Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to if you wish to register.

The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2011-11-11 07:25:06

Ben
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 8

"Backwards computability"

Hi –

It’s been forever since I last checked in to the Eggcorn Database, but you’re all still close to my heart. (...or do I mean closed to my ark?)

Over on techcrunch there’s an article containing the following snippet: “So why has Adobe failed to take advantage of the power of the modern GPU? The answer is backwards computability. Adobe is burdened down by history.” Read the full article

It’s clear that the author intended to say “backwards compatability”. A search on Google returns “about 5,390 results” for the exact string “backwards computability”; “backwards compatibility” returns “about 2,210,000 results”.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this coinage.

regards
Ben

Offline

 

#2 2011-11-11 08:04:16

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2712
Website

Re: "Backwards computability"

It’s a live one: makes quite good sense, in the context of computer programming, which is where you usually hear it.
.
It does remind me of an old (and politically incorrect: blame it on my dad!) joke that involves restructuring of a related word in an eggcornish way:
.
“A little incompatibility is actually a good thing in a marriage. Especially if he has the income and she has the pattability.”


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

Offline

 

#3 2011-11-11 08:33:16

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2850

Re: "Backwards computability"

Primo.

Computer babble has prompted a number of discussions on this forum. Reboost, photochop, streamlining (for streaming online), labtop, gift (for GIF). “Backwards computability” is one of the best.

A common confusion of computing jargon we haven’t mentioned is “screensafer” (for “screeensaver”). See http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22screensafer%22

Last edited by kem (2011-11-11 11:22:45)


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

Offline

 

#4 2011-11-11 09:14:32

Ben
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 8

Re: "Backwards computability"

Thanks very much for the quick responses! Glad to hear this one makes the grade. I’ve made a few other submissions to the eggcorn database over the years via the forum; what’s the procedure for getting these submissions into the database? One of my favourites, “tailored off”, hasn’t made it in, but there was no indication on the thread that it wasn’t an eggcorn.

regards
Ben

Offline

 

#5 2011-11-11 11:54:12

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2712
Website

Re: "Backwards computability"

The database is undergoing rigor moribundis (pardon my Latin); few entries have been admitted to its hollowed ranks in the last long while. Anybody who checks it and ignores the forum will miss many (most, I don’t doubt) of the very best ones. Unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. I wish there was a way to put the two on a more obviously and overtly equal footing.


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

Offline

 

#6 2011-11-11 12:28:03

Ben
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 8

Re: "Backwards computability"

Oh, right – sounds like it needs a total overhaul. Sorry to hear that. What’s involved? Maybe that’s a conversation for another thread.

regards
Ben

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
PunBB is © 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson
Individual posters retain the copyright to their posts.

RSS feeds: active topicsall new posts