Vocabulary bank

[Tracer01]

I've tried to find the topic, but I couldn't.

When I noticed the correction extended>enlarged I've been thinking, its good idea to have the topic when anybody could ask for advice with tech-related synonyms.

For example, I used the word decompression instead of depressurization because it can be shortened to decom.

How do I describe what happened to the suits? Imagine that they are consist of platings which would be...what? Extending and collapsing depending of the pressure around? Helmets are also need to have that feature in order to make them handy. How to describe the suit in vacuum? Swollen?

There are loads of terms which have certain synonyms we could use.

If the topic already exist, please bring this question there and delete the thread.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Um, isn't this what a thesauras is for?

 

[Tracer01]

Um, isn't this what a thesauras is for?

Never heard about that place before. Thank you anyway.

 

[The Judge]

We do in fact have a kind of vocabulary thread here http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/50858-eloquent-exotic-esoteric-please-provide-definitions.html -- when we find an unusual word, we drop it in there for others to be similarly amazed (astounded, astonished, gobsmacked, enthralled...)

A thesaurus is a kind of dictionary which lists potential synonyms -- here is one I use a lot Thesaurus.com | Find Synonyms and Antonyms of Words at Thesaurus.com (the new version has only just started, so I'm still using the old one)

Certainly if you can't find a word which you need to describe something, do ask, either here or in General Writing Discussion, and we'll do our best to help.

 

[chrispenycate]

My thesaurus, for example gives synonyms for your "swollen" as :-

distended, expanded, enlarged, bulging, inflated, dilated, bloated, puffed up, puffy, tumescent, tumid; inflamed, varicose.

But generally joints in spacesuits are constant volume; if they inflated or swelled up with internal pressure when in vacuum they would immobilise the occupant.

Decompression and depressurisation are close, but carry different weighting; as someone who's done some SCUBA diving I automatically associate decompression with the boring bit where you surface slowly to avoid nitrogen bubbles. Lots of specific professions have very specific vocabularies, and synonym use makes you look like an outsider, should a real specialist happen to read your stuff.

 

[Tracer01]

My thesaurus, for example gives synonyms for your "swollen" as :-

distended, expanded, enlarged, bulging, inflated, dilated, bloated, puffed up, puffy, tumescent, tumid; inflamed, varicose.

But generally joints in spacesuits are constant volume; if they inflated or swelled up with internal pressure when in vacuum they would immobilise the occupant.

Decompression and depressurisation are close, but carry different weighting; as someone who's done some SCUBA diving I automatically associate decompression with the boring bit where you surface slowly to avoid nitrogen bubbles. Lots of specific professions have very specific vocabularies, and synonym use makes you look like an outsider, should a real specialist happen to read your stuff.

Yes, and there are certain similarities in Russian as well. I use to study Law and know that number of terms are pronounced and written differently, depending of specialist on the field. But I also know that specialists tend to shorten some terms for regular usage. I couldn't come up with the short of 'depressurization' thats why.

In Russian we have: разгерметизация and декомпрессия and difference is pretty the same.