Thread: Alien Abduction
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Old 18-June-2008, 01:20 AM
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Google define: word salad

Yields such as:

Quote:
Word salad is a mixture of seemingly meaningful words that together signify nothing; the phrase draws its name from the common name for schizophasia a symptom of schizophrenia, Word salad. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word salad (computer science)
Gosh, all the definitions seem to involve schizophrenia. That usage was unfamiliar to me. Perhaps it originated as jargon in the field of psychiatry.

That flavor is never meant here, or any of the many times I've heard the phrase used, but instead has a more general meaning of: words strung together with little attention to semantics -- a little this, a little that, all chopped and mixed together.

Ah. At Wikipedia is the extended, more general meaning:

Quote:
When applied to a physical theory, "word salad" is a derogatory description that labels the theory as senseless or utterly devoid of meaning.
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