English textbooks introduce a lot of words, idioms and expressions, but native speakers often point out that some of them are not used so often or not common expressions. It's often the case, so I'm not surprised.
However, it's the first time that nobody knows a word. It's "meatware."
This word was in my textbook, but it didn't exist in a dictionary. From the explanation in the textbook and information on the Internet, I found that it means "human relationships" or "human element."
The sentence in the textbook is:
All the software and hardware is one thing, but it's the meatware that counts.
I asked about it on Lang-8.
http://lang-8.com/sand/journals/310842
Almost all of the native speakers who posted comments in my entry haven't heard this word.
Do you think that it's OK to put such a word in a textbook?
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5 comments:
hehe, thats very funny! I can assure you, the word "meatware" is not used in English.
However, its not uncommon for anyone to create their own meta-word, such as appending their own prefix to "ware". Hard-ware, Soft-ware, Scare-ware (fake animated internet ads that say your computer is full of viruses). They aren't real words (at least not yet), but are still used to create a simple word explaining a new, complex idea.
Well, hardware is a bad example, that word has existed for a very long time. but software is still pretty new (about 40 years old).
Jeff,
Scareware?! Haha. It's interesting.
New words are being born one after another.
Thank you for your comment!
Oh man, I have never seen it! I would be interested to write about some phrases that I have in this "idiom" book I have back at school.
If you think up some good ones in Japanese, please do post them on Lang-8. I never quite know what ones are used a lot.
Broan, Sim,
Thank you for your comments and I'm terribly sorry for my late reply!
I haven't access my blog for a while.
Thank you very much!!
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