plug-in

[imwitty]

Dear Victor,



As far as I know, the term “plug-in” is normally used to define some
additional piece of the *software* designed to provide extra function(s) not
existent in the original/main software product.



After checking all links in the article you mentioned in your message, I
found the original text of the Toshiba recall, which doesn’t use the
“plug-in” while correctly describing all details of the issue:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/bulletin.jsp?ct=SB&soid=2761378&ref=EV



The term “plug-in” appears on the press-release of the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission at
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10330.htmlin the “Hazard”
description line.



So it is obviously not  a “lost in translation”/"Japanization" case but
rather the result of “creativity” AND a lack of the computer terminology
knowledge in the office of some native English-speaking bureaucrat and/or
his assistant who “cooked” that press release.


 Lora

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

This e-mail is a natural product.  The slight
variations in spelling and grammar enhance
its individual character and beauty and in no
way are to be considered flaws or defects.

 On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 3:49 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      plug-in
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  We just bought a Toshiba laptop his week, so when I saw an article on
> Toshiba laptop recall, I dug right in. The recall is for a different set
> of models (Satellite T135, Satellite T135D and Satellite ProT130, if
> you've got one of those), but there was an interesting phrasing in the
> article:
>
> http://bit.ly/a8gU9x
> > The notebook computers can overheat at the notebook's plug-in to the
> > AC adapter, posing a burn hazard to consumers.
>
> The phrasing apparently comes from the Toshiba recall notice.
>
> I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to imagine what a "notebook's plug-in
> to the AC adapter" would look like. Closest I can get is that they are
> talking about the jack for the AC adapter connection. Not sure if
> someone just goofed a Japanese-to-English translation or if this is
> actually some sort of tech talk at Toshiba marketing. If you think you
> know what they meant, please feel free to explain.
>
>     VS-)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org