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 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
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.
Declension
| singular | plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
| nominative | ein | der, das | Smalltalk | die | Smalltalks |
| genitive | eines | des | Smalltalks | der | Smalltalks |
| dative | einem | dem | Smalltalk | den | Smalltalks |
| accusative | einen, ein | den, das | Smalltalk | die | Smalltalks |