Words that aren't real?

tigerstyle

tigerstyle

tigerstyle

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I'm typing some stuff up for work here and just found out the key word of the day 'arrestance' isn't actually a real word? Yet everyone knows what it means and comes back with 25,000 hits on google!

What is the correct term here then guys?

Any other words that aren't real words? :confused:
 
What is it supposed to mean? The act of arresting? If so, you should be using arrest or arresting, depending on the context.
 
FAQ said:
What is Arrestance?

A measure of the ability of an air filtration device to remove a synthetic dust from the air. ASHRAE arrestance is a measure of the ability of a device to remove ASHRAE dust from test air.
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maybe?
 
thepedster said:
I'm typing some stuff up for work here and just found out the key word of the day 'arrestance' isn't actually a real word? Yet everyone knows what it means and comes back with 25,000 hits on google!

What is the correct term here then guys?

Any other words that aren't real words? :confused:
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Sorry, it's not a real word. My deepest disconbobulations.
 
It's clearly a piece of technical argot that is accepted within specific fields but isn't otherwise used. There are plenty of examples of this in other technical fields.
 
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thepedster said:
using it doesn't make it real though :)
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Au contraire, if enough people start using a word then it gets added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

For instance the last 10 words that were added this year were:

Catastrophizing: view or present a situation as considerably worse than it actually is.
Overthink: think about (something) too much or for too long.
Matchy-matchy: excessively color coordinated.
LBD: little black dress
Frenemy: a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry.
Cool hunter: a person whose job it is to make observations or predictions about new styles and trends.
Bromance: a close but nonsexual relationship between two men.
Exit strategy: a preplanned means of extricating oneself from a situation.
Defriend: another term for unfriend (remove someone from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site).
Soft skills: personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.

Some of those are shocking and far worse than arrestance, which I supposed has a fair etymological route from arrest as it arrests particles?

:p
 
Stag said:
Au contraire, if enough people start using a word then it gets added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

For instance the last 10 words that were added this year were:

Catastrophizing: view or present a situation as considerably worse than it actually is.
Overthink: think about (something) too much or for too long.
Matchy-matchy: excessively color coordinated.
LBD: little black dress
Frenemy: a person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry.
Cool hunter: a person whose job it is to make observations or predictions about new styles and trends.
Bromance: a close but nonsexual relationship between two men.
Exit strategy: a preplanned means of extricating oneself from a situation.
Defriend: another term for unfriend (remove someone from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site).
Soft skills: personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.

Some of those are shocking and far worse than arrestance, which I supposed has a fair etymological route from arrest as it arrests particles?

:p
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They're mostly idioms, also they're mostly just crap! A widely/internationally used scientific term is leagues ahead of some Heat magazine made up tripe, fact! ;)
 
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