In this forum, the prevailing use of sophisticated should be:
4. complex or intricate, as a system, process, piece of machinery, or the like: a sophisticated electronic control system.
I personally use this definition and the following almost exclusively.
5. of, for, or reflecting educated taste, knowledgeable use, etc.
A hick would stick to the more derisive forms of use for 'phisticated.
John
4. complex or intricate, as a system, process, piece of machinery, or the like: a sophisticated electronic control system.
I personally use this definition and the following almost exclusively.
5. of, for, or reflecting educated taste, knowledgeable use, etc.
A hick would stick to the more derisive forms of use for 'phisticated.
John
SY said:
I could be wrong, but I don't believe that it did. The root of sophisticated, is the classical Greek word "sophia" meaning wisdom or knowledge.
Thus Philosophy is a combination of the Greek words "Philia" (love) and "sophia" (wisdom or knowledge). This combination thus gives us the definition of Philosophy: The love of (wisdom) knowledge.
I'm not sure where tainted, stepped-on or diluted come into this except perhaps by way of San Francisco in the latter half of the 1960's (A.D.).
Best Regards,
TerryO
SY said:
Sy,
I would be guessing that the root of "sophisticare" is the Latin word for sleep, that is : "sopor". It is often used in English as
"a Soporific Drug", which is another way of saying a sleeping potion (or worse)
This would in line with tampering, etc., at least in a lethal sense.
Best Regards,
TerryO
ray_moth said:
Yes, as in Necrophilia = love of the dead; Hæmophilia = love of blood; Delophilia = love of Pennsylvania; etc. (Just trying to keep this thread on topic).
It's fun to invent your own, which I did with my daughters when they were studying Latin (and a bit of Greek, their Grandpa came from Salonika).
Phobophilia = the love of fear
Philiaphobia = the fear of love
Another activity is observing different words in our language that, if the root words are examined, actually mean the same thing.
Television: Tele (Greek: at a distance) + Visum (Latin: to see)
Telescope: Tele (ditto ) + Skopeo (Greek: to see)
To further expand on this idea of distance, using Greek words:
Telephone- (phone = sound) sound from a distance
Telegraph -(graph = to write) writing from a distance
Telephoto -(photo = light) light from a distance
Telepathy -(pathos = feeling) knowing how someone far away is feeling
So much for the freakin' Greek Geek stuff, it's fun to play around with if you've got too much time on your hands, but we should be mindful (and thankful) that we are the inheritors of the entire sweep of Western Civilization.
Best Regards,
TerryO
TerryO: My point (not terribly well-made, I'll admit) is that although the common and technical usage of "sophisticated" implies elegance and subtlety, "sophistry" means long-winded. I suppose the 1920s cigarette holder fulfilled both meanings.
I'm particularly fond of journalists telling me that something or another is a "quantum leap" in whatever. Usually, they are (unintentionally) absolutely correct in that the difference is so small as to be unnoticeable.
As for any comments about this thread wandering off-topic, it's been for such an entertaining ramble that finding its way back on topic is almost off-topic. As an exam question might say: Discuss.
I'm particularly fond of journalists telling me that something or another is a "quantum leap" in whatever. Usually, they are (unintentionally) absolutely correct in that the difference is so small as to be unnoticeable.
As for any comments about this thread wandering off-topic, it's been for such an entertaining ramble that finding its way back on topic is almost off-topic. As an exam question might say: Discuss.
EC8010 said:
I don't like "sea-change" What does it mean?
On rhe subject of "off-topic", you will recall I was the one guilty of introducing the subject of crappy domestic electrical arrangements in France.
However, the bouquet goes to Electricité de France. I have been monitoring the mains voltage here in the sticks for a week, testing at various times of the day and night. It is supposed to be 230v (same as UK). The lowest I have measured is 229v, the highest 232v.
The English suppliers should hang their heads in shame.
So much for "England, Harry and St George"!
7N7
EC8010 said:
EC,
Your point about the word "sophistry" is well taken. That is the immediate meaning that always comes to me as well. The rather vague point I'm attempting to make is that originally the Sophists were men (it was a man's world then!...well, maybe :^) that were considered wise and well spoken. As time went on, and we're still in the Ancient World, some of these men gradually came to the point that they were more concerned with winning an argument through the dexterity or subtle manipulation of their words, than maintaining or projecting the truth. Thus the whole concept, of what the Sophists were, became inverted or stood on it's head.
Much the same as the word Rhetoric, which has come down to us as meaning much the same as sophistry. Originally Rhetoric was an important part of the Classic Curriculum down through the Middle Ages called the Trivium. It was the art of meaningful speech or communication, but has taken on the rather negative connotation over time.
Off Topic? Well, I suppose that in a myopic sense it has drifted, but who needs to be tied down when the discussions of words, concepts and meaning are taking place? I'm afraid my mind isn't disciplined enough perhaps, but it's enjoyable to drift with the current sometimes rather than maintain a charted course.
Best Regards,
TerryO
7N7 said:
Australia is also supposed to have moved to 230V (from 240), but the electrical companies managed to have the tolerances widened enough (doubled, if I'm correct) so that nominal 240V is still within legal spec for 230V. I've never seen anything as low as 230V but a wall voltage up near 250 is not uncommon.
Your daily dose of trivia.
Something of a classical education then, Terry? 99% of anything of this kind I learned at school, I am afraid, has been forgotten.
An interesting post and in particular, I liked your comments concerning "off-topic".
I always used to say that my motto was "find a tide and swim against it." Now I am not quite so sure. Perhaps now it is harder to find the energy that was once so conspicuously available!
7N7
An interesting post and in particular, I liked your comments concerning "off-topic".
I always used to say that my motto was "find a tide and swim against it." Now I am not quite so sure. Perhaps now it is harder to find the energy that was once so conspicuously available!
7N7
thevoice said:
Yes, it seems that 230v is now becoming the internaitonal norm. In England, certainly up to two years ago, my usual mains voltage was about 235 - 238v sometimes dropping to 231v and sometimes getting up to 242v.
I ordered a couple of tranformers from the excellent Majestic Transformers in Poole in Dorset. Whilst speaking with the chap there, this subject arose. He told me that obviously, for a transformer maker, the mains voltage was of vital importance for testing and so on. In consequence of this, the company had installed a monitoring system. He told me that the highest voltage recorded was 252v whilst the lowest was 219v.
Bearing in mind the money that these organisations make (I mean the electricity suppliers not the transformer makers!) I consider such slackness scandalous.
7N7
Sounds like a good description of the law courts or the political arena!
On the subject of mains voltage, in Indomesia it is nominally 220v @ 50Hz but the distribution systems are in poor condition and are often overloaded. In Jakarta, I've frequently measured mains voltage as low as 190v and the highest I've measured is just less than 230v. I understand, though, that there are other countries where the fluctuations are much worse than this.
Large variability of supply means, for instance, that there's not much point in designing electronic equipment that is sensitive to supply voltage. It also means that if you regulate the screen voltage in a pentode amp that uses fixed bias, then you must also regulate the bias supply. However, that does not guard against problems due to variations in the tubes' heater supply. You can buy boxes to help regulate the supply but many of those are noisy.
This is a transformer manufacturer worth every grain.....thev'e done an excellent job of my mains and output transformers. There are others still around but not worth mentioning.7N7 said:
It was only by chance I opened this mail and spotted the reply from 7N7 ...I've gotton rather tired of all this language correctness that is for an audio forum really classed as "spam" and automatically goes into the "delete" bin. There are so many spelling and grammatical checkers on the websites and personal computers which really leave no excuse for errors. Lazyiness!
richj
pinkmouse said:
Surely, "I debarked from the omnibus".
al/ I am the one in ten, a number on the list...
I haven't made it to the end of the threat (oops) yet, but I find it interesting that people are so apologetic on others' behalf. It was mentioned that French abuse their language in sms/forums and I can definitely assure you the same is true for Dutch and Malay, and most likely for any other imaginable (and unimaginable) language.
I now wish I hadn't deleted an sms-corresponce I had with a local student about her grade. It kept me occupied during the holiday, which I didn't mind since I like puzzles and riddles.
Anyway (an oft-abused sentence opning, at least overhere), I wanted to comment that daily I listen to a message in the station asking me to wait for passengers to disembark before boarding. And yes, push-pull does acquire a wholly new meaning in public transport.
Also, triggered by the 'off of', I have a long-stanfing disagreement with my wife on whether the song is or should be 'I can't get my eyes off you' or '...off of you'.
richwalters said:
Rich:
Yes indeed; and a very good service.
I once showed some 10kHz square waves from one of my amplifiers (with a Majestic output transformer) to a chap who immediately asked "Who made the output transformer?"!
And talking of spell checkers etc., was that "gotton" or "gotten"? And "lazyness" or "laziness"?
And where in the Alps are you?
7N7
richwalters said:
Hello.
Very brief history: I was active building amps etc., from 1997 to 2005. (I had done things electronic before but not so intensively).
Employer went bust (in England this was) so I sold up and cleared out. At present most of my stuff is on paper - mostly for financial reasons.
I prefer p-p and all differential pairs where possible. I am in this mainly because I love valves. The first amp was a p-p 813 triode strapped of course. The square waves were from a p-p 13E1 amplifier. Running only 280V HT or thereabouts, it made 33W just before clipping (about 3%THD) At 24 watts distortion was better but I cannot remember the numbers - certainly better than 1% with no feedback.
My particular interest is in triode strapping RF beam tetrodes and also frame grid pentodes. I made some sets of triode curves for some of these and also tested one or two for distortion.
I do have a trace of the square waves but I am away at present. Will send in due course.
7N7
Ah, a man of taste! My own favourite, right now, is a 6SL7 LTP splitter with pentode CCS in the tail, followed by 6SN7 diff driver, and trioded EL34s in the output. NFB is cross-coupled from OP tube plates to 6SL7 plates. No hum or noise whatsoever! I think that configuration may possibly not have enough gain for pentode mode, though, because of the heavier NFB required, but I'd like to try it.
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