext writing, however, it is simple enough to decide on a term which is at least unambiguous (i.e. not easily confused with another existing term) and link initial usages of that term to a page describing its [[contextual usage]] in more detail. (If a better or more widely-recognized term is found later on, it is simple enough – though possibly somewhat tedious – to search for and replace all uses of the term of convenience with the preferred term.) | ||
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| + | A [[term of convenience]] is essentially a [[wikipedia:stipulative definition|stipulative definition]] applied over a more prolonged context (in this case, all subsequent discussion within a particular web site until such time as there is a consensus that a different term should be used). | ||
Revision as of 13:39, 22 December 2006
A term of convenience is a word or short phrase arrived at to describe a particular concept in the absence of a generally recognized word or phrase meaning the same thing.
Often it is necessary to discuss a concept for which there is no generally recognized word or phrase. Within the context of hypertext writing, however, it is simple enough to decide on a term which is at least unambiguous (i.e. not easily confused with another existing term) and link initial usages of that term to a page describing its contextual usage in more detail. (If a better or more widely-recognized term is found later on, it is simple enough – though possibly somewhat tedious – to search for and replace all uses of the term of convenience with the preferred term.)
A term of convenience is essentially a stipulative definition applied over a more prolonged context (in this case, all subsequent discussion within a particular web site until such time as there is a consensus that a different term should be used).