Word Problems: ROBUST

Introduction

You may remember my assertion in a previous post that using good words in inappropriate ways for the sake of novelty or to appear clever is detrimental to the process of communication.

The English language is a wonderful means of conveying knowledge and understanding, but only when the language is respected and used appropriately.  Users of the language who change the meaning of words to suit their fancy or to meet their need for attention disfigure the language, obstruct clarity, and do an injustice to others who simply want to communicate without confusion.   When the meaning of a word is altered in illogical ways, or without rationale or justification – then we have a word problem.

Today’s Word Problem: “ROBUST”

 “Robust” is an evocative synonym for healthy.  Health is a characteristic of living things.  The word “robust” has nothing to do with machines or networks of any kind.  Calling a system ‘robust’ is a linguistic abomination.

You’ve probably heard how this perfectly good word has been misused in recent years.  Many good literate people have succumbed, under the influence of relentless repetition by the advertising community and geeks of all kinds, to a new, manufactured definition.  But I refuse to accept the misappropriation of this word by technophiles with no appreciation for any language beyond DOS or Cobol or HTML. 

The image conjured in my mind by the phrase “a robust computer network” is amusing.  I envision a computer-robot thing standing in an Alpine meadow, beside a pink-cheeked little girl named Heidi and a goat, on a mountainside in Switzerland.  Yodeling.  A “robust” statistic conjures a similar image, except that the image features some life-size numerals in place of the computer-robot thing.

The word “robust” actually has nothing to do with technology, or machines of any kind, or data points or sample sizes or definitions or probability.  The actual meaning of the word, according  to Merriam-Webster.com, is “exhibiting strength or vigorous health.”   Hence the healthy child in my image.

According to some dictionaries, ‘robust’ can also mean ‘full-bodied,’ as with a muscular or stout physique.  This meaning is very similar to the original.  Sometimes the word is used to characterize a flavor or aroma, as with coffee or wine.  This culinary appropriation of ‘robust’ is a modest twisting of the original meaning, but is etymologically defensible - not the egregious perversion of the word practiced by the technology community.

Very recent online dictionaries add a newly-refined alternative definition of robust, with reference to computer software, as “capable of performing without failure.”   This definition attempts to associate the concept of health (“performing without failure”) with a technological item.  This attempt to bridge the gap between true meaning and the meaning as misunderstood by the techie community does not convey the meaning of either, and makes no one happy.  It is in reality an attempt to appease those who misused the word in the first place, because they refuse to stop misusing it. 

As Prime Minister and author Winston Churchill could tell you, appeasement never works.  Not in politics, and not in etymology.

Gryphem