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by hughperkins
3067 days ago
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also: broadband. It originally contrasted with narrowband, and they describe modes for propagation of light through fiberglass cables... I thought it was really weird when I heard people on mainstream radio discussing such things. Eventually I realized they were using broadband as a synonym for 'fast internet' :P |
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I agree with your wider point, but the antonym of broadband in networking context is actually baseband.
'Narrowband' is a good example of a word that came into use to fill a perceived gap in the lexicon. A gap which didn't really exist, but the word became more widely used because it was not challenged by people who should know better.
Another example is 'bandwidth' which has so many colloquial meanings now that it is unusable in any general context. It's just a collection of letters that can mean anything you want. Also 'hacker'.
This is not the evolution of languge, it is its destruction. Overloading words with so many contrary or ambiguous meanings that language fails at its primary purpose of conveying meaning and intent.