Article View: comp.lang.misc
Article #1210Re: Word Origins
From: Clay Phipps
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 1990 22:40
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 1990 22:40
41 lines
2394 bytes
2394 bytes
In article <7509@sbcs.sunysb.edu>,
sanjiva@sbcs.sunysb.edu (Sanjiva Prasad) writes:
>
>Some time ago Richard O'Keefe had asked some questions about
>the first usages of certain commonly used terms. [...] it is worthwhile
>to compile a "computer science jargon vocabulary/lexicon",
There is a technical report from ANSI (1430 Broadway, NYC, NY 10018):
X3/TR77: _Dictionary for Information Processing_.
>complete with references to when and where a term was first used,
>in what context, and who coined it.
>[Was] such a compilation [...] undertaken before [?]
My recollection is that X3/TR77 does not provide etymology.
As a starting point, you may wish to check
Jean E. Sammet: _Programming Languages: History And Fundamentals_,
Prentice-Hall, 1969 (Library of Congress num. 68-28110).
for references to the age of "stone knives and bearskins" for
programming languages in the U.S.A. Terms differed between different
native-English-speaking nations (e.g.: "coding" vs. "programming").
The book that was derived from the History of Programming Languages
Conference (HOPL) in August 1978--proceedings were _SIGPLan Notices_
vol. 13 num. 8, same year & month, may not be as helpful as Sammet.
Not as many years ago, someone published a multivolume
_Annals of the History of Computing_. Perhaps it was ACM or IFIPS.
I don't have a more exact reference.
--
[The foregoing may or may not represent the position, if any, of my employer, ]
[ who is identified solely to allow the reader to account for personal biases.]
Clay Phipps
Intergraph APD: 2400#4 Geng Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303; 415/852-2327
UseNet (Intergraph internal): ingr!apd!phipps
UseNet (external): {apple,pyramid,sri-unix}!garth!phipps EcoNet: cphipps
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<172@garth.UUCP>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!dali!milton!uw-beaver!Teknowledge.COM!unix!garth!phippsReferences:
<7509@sbcs.sunysb.edu>Show Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!dali!milton!uw-beaver!Teknowledge.COM!unix!garth!phipps From: phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc Subject: Re: Word Origins Summary: See Sammet & others for references to early documents in computing. Message-ID: <172@garth.UUCP> Date: 11 Apr 90 22:40:26 GMT References: <7509@sbcs.sunysb.edu> Reply-To: phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps) Organization: Intergraph APD, in semiarid Palo Alto, CA Lines: 41