INTERNET WORDS

 New Words

New words have been highlighted / Las palabras nuevas se han resaltado.

You can't open a newspaper in England these days without seeing yet another "dot com" article - that is, an article about the internet and buying via the internet.

The name DOT COM comes from the final part of many internet addresses, as in Amazon.com, showing that the address mentioned belongs to a company rather than an organisation or a university - in this case to an online bookseller.

Suddenly buying via the internet is big business. Traditional retailing has become e-tailing, and retailers have become e-tailers. E-commerce is taking over from more "normal" selling methods. An e-revolution is taking place, almost without our being aware of it. The British government has even appointed an e-envoy to ensure that we are not left behind in this net age. In all these words, of course e- stands for "electronic".

Companies can hardly be credible these days if they don't e-tail. There are now a number of new words to describe companies. Bricks (or bricks and mortar) companies do not use the internet and rely on traditional business methods. Clicks companies, named after the clicks that you make when you use your computer mouse, use only the internet and keep inventing new ways of operating, new e-strategies. And then there are bricks and clicks companies, also called clicks and mortar companies, which combine online trading and traditional selling methods.

There's no doubt that if you want to get ahead you need to set up an e-company. In America the net has created so many billionaires in the last year that the garages have run out of Ferraris to sell them! About 40% of Web users are women, so there are now web sites dedicated to women - chick click sites.  

If you haven't got a computer linked up to the Web, you are being left behind. I saw a new company advertising in the newspaper last Christmas; it was eToys, and they said it was the only way to buy  Christmas presents for your friends' children: it's cheaper, quicker, and saves you having to go out of the house. I have to admit that even I can see the benefit of e-shopping; the goods are often cheaper, I don't have to find anywhere to park, and I don't have to post them. I still haven't had the thank you letters though. Maybe they’ll e-mail me.

Source: New English Digest - Author: Gwyneth Fox