[Ads-l] Word: obsoleted

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

In early December 2024 Emily mentioned the verb "obsolete" in the
technical domain, e.g., "How has ChatGPT obsoleted search". I have
mostly heard the verb "deprecate" filling this semantic niche in
computer science.

The OED has a pertinent entry:

[Begin OED excerpt]
obsolete
verb
Now chiefly North American.
transitive. To render obsolete. Formerly (also): to consider obsolete;
to discard as being out of date, to cease to produce or use
(obsolete).
Now rarely with a person as subject and usually with reference to the
replacement of one technology by another.

1640 But when Religion is innovated,..our modern Laws already obsoleted [etc.].
J. Pym in J. Rushworth, Historical Collections: Third Part (1692) vol. I. 133
[End OED excerpt]

The OED has a 1975 citation in the engineering domain.

[Begin OED excerpt]
1975 Our precoated sheet failed to obsolete the glass TLC plate.
Scientific American February 39/1 (advertisement)
[End OED excerpt]

Back on 2012 a pertinent discussion occurred on the English Language
and Usage StackExchange:

Discussion title: What is the difference between obsolete and
deprecate in computer science?
Date: October 23, 2012
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/87887/what-is-the-difference-between-obsolete-and-deprecate-in-computer-science

[Begin excerpt]
Given the two terms "obsolete" and "deprecate" in computer science,
what is the difference between them?
[End excerpt]

One commentator said:

[Begin excerpt]
… the main difference here is simply that deprecate is a verb, but
obsolete isn't - so things can't be "obsoleted".
[End excerpt]

This suggests that the verb form of  "obsolete" Is uncommon enough
that some people doubt it exists.
Garson

On Mon, Dec 2, 2024 at 2:46 AM Emily Gordon <emdashes at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Coders and tech writers use it to describe features (e.g., on social
> networks) that have been discontinued. Curious to know how far back it
> goes.
>
> [begim excerpt]
>
> *How has ChatGPT obsoleted search*, when hallucination and the token limits
> are major problems?
> It's (sort of) obviated search for certain kinds of queries engineers make,
> but not normies.
>
> [End excerpt. Assuming everyone here knows about normies!]
>
> Website: Hacker News [owned by Y Combinator]
> Date: May 4, 2023
> Comment on this thread: Google “We have no moat, and neither does OpenAI”
> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35822613
>
> -
>
> [begin excerpt]
>
> Earlier, Facebook poll was allowed to be created [sic] on your newsfeed and
> timeline, which is no longer an option.... Facebook introduced some
> personal profile features to ask questions *but later obsoleted them.*
>
> [end excerpt]
>
> Website: statusbrew.com
> Date: Aug 4, 2023
> Title: How To Create A Poll On Facebook In 2024
> https://statusbrew.com/insights/facebook-poll/
>
> -
>
> [begin excerpt]
>
> I really think you'd better serve yourself learning software development.
> Hardware design has reached a peak and manufacturing is done in China,
> so *everything
> is disposable before it's obsoleted*.
>
> [end excerpt]
>
> Website: gearspace.com
> Date: April 3, 2010
> Comment on this thread: How Can I Learn Electronics?
> https://gearspace.com/board/geekzone/480392-how-can-i-learn-electronics.html
>
> -
>
> [begin excerpt]
>
> I was shocked to learn that hardly anyone uses google reader these days.
> Why? One word: facebook. Apparently, we can add google reader to *the long
> list of things that facebook has obsoleted* via the sheer numbers of people
> it’s sucked into its network.
>
> [end excerpt]
>
> Website: quietlife.net
> Date: March 9, 2011
> Title: rss is dead. long live RSS!
> https://quietlife.net/2011/03/09/rss-is-dead-long-live-rss/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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