Word of the Day

Synergy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Synergy (from the Greek synergos, συνεργός meaning working together, circa 1660) refers to the phenomenon in which two or more discrete influences or agents acting together create an effect greater than that predicted by knowing only the separate effects of the individual agents. It is originally a scientific term. Often (but not always, see Toxicologic synergy, below) the prediction is the sum of the effects each is able to create independently. The opposite of synergy is antagonism, the phenomenon where two agents in combination have an overall effect which is less than that predicted from their individual effects. Synergism stems from the 1657 theological doctrine that human will cooperates with the Divine Grace in regeneration[1]. The term began to be used in the broader, non-theological, sense by 1925. Synergy can also mean:

• A mutually advantageous conjunction where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
• A dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the sum of individual component actions.
• Behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their parts taken separately. More accurately known as emergent behavior^[1]

Found at Wikipedia.com

Youthquake

The Word of the Day

for May 25, 2007 was:

youthquake • \YOOTH-kwayk\ • noun

: a shift in cultural norms influenced by the values, tastes, and mores of young people

Example Sentence:

The dot-com industry was the epicenter of the youthquake of the 1990s.

Did you know?

The 1960s were a time of seismic social upheaval brought about by young people bent on shaking up the establishment. From politics to fashion to music, the ways of youth produced far-reaching cultural changes. Linguistically, the sixties saw the addition to English of such words as "flower child," "peacenik," "hippie," "love beads," "trippy," "vibe," "freak-out," and "love-in." Not surprisingly, they also saw the emergence of "youthquake." The first known use of "youthquake" in print comes from a 1966 article in McCall's: "the youthquake, as some call it ... has swept both sides of the Atlantic."