At the risk of sounding like I would want to die on this hill (I am certainly annoyed, but anybody can use any word to mean anything they want as long as a cert

At the risk of sounding like I would want to die on this hill (I am certainly annoyed, but anybody can use any word to mean anything they want as long as a certain number of other people agree. I think I understand how natural language works), but this statment > I would argue that it is very intuitive that an alorithm made up of smaller algorithms is still, itself, an algorithm is very unconvincing. Here's an "Algorithm" - compute the square root of 5 - for each number from 1 to n do 5 times : compute the square root of 5 times that number plus 19 - output the square root of 9 to the screen Are you willing to accept this sequence of steps as an algorithm? I am not. And this sequence is even more of an algorithm than Google's products, at least it guarantees termination, correctly solves every instance of a (extremely artifical and meaningless) problem, and is effectively calculable (Google's and Facebook systems frequently need humans to decide or amend decisions, and the decisions are often arbitary and value-based). Neither of these things is guaranteed for Google's "algorithms". >Most dictionaries appear to support OP's usage I never said that this confusion isn't popular or documented in dictionaries and literature everywhere, the exact opposite in fact. I said I am annoyed that it is popular. Programs and Algorithms are different, and the difference is as meaningful and useful as the difference between "Writings" and "Poems".