4 ms·

In this context "pure" is meaningless (truly 100% pure silicon is impossible to obtain in quantity), whereas "ultra pure" is a technical term that refers to a s

by gh02t 8y ago

In this context "pure" is meaningless (truly 100% pure silicon is impossible to obtain in quantity), whereas "ultra pure" is a technical term that refers to a specific level of purity. The meanings are context dependent. It isn't haphazard, it's actually hyper specific and the terms have clear definitions in context. And in this case they are defined in the article.

qume 8y ago
I didn't realise the word pure was context sensitive. OED doesn't either, perhaps you could contact them and help them update their definition: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pure https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pure
- close04 8y ago
  A pure metal is never 100% simply because that's practically impossible. Yet the term is perfectly correct when used in the right context. Now that you know it's context dependent you can maybe stop insisting it's wrong. Pure or ultrapure simply mean different and very clearly defined levels of purity for every field they are used in. Including some that stretch your concept of pure, like pure quantum states. Please don't try to redefine it. You're going into deeper and deeper mud while trying to walk out clean from this.
  - windows_tips 8y ago
    >1 Not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material. You could argue the definitions of mixed or adulterated if you'd like. >Pure or ultrapure simply mean different and very clearly defined levels of purity for every field they are used in. Not so clear in the case of dictionaries. >Please don't try to redefine it. Maybe fields that use such highly context-dependent definitions of common words should take a look at their wider usages and determine if an update of their nomenclature is appropriate.
    - close04 8y ago
      Sure... those fields should redefine their terminology because 2 guys on a forum can't understand what the words mean... I hope you understand how many words from the dictionary you have been using wrong all this time. Off the top of my head, sphere. A word that describes absolutely no real-life object, as every single point on the surface of that object would have to be precisely the same distance from the center. Want more? Clean. Spotless. Weightless (in most real life situations). Equal or same (again, in most real life situations). Or maybe some more special examples like second/minute. Defined either circularly as a reference to the other or very roughly as "depending on the periodicity of the radiation of a caesium-133 atom". You go rewrite the technical dictionary while I think of a few more examples ;).
      - windows_tips 8y ago
        A minute is simply 1/1440 of a "day". Edit: >2 guys on a forum More than two guys. OED too.
        gh02t 8y ago
        That depends on whether or not you define "day" as mean solar day or as 24 hours; either way you need some sort of ultimate reference in order actually define a meaningful unit. A more stable definition is as 60 SI seconds, since the second is defined relative to a very precise physical reference (level transitions in cesium). It is for a similar reason that the pound and yard were redefined in the 1960's as an exact multiple of the kilogram and meter, so as to be able to benefit from the exactness of physical definitions for those units (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_yard_and_pound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_yard_and_pound).
        close04 8y ago
        And as shown above OED deals so exceptionally well with all concepts... down to the second. Where it sends you to SI to get the proper definition. Can you show me what OED says for ultrapure? How about secret and top secret? Ultraspherical and hypergeometric? And don't forget the cleanroom. Try to put that "wit" into understanding that in highly specialized fields the terminology might get different meanings and none of it is wrong.

by gh02t 8y ago

qume 8y ago

I didn't realise the word pure was context sensitive. OED doesn't either, perhaps you could contact them and help them update their definition: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pure https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pure

close04 8y ago
A pure metal is never 100% simply because that's practically impossible. Yet the term is perfectly correct when used in the right context. Now that you know it's context dependent you can maybe stop insisting it's wrong. Pure or ultrapure simply mean different and very clearly defined levels of purity for every field they are used in. Including some that stretch your concept of pure, like pure quantum states. Please don't try to redefine it. You're going into deeper and deeper mud while trying to walk out clean from this.
- windows_tips 8y ago
  >1 Not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material. You could argue the definitions of mixed or adulterated if you'd like. >Pure or ultrapure simply mean different and very clearly defined levels of purity for every field they are used in. Not so clear in the case of dictionaries. >Please don't try to redefine it. Maybe fields that use such highly context-dependent definitions of common words should take a look at their wider usages and determine if an update of their nomenclature is appropriate.
  - close04 8y ago
    Sure... those fields should redefine their terminology because 2 guys on a forum can't understand what the words mean... I hope you understand how many words from the dictionary you have been using wrong all this time. Off the top of my head, sphere. A word that describes absolutely no real-life object, as every single point on the surface of that object would have to be precisely the same distance from the center. Want more? Clean. Spotless. Weightless (in most real life situations). Equal or same (again, in most real life situations). Or maybe some more special examples like second/minute. Defined either circularly as a reference to the other or very roughly as "depending on the periodicity of the radiation of a caesium-133 atom". You go rewrite the technical dictionary while I think of a few more examples ;).
    - windows_tips 8y ago
      A minute is simply 1/1440 of a "day". Edit: >2 guys on a forum More than two guys. OED too.
      - gh02t 8y ago
        That depends on whether or not you define "day" as mean solar day or as 24 hours; either way you need some sort of ultimate reference in order actually define a meaningful unit. A more stable definition is as 60 SI seconds, since the second is defined relative to a very precise physical reference (level transitions in cesium). It is for a similar reason that the pound and yard were redefined in the 1960's as an exact multiple of the kilogram and meter, so as to be able to benefit from the exactness of physical definitions for those units (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_yard_and_pound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_yard_and_pound).
      - close04 8y ago
        And as shown above OED deals so exceptionally well with all concepts... down to the second. Where it sends you to SI to get the proper definition. Can you show me what OED says for ultrapure? How about secret and top secret? Ultraspherical and hypergeometric? And don't forget the cleanroom. Try to put that "wit" into understanding that in highly specialized fields the terminology might get different meanings and none of it is wrong.