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I know that "unique", which became a synonym of "unusual" years ago, has now also become a synonym of "distinct", especially in tech contexts, like "unique hits

I know that "unique", which became a synonym of "unusual" years ago, has now also become a synonym of "distinct", especially in tech contexts, like "unique hits", but it still grates on my ears (or eyes, in this case). Languages are fluid, and change is inevitable, but I'm sad when those changes are careless and cause a loss of precision of expression.

wowaname 13y ago
What do you even mean by this? What did the word originally mean?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- Someone 13y ago
  "etymology: unique" on Google gives http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=unique http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=unique and http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unique#Etymology http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unique#Etymology. With definitions "forming the only one of its kind" and "being the only one of its kind". I don't have a trillion unique bits of memory on my SSD, as they are all interchangeable.
  - DanBC 13y ago
    What are better words to use? Would it matter if the audience is international or if the audience mostly has English as a first language? "70 Different Ways to Encode〈"?
    - SnydenBitchy 13y ago
      “Distinct” would do, I suppose, as surrender to the language prescriptivists.
    - rootbear 13y ago
      "70 Distinct Ways to Encode <" would be the traditionally correct way to say it. I should have made that more clear in my original rant. My objection to using "unique" in this context is that doing so further erodes the original, narrow meaning of "unique" as "one of a kind". I suppose that makes me a prescriptivist and I'm okay with that.
      - likeclockwork 13y ago
        Perhaps the concept of "uniqueness" itself is dying, rather than language being watered down. "Everyone is unique." with the watered down version of the word "unique" just means "Everyone is distinct." Perhaps people are beginning to collectively believe that nothing is irreproducible.
    - jzwinck 13y ago
      "70 Ways to Encode <". It's concise and loses no meaning here.

wowaname 13y ago

What do you even mean by this? What did the word originally mean?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Someone 13y ago
"etymology: unique" on Google gives http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=unique http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=unique and http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unique#Etymology http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unique#Etymology. With definitions "forming the only one of its kind" and "being the only one of its kind". I don't have a trillion unique bits of memory on my SSD, as they are all interchangeable.
- DanBC 13y ago
  What are better words to use? Would it matter if the audience is international or if the audience mostly has English as a first language? "70 Different Ways to Encode〈"?
  - SnydenBitchy 13y ago
    “Distinct” would do, I suppose, as surrender to the language prescriptivists.
  - rootbear 13y ago
    "70 Distinct Ways to Encode <" would be the traditionally correct way to say it. I should have made that more clear in my original rant. My objection to using "unique" in this context is that doing so further erodes the original, narrow meaning of "unique" as "one of a kind". I suppose that makes me a prescriptivist and I'm okay with that.
    - likeclockwork 13y ago
      Perhaps the concept of "uniqueness" itself is dying, rather than language being watered down. "Everyone is unique." with the watered down version of the word "unique" just means "Everyone is distinct." Perhaps people are beginning to collectively believe that nothing is irreproducible.
  - jzwinck 13y ago
    "70 Ways to Encode <". It's concise and loses no meaning here.