Electrical vs Electronic

[Wilson Gray]

Well, I agree.

-Wilson

On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 1:29 AM, Guy Letourneau <guy1656 at opusnet.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Guy Letourneau <guy1656 at OPUSNET.COM>
> Subject:      Electrical vs Electronic
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> - 'Electronic' for 'electrical,'
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Maybe, but these terms are usually used with distinct meanings.  Are
>>>>>> you observing speakers who use them interchangeably, as in references
>>>>>> to "electronic outlets" or utterances like "We've just had an
>>>>>> electronic outage"?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> LH
>
> I have never heard anyone call the 115V socket into which one might plug
> a vacuum cleaner or a blender as an 'electronic' socket - it's always
> been 'electric' or 'electrical.'
>
> The differentiating factor to me is whether or not the device relies on
> semiconductors versus pre-1950s vacuum tubes and simple Ohm's Law stuff:
> a motor with its wound coils is an electrical device; so are light
> bulbs, oven heater elements, motorized power tools, toasters,** and most
> topics involving transmission lines; hydroelectric dams, etc.
>
> Once you enter the realm of semiconductor field effects, you move into
> 'electronic' devices, such as the 'solid state' radios of the late 1960s
> and 1970s, and integrated circuits, MOSFETs, etc.
>
> If you rely on a seiconductor junction to provide the function or
> desired effect, it's 'electronic;' but if the device operates on
> classical wires-and-fields stuff, it's merely 'electrical.'
>
> ...to me...
>
> - GLL
>
> ** except the timers: in the 1990s I remember fixing a toaset I owned be
> replacig the 555 IC chip which acted as a timer; this would definitely
> be electronic, whereas the nichrome wire heating elements would be
> merely electrical...
>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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