The English language is rich in synonyms and contains many pairs of words that are used interchangeably by a large portion of the population. Under certain circumstances, the substitution of one word for another will annoy a smaller (but still substantial) segment of the population, who will collectively shake their fists, clench their teeth and chant “” X no Are not means Y! The really angry person can write a letter to the editor (if substitution has been observed in some newspapers) or make a bitter and cynical tweet (if the complainant likes to howl space). Words that have been used interchangeably tend to move on quickly, unwittingly unaware that they are causing anyone emotional pain. This is the case even when the confusion of one with another is the subject of advertising campaigns, as in the case of concrete And cement.
“Cement” is not an alternative term for concrete, the American Concrete Builders Association points out. Millions of advertising dollars have been spent making this distinction clear to the public; however, most of the time concrete is still referred to as “cement.”— Chicago CourtJuly 29, 1967
‘Cement’ vs ‘Concrete’
This distinction is not new; we have quotes from over a century ago in which writers carefully observe (or admonish) that concrete And cement not synonymous (the reason is cement is one of the parts of concrete).
But cement is not concrete, so another test was done, by making second blocks of material 14 inches long, 4 inches wide and 3 inches thick…— American architecture and construction news (Boston, MA), June 7, 1884
Cement is an important ingredient of concrete, but concrete is not cement, Why is that, do we hear “cement block”, “cement pavement”, cement building?” We usually mean what we say, or at least try to. So let’s say what we mean.— A subscriber, Concrete EngineeringJune 1, 1909
If people have been distinguishing between these words for over a hundred years, millions of dollars in advertising dollars have been spent, countless angry letters and tweets written, why do we still define cement as “specific”? The word ignorance? stingy? Is it because of anger that none of the millions of dollars in advertising dollars is in our pockets? No, we determine cement synonymous with concrete Therefore, this is how many people have worked in the past 600 years.
Origin of ‘cement’
Cement much older than concreteand since the 14th century there has been a meaning that today will make many people say “you mean concreteAre not cement.” For hundreds and hundreds of years of use cement refers to walls, floors, foundations, etc., without anyone getting hot under the collar.
Alas, father, did I give birth to vnder so vnhappie as a constellation, to become a martyr and prisoner, not at the end of her last years but in her youth? not in a stone or cement prison, but in a Bronze and Latton tower, should I stay there forever?— Raoul Lefèvre, Ancient history1597
Origin of ‘Concrete’
Concreteon the other hand, is a relative novice (at least in the disputed sense). In spite of concrete has been used as a noun since the 17th century, it originally meant only “a mass formed by the adhesion or combination of separate particles of matter in an object”. Feeling loved by the construction industry (“a hard, durable building material created by mixing cementitious materials (such as Portland cement) and mineral aggregates (such as sand and gravel) with the right amount of water to cause the cement to set and bind the whole mass”) does not appear in our records until the 1830s; The first occurrences of the word tend to use language indicating that the meaning was new at the time.
The foundation is placed in a component, which forms a solid block, called concrete.— Saturday magazine (London, England), February 2, 1833
In recent years, a new method, or at least a modification of the old one, has been adopted, which I am about to draw your attention to now, after having had exceptional opportunities to Observe its properties and effects. I refer to the ingredient called concrete.— Architectural Magazine (London, England), February 1836
You can, if you wish, continue to distinguish between cement And concreteand we understand that there are many cases where it is useful to do so. But this difference, in the relative scheme of things, is a recent difference and the users cement mentioning “a sturdy building material” does not violate one of the basic principles of our language.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
