Every profession has their own unique vocabulary or distinctive nomenclature, and some have entirely different meanings for everyday words. The medical field is renowned for their Latin or Greek based words for procedures, diseases or equipment. In the legal profession, every term has a very precise meaning in order to eliminate any potential for ambiguity. Even bridge engineers have been known to give odd meanings to otherwise mundane words. In this edition of TheBridgeGuy, we’ll explore the importance of terminology (or lack thereof) and how our use of words can sometimes stray into the absurd.
Efficient use of language gets the speaker’s exact meaning across by using as few words as possible. It is efficiency that drives the need for specialized terminology in each profession. For example, if I need a medical doctor who is familiar with all of the different pathology related to the ears, the nose and the throat, I might ask for an ear, nose and throat doctor. The medical profession decided long ago that such a doctor would be known as an otolaryngologist. Rather than needing four words to describe what this person does, we stick all of that into a single word.
In the Army, acronyms and truncations of phrases have a similar function. For example, a made up word such as ‘ALCON’ isn’t really made up – it’s just a truncation of the phrase ‘all concerned.’ Acronyms serve a similar purpose. By shortening a name or phrase, the speaker can save time relaying to the listener what their meaning is. In war time, the efficient transmission of orders to the front can make or break a major offensive.
Army-jargon, as I like to call it, is also full of odd uses for everyday English words. Take the word ‘suspense’ as an example. Suspense as a category of fiction is well known to most English speakers. Alfred Hitchcock, the famous movie director, is often known as the Master of Suspense for his adept pacing and tension filled climaxes. The state of excitement or anxious uncertainty about what is to come next is the most understood definition for suspense. But ‘suspense’ also has a legal definition, essentially meaning to stop doing something. The Army appears to have adopted the legal meaning for the word, where it is used as a sinister sounding synonym for a deadline.
The term ‘alibi’ is a bit harder to pin down the origin of. The legal definition and common definition for the word are the same – an alibi is a defense asserting that someone was somewhere else when an act, usually a criminal one, took place.
Another less common use for the term is used in shooting competitions. Under National Rifle Association shooting competition rules, the alibi rule allows a competitor to take an additional shot under certain circumstances. This could be a firearm malfunction or other unavoidable error. Usually only one alibi is allowed per competitor per event, and the additional shot is taken at the end of the competition.
In Army-jargon, an alibi is offered by a meeting attendee near the end of a meeting, when all other talking points have been exhausted. In this context, an alibi is ‘one last thing’ or in a shooting competition, ‘one last shot.’ For the non-military people in such meetings, the term’s use is alien and inexplicable.
In Bridge Engineering, terminology is important. But since it is a small subset of structural engineering, even other structural engineers use words incorrectly or inappropriately from time to time.
One of the best examples is the confusion between ‘pre-tensioning’ and ‘prestressing.’ While similar, they are not direct synonyms. Prestressing is a broad term for introducing stress into a concrete section. The ‘pre-‘ prefix in this case means the stress is applied prior to the external loading being applied.
Pre-tensioning is a specific method of applying the more general prestressing, where strands are stressed before placing the concrete. In this case, the ‘pre-‘ prefix means the strands are stressed prior to the concrete being placed.
When the two get confused, you’ll often hear someone ask “Are these girders post-tensioned or prestressed?” Usually with context, I’m able to understand what they are asking, even if as asked the question isn’t very precise. If the girders were in fact post-tensioned, then the answer to their query would be ‘both.’
And then there are some terms that we use interchangeably. ‘Parapet’ vs. ‘barrier’ vs. ‘rail’ is a good example of this. A parapet is usually a non-structural feature placed around the perimeter of a roof to prevent someone from falling. But the State of Idaho uses the same word to describe the structural feature attached to the edge of a bridge deck to redirect vehicles in an accident. In Washington, this feature is referred to as the traffic barrier. In other parts of the country, this same feature may be referred to as the bridge rail.
More comical or absurd terms in engineering can often amuse the layperson. ‘Erection’ is an event during the construction of a bridge, usually involving setting large pre-fabricated pieces – such as steel or concrete girders – into place. This becomes humorous when we recall what an erection is in context to a part of the male anatomy.
In one phone conversation, a female engineer was trying to select the proper fastener for a project. Becoming exasperated at one point, this female engineer exclaimed to one colleague, “I just need a good screw!” She later recalled how embarrassing that would sound to a non-engineer considering a screw is a metal fastener used for joining pieces of wood or other materials.
Many bridge engineers use the terms ‘bent’ and ‘pier’ interchangeably. A pier or a bent is an element used to support the bridge superstructure. In some cases the usage varies regionally, but sometimes both are used in the same region by different engineers.
Recently, the Federal Highway Administration published the Specifications for the National Bridge Inventory (SNBI). This new publication attempts to modernize the National Bridge Inventory by updating the coding for bridge components and requiring bridge owners to collect more data on their bridges during routine inspections. For our purposes in this article, the SNBI offers a clear distinction between what is considered a bent and what is considered a pier.
In the commentary of Section 2.2, Substructure Material and Type, the SNBI says “Both piers and bents provide the same function; however a pier has only one footing at each substructure unit (the footing may serve as a pile cap) while a bent has several footings or no footing, as is the case with a pile bent.” This is exciting stuff!
The efficient use of language only really works if both parties understand the conventions being used. It’s like a secret code for the initiated. Or a dialect of English – you’re sure they’re speaking English, but none of the vocabulary makes any sense. And then there are some places where English completely disappears, such as with Army-jargon.
What we call these things isn’t really all that important – at the end of the day, their function is still the same. This is what Shakespeare was alluding to with his famous ‘Rose Speech.’ In the balcony scene, Juliet declares “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” The name we give things isn’t important, or rather, doesn’t change their function, or want of affection. A bent or a pier still supports a bridge, just as Juliet would still love Romeo if his name was Romeo Johnson instead of Romeo Montague.
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