One day machines will take over the world, or so that man on the corner of the sidewalk says every day. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines machine as, “a piece of equipment with moving parts that do work when given power.” Machine describes many of the devices that we keep with us every single day like cell phones, computers, televisions, and cars. However, there was a simpler time when the word machine meant any structure. (Simpson 156) The word machine has developed from a structure, to an evil scheme, to a vehicle, and to many modern denotations, although it maintains an overall definition of a reliable object that performs a specific task. The French were the first ones to use the word machine to describe a structure
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This is when machine became defined as the machinery that is used in the modern world. These locomotives and steamships paved the way for the modern machine of the car. The automobile gained a reputation as the machine so that by 1929 it was already being used in literature. The novel The Red Harvest by Samuel Dashiell Hammett includes this line, “The machine that had been trailing us came into sight around a bend in the road..and unloaded its cargo of men and weapons.” (Barnhart 633) This is more relatable to modern slang. For example, when some people see a classic car that is particularly fast or sleek, they label it as a machine. The noun car or automobile is not enough to describe the power that the car has so it is a …show more content…
The denotations of machine range from people to politics. The website Urban Dictionary is a site where people can post definitions of slang words and the visitors of the site vote on the best definition. That allows the majority of people to vote on what they think best describes the word. Thus, it is a good site to judge the slang definition. The Urban Dictionary’s definition for machine pertaining to people is, “A soulless human being that's only as alive as much as a running clock or car.” Another connotation of the word machine is the political machine, which used to dominate American politics. These machines operated like factories, creating votes for the highest bidder, which is why they got nicknamed
This is when machine became defined as the machinery that is used in the modern world. These locomotives and steamships paved the way for the modern machine of the car. The automobile gained a reputation as the machine so that by 1929 it was already being used in literature. The novel The Red Harvest by Samuel Dashiell Hammett includes this line, “The machine that had been trailing us came into sight around a bend in the road..and unloaded its cargo of men and weapons.” (Barnhart 633) This is more relatable to modern slang. For example, when some people see a classic car that is particularly fast or sleek, they label it as a machine. The noun car or automobile is not enough to describe the power that the car has so it is a …show more content…
The denotations of machine range from people to politics. The website Urban Dictionary is a site where people can post definitions of slang words and the visitors of the site vote on the best definition. That allows the majority of people to vote on what they think best describes the word. Thus, it is a good site to judge the slang definition. The Urban Dictionary’s definition for machine pertaining to people is, “A soulless human being that's only as alive as much as a running clock or car.” Another connotation of the word machine is the political machine, which used to dominate American politics. These machines operated like factories, creating votes for the highest bidder, which is why they got nicknamed