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This week's theme There is a word for it. This week's words hypergelast skeuomorph hey rube snood serein Skeuomorph Ventilation holes on this mixing desk are actually painted on (Image credit: Chris Harris) Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg skeuomorph PRONUNCIATION: (SKYOO-uh-morf) MEANING: noun: A design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material, even when not functionally necessary. For example, the click sound of a shutter in an analog camera that is now reproduced in a digital camera by playing a sound clip. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek skeuos (vessel, implement) + -morph (form). NOTES: A skeuomorph can be employed for various purposes. Since people are used to the click sound of a camera as feedback that the picture has been taken, it is now artificially-produced in digital cameras. Other examples are copper cladding on a zinc penny (for familiarity) and wood finish on a plastic product (for a more expensive look). USAGE: "While working two months ago in South Lowestoft, Suffolk, British archaeologist Clare Good excavated a four-sided object made of the mineral jet. It closely matches a geometrically designed gold object found far away at a burial site called Bush Barrow near Stonehenge in Wiltshire. The match is so close that experts believe the black artifact is a skeuomorph, or a copy in a different material." Jennifer Viegas; Stonehenge Amulets Worn by Elite; Discovery News; Apr 6, 2007. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Journalists do not believe the lies of politicians, but they do repeat them -- which is even worse! -Michel Colucci, comedian and actor (1944-1986)

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