[Ads-l] bitcoin as generic term for cryptocurrencies

[Dan Goncharoff]

But:

"Crypto" does mean "hidden"
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/crypto-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency
says the following:
"a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions"
which means to me that the cryptography refers to the blockchain, not to
the currency itself.

DanG

On Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 4:19 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Band-Aid and the like are, like Velcro that I mentioned the other day,
> trademark issues. That and the genericization of bitcoin might be the same
> issue; I’m not sure. C.f. “overextension", such as found in child speech (
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errors_in_early_word_use#Overextension <
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errors_in_early_word_use#Overextension>).
>
> Crypto doesn’t mean “hidden”. It means “cryptography” (
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency <https://en.wikipedia.org/
> wiki/Cryptocurrency>).
>
> FWIW, cryptocoins with an emphasis on privacy/anonymization are generally
> known as “privacy coins”. I have seen an argument that anonymization is
> really the focus and so “privacy coin” is a misnomer.
>
> BB
>
> > On 6 Oct 2017, at 13:08, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > Two thoughts:
> >
> > A version of the Band-Aid / Kleenex / Xerox issue.
> >
> > Why the "crypto" in cryptocurrency? What is "hidden" about them? Not a
> > great name.
> >
> > DanG
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 3:57 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Unfortunately, I didn’t save the tweet, but someone once noted that
> >> “bitcoin” is sometimes used as a generic term for cryptocurrency.
> >>
> >> In "IMF director Christine Lagarde: Bitcoin is too expensive for me at
> >> the…” (https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/10/06/imf-director-
> >> christine-lagarde-bitcoin-is-too-expensive-for-me-at-the-moment.html),
> >> Christine Lagarde says in response to a question from Sara Eisen:
> >>
> >> —
> >> You know, what the Chinese authorities have decided is to just ban the
> >> initial offering of bitcoins
> >> —
> >>
> >> China recently prohibited initial coin offerings (ICO).
> >>
> >> N.B. She is not a native speaker of English.
> >>
> >> Benjamin Barrett
> >> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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