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Oct 7, 2008
This week's themeThere is a word for it This week's words hypergelast skeuomorph hey rube snood serein Skeuomorph
Ventilation holes on this mixing desk are actually painted on
Photo: Chris Harris
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with Anu GargskeuomorphPRONUNCIATION:
(SKYOO-uh-morf)
MEANING:
noun:
A design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material,
even when not functionally necessary. For example, the click sound of
a shutter in an analog camera that is now reproduced in a digital camera
by playing a sound clip.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek skeuos (vessel, implement) + -morph (form).
NOTES:
A skeuomorph can be employed for various purposes. Since people
are used to the click sound of a camera as feedback that the picture has
been taken, it is now artificially-produced in digital cameras. Other
examples are copper cladding on a zinc penny (for familiarity) and wood
finish on a plastic product (for a more expensive look).
USAGE:
"While working two months ago in South Lowestoft, Suffolk, British
archaeologist Clare Good excavated a four-sided object made of the
mineral jet. It closely matches a geometrically designed gold object
found far away at a burial site called Bush Barrow near Stonehenge
in Wiltshire. The match is so close that experts believe the black
artifact is a skeuomorph, or a copy in a different material."Jennifer Viegas; Stonehenge Amulets Worn by Elite; Discovery News; Apr 6, 2007. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Journalists do not believe the lies of politicians, but they do repeat them -- which is even worse! -Michel Colucci, comedian and actor (1944-1986)
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