5 ms·

An Italian friend of mine, when struggling to find the word for a Satellite Dish, called it a parabola. I was very impressed.

manuelmoreale 5y ago
I find that particularly amusing because Parabola is exactly how we call satellite dishes here in Italy. It’s technically called Antenna Parabolica but plenty of people simply call it Parabola (at least here up north)
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  Exactly the same in French, for what it's worth.
  - BrandoElFollito 5y ago
    I asked my teen children what "parabole" means to them and they had no idea that such antennas exist (or rather existed... at least for the generak population) :) They know about disquettes, though.
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  Technically in English you'd only use "satellite dish" to describe a parabolic antenna that's being used for satellite communications. In practice, though, I don't think I've ever seen that happen outside of a technical context.
  - jpindar 5y ago
    What else does anyone use the term satellite dish to refer to?
    - mumblemumble 5y ago
      Parabolic antennas that are used for terrestrial communication.
    - kadoban 5y ago
      Any antenna that's parabolic in shape that isn't designed/used to communicate with a satellite is just called a satellite dish is common usage, but technically really shouldn't be.
      - saltcured 5y ago
        It's funny, I can't recall every hearing anybody say "satellite dish" for a terrestrial antenna in my years in metro and suburban California. I've heard "reflector dish", "dish antenna", "microwave dish", or "directional antenna" (which could also apply to YAGI and other non-dish structures). I wonder if it is regional or has other socioeconomic factors? Actual satellite dishes weren't common structures when I was growing up, outside either a sports bar with satellite TV feeds or more commonly large dishes on industrial, military, or scientific facilities. Other, smaller directional antenna were more commonly seen on radio towers etc.
        mumblemumble 5y ago
        Probably? One of the subtexts of this article and the ensuing conversation is that English has an absolutely mind-smashing amount of variability in usage. In my general area, just a few hundred kilometers separates two groups of people who are frequently confused by each others' usage of the word "party store." Expanding a hyponym's meaning to encompass that of its hypernym is so common that I'm not even sure it requires special explanation. I've got some family members whose favorite kind of coke is Pepsi.
- fidelramos 5y ago
  We say "parabólica" in Spain.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
    That too (like "periferia") comes to Latinate languages through Latin from Greek. Seems all you nice folk think of Greeks as... posh? Must be all the philosophers :P
- tengbretson 5y ago
  Meanwhile in America, you will often hear a satellite dish be shortened (incorrectly) to just being called a "satellite." You'll even hear the word "satellite" mis-applied to parabolic antennas that are not directed at an actual satellite!
ot 5y ago
As an Italian in the US, I initially had trouble in stores asking for "sodium bicarbonate" (baking soda) or "talc" (baby powder). I would have never thought of those names since I didn't need them for either baking or babies. But maybe it was just my accent.
ftio 5y ago
As an Italian-American who rarely gets to speak Italian, my visits to my family in Italy are full of these kinds of things, but in the other direction, naturally. I end up using less common, typically larger words mostly because they have direct equivalents in English, including a whole bunch that end in -ation, which in Italian typically end in -azione. My relatives joke with me that I'm a weird, overeducated dummy who "knows" these big words but doesn't know basic idioms.
- BrandoElFollito 5y ago
  No worries, Feynman used such a word in Portuguese when he did not know the short, common one and it was a great success. I do not remember the word anymore, it was in You Must Be Jocking, Mr Feynman. - in the party where he was teaching in Brazil
  - insipid 5y ago
    I read that book when I was an English-monolingual kid, living in Portugal, and /consequentemente/ that story really stuck in my head when I was struggling for Portuguese words: https://southerncrossreview.org/81/feynman-brazil.html https://southerncrossreview.org/81/feynman-brazil.html
ncpa-cpl 5y ago
In Spanish we call them "antenas parábolicas". I knew what a parabólica was as a child, but learnt the root of the word until high school math class. I had a moment in math class when I thought... "So that's why it's called parabolica".
thiagocsf 5y ago
Other Latins might not have been so impressed. This is exactly what we call it in Portuguese: a parabolic antenna (antena parabólica).

manuelmoreale 5y ago

I find that particularly amusing because Parabola is exactly how we call satellite dishes here in Italy. It’s technically called Antenna Parabolica but plenty of people simply call it Parabola (at least here up north)

mytailorisrich 5y ago
Exactly the same in French, for what it's worth.
- BrandoElFollito 5y ago
  I asked my teen children what "parabole" means to them and they had no idea that such antennas exist (or rather existed... at least for the generak population) :) They know about disquettes, though.
mumblemumble 5y ago
Technically in English you'd only use "satellite dish" to describe a parabolic antenna that's being used for satellite communications. In practice, though, I don't think I've ever seen that happen outside of a technical context.
- jpindar 5y ago
  What else does anyone use the term satellite dish to refer to?
  - mumblemumble 5y ago
    Parabolic antennas that are used for terrestrial communication.
  - kadoban 5y ago
    Any antenna that's parabolic in shape that isn't designed/used to communicate with a satellite is just called a satellite dish is common usage, but technically really shouldn't be.
    - saltcured 5y ago
      It's funny, I can't recall every hearing anybody say "satellite dish" for a terrestrial antenna in my years in metro and suburban California. I've heard "reflector dish", "dish antenna", "microwave dish", or "directional antenna" (which could also apply to YAGI and other non-dish structures). I wonder if it is regional or has other socioeconomic factors? Actual satellite dishes weren't common structures when I was growing up, outside either a sports bar with satellite TV feeds or more commonly large dishes on industrial, military, or scientific facilities. Other, smaller directional antenna were more commonly seen on radio towers etc.
      - mumblemumble 5y ago
        Probably? One of the subtexts of this article and the ensuing conversation is that English has an absolutely mind-smashing amount of variability in usage. In my general area, just a few hundred kilometers separates two groups of people who are frequently confused by each others' usage of the word "party store." Expanding a hyponym's meaning to encompass that of its hypernym is so common that I'm not even sure it requires special explanation. I've got some family members whose favorite kind of coke is Pepsi.
fidelramos 5y ago
We say "parabólica" in Spain.
- YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
  That too (like "periferia") comes to Latinate languages through Latin from Greek. Seems all you nice folk think of Greeks as... posh? Must be all the philosophers :P
tengbretson 5y ago
Meanwhile in America, you will often hear a satellite dish be shortened (incorrectly) to just being called a "satellite." You'll even hear the word "satellite" mis-applied to parabolic antennas that are not directed at an actual satellite!

ot 5y ago

As an Italian in the US, I initially had trouble in stores asking for "sodium bicarbonate" (baking soda) or "talc" (baby powder). I would have never thought of those names since I didn't need them for either baking or babies. But maybe it was just my accent.

ftio 5y ago

As an Italian-American who rarely gets to speak Italian, my visits to my family in Italy are full of these kinds of things, but in the other direction, naturally. I end up using less common, typically larger words mostly because they have direct equivalents in English, including a whole bunch that end in -ation, which in Italian typically end in -azione. My relatives joke with me that I'm a weird, overeducated dummy who "knows" these big words but doesn't know basic idioms.

BrandoElFollito 5y ago
No worries, Feynman used such a word in Portuguese when he did not know the short, common one and it was a great success. I do not remember the word anymore, it was in You Must Be Jocking, Mr Feynman. - in the party where he was teaching in Brazil
- insipid 5y ago
  I read that book when I was an English-monolingual kid, living in Portugal, and /consequentemente/ that story really stuck in my head when I was struggling for Portuguese words: https://southerncrossreview.org/81/feynman-brazil.html https://southerncrossreview.org/81/feynman-brazil.html

ncpa-cpl 5y ago

In Spanish we call them "antenas parábolicas". I knew what a parabólica was as a child, but learnt the root of the word until high school math class. I had a moment in math class when I thought... "So that's why it's called parabolica".

thiagocsf 5y ago

Other Latins might not have been so impressed. This is exactly what we call it in Portuguese: a parabolic antenna (antena parabólica).