Smalltalk
English
Etymology
From small talk; according to Alan Kay (one of its creators):[1]
The name actually appeared before the first Smalltalk design, which was done in 1971. I had mentioned to someone that the "prose" of then current programming languages was lower than a cocktail party conversation, and that great progress would have been made if we could even get to the level of making "smalltalk". It then occured[sic] to me that this word was also a great pun for a language aimed at the world of small children.
As for hype: Another motive for "smalltalk" was the practice at the time of naming operating, and other, systems (which hardly did anything) after mighty indo-european gods, such as Thor, Zeus, Odin, etc. I figured that if Smalltalk ever did something neat, then people would be pleasantly surprised.
Proper noun
Smalltalk
Derived terms
References
- “Where did the name Smalltalk come from?”, in Squeak/Smalltalk, 2006 December 15, archived from the original on 2007-01-03.
German
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from English small talk.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsmɔːlˌtɔːk/, /ˈsmɔlˌtoːk/
Audio (file)
Noun
Smalltalk m or (rare) n (strong, genitive Smalltalks, plural Smalltalks)
- small talk
- Synonym: Plauderei
- a conversation involving small talk
- Synonym: Plauderei
Usage notes
- Generally masculine; the neuter is very rare.