# Same item, different field, different terms
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 31, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529 "2015-08-31T19:48:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/21 "2015-09-01T14:59:37Z")
My examples:
[ul][li]“Left / Right” in day to day use, but “Port / Starboard” in nautical use.[_]“Map” in day to day or land surveying use, but “chart” in aviation or nautical navigation.[_]“Bit” in machinist & proper carpentry terms, but “drill” in colloquial use (mostly by clueless folks).[/ul][/li]
That last one makes me recognize there are tons of items with technical names that get mis-called as something else by amateurs & newbies. We probably don’t want to start listing those or we’ll be here forever.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/22 "2015-09-01T16:09:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Historically, a solenoid was a simple short-throw linear motor. A contactor was a high power electrical switch, typically moved mechanically by a solenoid. A relay was a low-powered contactor which may have used an electromagnetic mechanism other than a solenoid.
I’ve never had any other understanding of “solenoid,” which is why the occasional variant meaning stands out for me.
Good explanation of contactor-v-relay, though. I can see the difference.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/23 "2015-09-01T16:38:32Z")
Remembered another difference. …
Typically a contactor will mechanically latch in both the on and off position. Power is momentarily applied to the solenoid to switch the contactor between those mechanically-held states.
Typically a relay (absent any other qualifying terms e.g. “latching”) will not work that way. They’re spring loaded to maintain the load either on or off and require a continuous holding current on the control circuit to maintain the load in the other state (off or on). One of the rating specs on a relay is the duty cycle: how long the relay can tolerate its control circuit being energized. Some relays are OK to energize indefinitely; others not.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/24 "2015-09-01T16:45:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Typically a contactor will mechanically latch in both the on and off position. Power is momentarily applied to the solenoid to switch the contactor between those mechanically-held states.
The contactors in AC units do not latch - at least, I didn’t find any that said they did in my searches for a replacement unit. And latching relays are quite common.
I accept that the difference is solenoid activation vs EM coil/attracted arm activation. That dovetails with everything else I’ve seen and makes sense of it all.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/25 "2015-09-01T16:52:51Z")
I’ve been to a few Bird Shows. Like a Dog Show, but with birds. I once overheard two men discussing another guy’s parrot, “Did you see Ed Meyer’s cock? It’s beautiful!!”.
Likewise at Dog Shows, “Eleanor’s bitch will be taking home ribbons!!”.
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### Author:  [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/26 "2015-09-02T03:13:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> The terms were clear and distinct in EE. Non technical workers out in the field have been colloquially misusing nearby terms as synonyms since the advent of the first hand axe.
Technically, you’re thinking of an adze.
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### Author:  [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/27 "2015-09-02T03:48:33Z")
[quote=“LSLGuy, post:21, topic:729529”]
My examples:
[list][li]“Left / Right” in day to day use, but “Port / Starboard” in nautical use.[/li][/QUOTE]
Except that port and starboard are specific sides of the ship. If you’re on the ship facing the bow, port is to your left. If you’re facing the stern, it’s to your right.
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### Author:  [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/28 "2015-09-02T05:32:20Z")
> [@Learjeff](#):
>
> How is that commonly misused?
By meaning “very fast” instead of “at a smoothly varying rate, such that the rate is at all times directly proportional to the value”.
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> I’ve been to a few Bird Shows. Like a Dog Show, but with birds. I once overheard two men discussing another guy’s parrot, “Did you see Ed Meyer’s cock? It’s beautiful!!”.
>
> Likewise at Dog Shows, “Eleanor’s bitch will be taking home ribbons!!”.
“And here comes the Bulgarian contestant, the favourite for the women’s middleweight clean and jerk. I saw her snatch this morning and it was amazing!”
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/29 "2015-09-02T06:55:45Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#):
>
> Actually, the j used by electrical engineers is equal to -i, as used by physicists.
>
> On a related note, I find it annoying when a technical term is appropriated by the mainstream to mean something different, for example: “organic”, “growing exponentially” and “quantum leap.”
Yeah, ‘Organic’ used to just mean ‘pertaining to living things’ - after about 1820, it was appropriated by the mainstream to mean ‘containing carbon’. I hate it when that happens.
That is what you meant, right? 😉
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2015, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-item-different-field-different-terms/729529/30 "2015-09-02T08:34:51Z")
> [@boffking](#):
>
> Gaffer tape has a cloth backing. It is not the same as duct tape.
Not just that, it doesn’t leave residue like duct tape does. It is meant to be applied and cleanly removed. And is more expensive by a bit to boot partly for this reason. I use gaffer tape in my photographic work, and when I sub duct tape for it, I generally regret it because it’s much stickier.
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