termonological drift

[nicaanamaria]

hi,

could anyone please define the concept of terminological drift ? from what I've been reading i think it is some kind of misleading use of a term, which is inappropriate for the respective context. am I right?

many thks

[Rover_KE]

Hi,

Could anyone please define the concept of terminological drift? From what I've been reading I think it is some kind of misleading use of a term, which is inappropriate for the respective context. Am I right?

Many thanks.

I can correct your English, but I haven't a clue what your question is about.

Rover

[freezeframe]

hi,

could anyone please define the concept of terminological drift ? from what I've been reading i think it is some kind of misleading use of a term, which is inappropriate for the respective context. am I right?

many thks

To put it as simply as possible, it's when terminology (for example, in academia) drifts* from the original meaning to a new meaning. So what the term signifies changes. This is a "natural" process as terminology becomes more and more refined as theories evolve and become influenced by other theories; it is also caused by interdisciplinarity where different disciplines use the same terminology but in a slightly different way.

There's more, but I'll stop there as this is not a forum for "problems in academia".

*it "drifts" because the process is slow and the term is metaphorically carried down the current of science/theory/etc.

PS "thanks" is spelled with an a and an n