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Mechanisms, not Mechanics?

3 replies [Last post]
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 13:00
PauloAugusto
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The title and subtitle of this forum is:
"Mechanics"
and
"For the discussion of how to create, balance, and implement *mechanics*."

It has come to my attention (listening to TDT podcast) what i already knew but didn't payed attention, that a *mechanic* is a dude (like the one that fixes your car), not a mechanism. So, we are not mechanics, nor are we implementing mechanics (how does one implement a mechanic?), we are discussion how to implement mechanisms.

So, shouldn't the forum be changed to?:
"Mechanisms"
"For the discussion of how to create, balance, and implement *mechanisms*."

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Fri, 01/06/2012 - 13:36
#1
Dralius
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The English dictionary in

The English dictionary in MSWord gives these definitions.

1. Mechanic: Someone who repairs vehicles and machines.
2. Mechanics: The way something works or is done.
3. Mechanics: The area of physics that deals with the forces such as gravity that affect all objects

#2 fit the usage so I would say no change is needed. Besides its common industry terminology, which makes it correct regardless of how laymen use it.

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Sat, 01/07/2012 - 07:05
#2
Maaartin
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Joined: 05/15/2011
This made me wonder too

The Free Online Dictionary agrees:

  • (used with a pl. verb) The functional and technical aspects of an activity: The mechanics of football are learned with practice.
  • the technical aspects of something the mechanics of poetic style
  • the functional aspect of a system, such as the mechanics of blood circulation.

Maybe mechanism would be less ambiguous, but AFAIK it's by far not that common.

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Sun, 01/08/2012 - 12:04
#3
larienna
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Joined: 07/28/2008
Even in french "mechanic"

Even in french "mechanic" (mecanique) and "mecanism" (Mecanisme) could both be used.

The guy who repair your cars is a "Mechanician" (Mechanicien) but according to the definition above "Mechanic" seems to be valid. (I thought it was some sort of slang version of mechanician which got accepted.)

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