AD

en-noun

AD (countable and uncountable, plural ADs)

A few moments later, the A.D. reappears. "They need you," she says. "And could you stop by Wardrobe?" Shannen rolls her eyes. "O.K.!" she snaps.

1993 November, Lynn Hirschberg, “Brat on a Hot Tin Roof”, in Vanity Fair:

assistant director
assistant director#English

(film) Initialism of assistant director.

audio description
audio description#English

(television) Abbreviation of audio description.


BBC

Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation
w:Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation

(Philippines, broadcasting, historical) Initialism of Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation, a defunct Philippine television network active from 1973 to 1986.


BM

BM (countable and uncountable, plural BMs)

Life support for BM formats
Robert M. Lowery acknowledges that beautiful music formats are in the decline […]

1983, Television/Radio Age, volume 30, page 72:

Practically every dentist or doctor's office carries a BM station.

1988, Donald F. Harvey, Strategic management and business policy, page 300:

(uncountable, broadcasting) Initialism of beautiful music.


AM

AM (countable and uncountable, plural AMs)

amplitude modulation
amplitude modulation#English

(communication, broadcasting) Initialism of amplitude modulation.; contrasted with FM


mobile station

Coordinate term: base station

(radio) A radio transceiver installed in a vehicle.


NATO

en:National Association of Theatre Owners

From National Association of Theatre Owners.

(US, film) Acronym of National Association of Theatre Owners.


lens

en-verb

lens (third-person singular simple present lenses, present participle lensing, simple past and past participle lensed)

lenses (present singular third-person)
lensing (participle present)
lensed (participle past)
lensed (past)

Borrowed from Latin lēns (“lentil”), with Medieval Latin later taking on the sense of “lens”, a semantic loan from Arabic عَدْسَة (ʕadsa, “lentil; optic lens”).

semantic loan

It’s set in an anonymous, upper-middle-class suburb, lensed in the generic gunmetal gray that will one day appear as dated as the fuzzy outlines of ’80s direct-to-video horror movies.

2020 May 7, Katie Rife, “If you’re looking to jump in your seat, make a playdate with Z”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 2020-05-16:

(transitive, cinematography) To film, shoot.


nigger

Sranan Tongo: nengre

Aukan: nengee

Saramaccan: në́ngë

Probably immediately from French nègre or Spanish and Portuguese negro (“a black African”); ultimately from Latin niger (“black”), thus a doublet of negro and noir. Compare Danish nigger, Swedish nigger, German Nigger, Dutch nikker. First use appears c. 1577, in the writings of Edward Hellowes (fl. 1574–1601). The expected Modern English pronunciation would be with /iː/; compare neger. The modern pronunciation with /ɪ/ may be due to influence from the Latin etymon (compare the older Southern US pronunciation of negro with /ɪ/), but compare the dialectal American pronunciations of eagle and eager as /ˈɪɡəl/ and /ˈɪɡɚ/.

чёрный

note: негр m (negr) and негритя́нка f (negritjánka) are neutral terms

حبشی

offensive if intended otherwise 'Male Ethiopian/Abyssian'

حبشن

offensive if intended otherwise 'Female Ethiopian/Abyssinian'

Care should be taken to check visually from the position occupied by the subject and from the camera also, to ascertain that the nigger is positioned correctly and does not obstruct the picture area.

1961, Peter Snow, Electronic Flashlight Photography, page 114:

(film, dated) A black screen used in conjunction with the camera to block light or produce special lighting effects.


season

→ Japanese: シーズン (shīzun)

From Middle English sesoun, seson (“time of the year”), from Old French seson, saison (“time of sowing, seeding”), from Latin satiō (“act of sowing, planting”) from satum, past participle of serō (“to sow, plant”) from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow, plant”). Akin to Old English sāwan (“to sow”), sǣd (“seed”). Doublet of saison. Displaced native Middle English sele (“season”) (from Old English sǣl (“season, time, occasion”)), Middle English tide (“season, time of year”) (from Old English tīd (“time, period, yeartide, season”)).

temps

(obsolete) an extended, undefined period of time

The third season of Friends aired from 1996 to 1997.

Or - is she Erin Gray in the second season of Buck Rogers beautiful?

1998 February 11, “Tom's Rhinoplasty”, in South Park, season 1, episode 11:

(Canada, US, Australia, broadcasting) A group of episodes of a television or radio program broadcast in regular intervals with a long break between each group, usually with one year between the beginning of each.


umbrella

→ Igbo: mbalarị

→ Welsh: ymbarél

→ Yoruba: ọ̀bùrẹ́là

→ Tok Pisin: ambrela

Borrowed from Italian ombrella, umbrella (“parasol, sunshade”), diminutive of ombra (“shade”) (or from a Late Latin or Medieval Latin umbrella), from Latin umbra (“shadow”).

Using umbrellas for shooting a wedding party is ok, but not necessary.

2014, Michael Allen, Modern Wedding Photography, page 97:

(photography, television) An umbrella-shaped reflector with a white or silvery inner surface, used to diffuse a nearby light.


add

From Middle English adden, from Latin addō (“add, give unto”), from ad (“to”) + dō (“give”).

In a typical week, 10 to 15 songs may be up for consideration as “adds” of new songs for the station's playlist.

2006, David Baskerville, Music Business Handbook and Career Guide, page 370:

Effectiveness of their work is measured by the number of “adds” they receive on the airplay charts of major trades.

2013, Russ Hepworth-Sawyer, From Demo to Delivery:

(radio) The addition of a song to a station's playlist.


network

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *neHd-der.
Proto-Germanic *natją
Proto-West Germanic *nati
Old English nett
Middle English net
English net
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom
Proto-Germanic *werką
Proto-West Germanic *werk
Old English weorc
Middle English werk
English work
English network
Compound of net + work.

etymon

filtered-popping recursive transition network

2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xi
TV back then was five channels (three networks, PBS, and an independent station that ran I Love Lucy reruns), […]

(broadcasting) A group of affiliated television stations that broadcast common programs from a parent company.


network

en-verb

network (third-person singular simple present networks, present participle networking, simple past and past participle networked)

networks (present singular third-person)
networking (participle present)
networked (participle past)
networked (past)

(transitive, broadcasting) To broadcast across an entire network of stations and affiliates at the same time.

diffuser sur l’ensemble du réseau

to broadcast across a network of stations and affiliates


feature

→ German: Feature

→ Ukrainian: фі́ча (fíča)

From Middle English feture, from Anglo-Norman feture, from Old French faiture, from Latin factūra, from Latin factus, from Latin faciō (“do, make”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”). Doublet of facture.

feature

(media) A long, prominent article or item in the media, or the department that creates them; frequently used technically to distinguish content from news.


y

Abbreviations.
y
# (stenoscript) the sound sequence /ɔɪ̯/.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of why.
# (stenoscript) the suffix -ry or -rry.

(UK, television) Abbreviation of youth, usually followed by an age appropriate for the content so marked.


industrial

en-noun

industrial (countable and uncountable, plural industrials)

Actor, director, and producer for three decades offers coaching and directing in scenes, improves, cold copy, script analysis, commercials, voice-overs, industrials, film, and stage.

2012, Stuart J. Scesney, How to Enter the Business of Commercial Modeling and Acting Without Getting Ripped Off:

(film) A film made for use within an industry, not for a movie-going audience.


ID

ID (countable and uncountable, plural IDs)

If not done at the top of the hour, however, the station ID should come at the next possible break in the programme.

2015, Simran Kohli, The Radio Jockey Hand Book, page 93:


gag

gag (countable and uncountable, plural gags)

→ French: gag

→ Italian: gag

→ Spanish: gag

The noun is from Early Modern English gagge; the verb is from Middle English gaggen. Possibly imitative or perhaps related to or influenced by Old Norse gag-háls ("with head thrown backwards"; > Norwegian dialectal gaga (“bent backwards”)). The intransitive sense "to retch" is from 1707. The noun is from the 16th century, figurative use (for "repression of speech") from the 1620s. The secondary meaning "(practical) joke" is from 1863, of unclear origin.

gloss

"with head thrown backwards"; > Norwegian dialectal <i class="Latn mention" lang="no">gaga</i> (“bent backwards”)

On Hacksaw Ridge, Oliver and his team of effects artisans devised gags for that spectacular flamethrower shot along with other devastating body and bullet hits, and several mortar and full-scale explosions, all aimed at communicating the reality of battle.

2016 November 3, Ian Failes, “How the King of Practical Effects Conquered ‘Hacksaw Ridge’”, in Inverse:

(film) a device or trick used to create a practical effect; a gimmick


clapper

(cinematography) The hinged part of a clapperboard, used to synchronise images and soundtrack, or the clapperboard itself.


on

Etymology tree
Proto-West Germanic *ana
Old English on
Middle English on
English on
From Middle English on, from Old English on, an (“on, upon, onto, in, into”), from Proto-West Germanic *ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, at”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-.
Cognate with North Frisian a (“on, in”), Saterland Frisian an (“on, at”), West Frisian oan (“on, at”), Dutch aan (“on, at, to”), Low German an (“on, at”), German an (“to, at, on”), Swedish å (“on, at, in”), Faroese á (“on, onto, in, at”), Icelandic á (“on, in”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “up, upon”), Albanian në (“in”); and from Old Norse upp á: Danish på, Swedish på, Norwegian på, see upon.

etymon

Southern US, Midland US, Philadelphia, Baltimore

(acting, drama, roleplaying games) Acting in character.


star

Sranan Tongo: stari
Aukan: sitali

→ Finnish: stara

→ French: star

→ German: Star

→ Italian: star

→ Swahili: staa

From Middle English sterre, from Old English steorra (“star”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternô, *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”). Doublet of aster, stella, étoile, and estoile.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots starn, ster, North Frisian steer, West Frisian stjer, Saterland Frisian Stiern, Dutch ster, Luxembourgish Stär, German Stern, Yiddish שטערן (shtern), Vilamovian śtaom, Swedish stjärna, Norwegian stjerne, Icelandic stjarna, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō), Spanish estrella, Portuguese estrela, Italian stella, Romanian stea, Occitan estela, Venetian stéła, Sicilian stidda, Sardinian isteddu, Mirandese streilha, Walloon sitoele, Romansch staila, Megleno-Romanian steau̯ă, Istriot stila, Istro-Romanian ste, Latin stēlla, Greek αστέρι (astéri), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr), Old Armenian աստղ (astł), Persian ستاره (setâre), Tajik ситора (sitora), Pashto ستوری (storay), Mazanderani اساره (ëssâre), Northern Kurdish stêr, Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre), Zazaki astare, Ossetian стъалы (st’aly), Hindi तारा (tārā), Urdu تارا (tārā), Punjabi ਤਾਰਾ (tārā), Gujarati તારો (tāro), Sanskrit तारा (tārā).

аеҵǝа

a celestial body appearing as a point of light on the clear night sky, whose position is relatively fixed with respect to each other

Many Hollywood stars attended the launch party.


take

Brill Publishers
Helmut Rix
Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben

From Middle English taken (“to take, lay hold of, grasp, strike”), from Old English tacan (“to grasp, touch”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse taka (“to touch, take”), from Proto-Germanic *tēkaną (“to touch”), from pre-Germanic *deh₁g- (“to touch”), possibly a phonetically altered form of Proto-Indo-European *te-th₂g- (“to touch, take”) (see there for details).
Cognate with Scots tak, Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk taka (“to take”), Norwegian Bokmål ta (“to take”), Swedish ta (“to take”), Danish tage (“to take, seize”), Middle Dutch taken (“to grasp”), Dutch taken (“to take; grasp”), Middle Low German tacken (“to grasp”). English thack may be from the same root. Compare tackle. Unrelated to Lithuanian tèkti (“to receive, be granted”), which is instead cognate with English thig.
Gradually displaced Middle English nimen (“to take”; see nim), from Old English niman (“to take”).

noncog

It's a take.

Act seven, scene three, take two.

(film) A scene recorded (filmed) at one time, without an interruption or break; a recording of such a scene.


affirmative

/əˈfɜːmətɪv/

From Middle English affirmative, affirmatyve, from Old French affirmatif, from Latin affirmativus, from affirmare (“to assert”).

(military, especially radio communications) Yes; true; correct.


green

en-adj

green (comparative greener, superlative greenest)

greener (comparative)
greenest (superlative)

Bislama: grin

→ Marshallese: kūriin

Tok Pisin: grin

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *grōniz
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂
Proto-Germanic *-į̄
Proto-West Germanic *-ī
Proto-West Germanic *grōnī
Old English grēne
Middle English grene
English green
From Middle English grene, from Old English grēne, from Proto-West Germanic *grōnī, from Proto-Germanic *grōniz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”). More at grow.
See also North Frisian green, West Frisian grien, Dutch groen, Low German grön, green, greun, German grün, Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk grøn, Swedish grön, Norwegian Bokmål grønn, Icelandic grænn.
The sense "obscene, pornographic, sexual" in the Philippines is from a calque of Spanish verde.

der

the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

Following initial drying of film in a motion picture laboratory (after treatment in a hardening-fixing bath) the gelatin structure of an emulsion contracts and is permanently changed. The hardening action still continues for a time as a further small amount of residual moisture is given up. While traces of excess moisture remain, the emulsion is "green," relatively soft, […]

1947, Theatre Catalog, volume 5, page 570:

[…] attaching pre-photographed and pre-printed footage of a focusing chart to daily film footage without taking into consideration that such film may be worn or dried out and therefore, in its plane of best focus, would not be identical to that of the green film of the daily rushes.

1961, American Cinematographer, volume 42, page 618:

(film, television, historical) Of film: freshly processed by the laboratory and not yet fully physically hardened.


two

→ Russian: туз (tuz, “two-oar dinghy”)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English two, twa, from Old English twā, feminine and neuter of twēġen (whence twain), from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.
Cognate with Scots twa (“two”); North Frisian tou, tuu (“two”); Saterland Frisian twäin, two (“two”); West Frisian twa (“two”); Dutch twee (“two”); Low German twee, twei (“two”); German zwei, zwo (“two”); Danish and Norwegian to (“two”); Swedish två, tu (“two”); Icelandic tvö (“two”); Faroese tvey (“two”); Latin duō (“two”); Ancient Greek δύο (dúo, “two”); Irish dhá (“two”); Lithuanian dù (“two”); Russian два (dva, “two”); Albanian dy (“two”); Old Armenian երկու (erku, “two”); Sanskrit द्व (dvá, “two”); Tocharian A wu, Tocharian B wi. Doublet of duo. See also twain.


remote

From Middle English remote, from Old French remot, masculine, remote, feminine, from Latin remotus, past participle of removere (“to remove”), from re- + movere (“to move”).

(broadcasting) An element of broadcast programming originating away from the station's or show's control room.


atmosphere

en-noun

atmosphere (countable and uncountable, plural atmospheres)

/ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/

From French atmosphère, from New Latin atmosphaera, from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós, “steam”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”); corresponding to atmo- + -sphere.

Atmosphere (disambiguation)
atmosphere
atmosphere (unit)

you could cut the atmosphere with a knife

Central Casting is in the business of extras, also known as atmosphere or background actors […]

2006, Los Angeles Magazine, volume 51, number 2, page 100:

"It is estimated conservatively that there are some 50,000 would-be film extras in and around the celluloid capital, persons who would jump at the opportunity to appear as atmosphere in pictures," Scott concluded.

2013, Kerry Segrave, Extras of Early Hollywood: A History of the Crowd, 1913-1945, page 38:

By the way, I discovered that we were not extras but background, as far as the director was concerned; and for the producer, we were atmosphere.

2015, William R. Phillippe, The Pastor's Diary:

(television, film, uncountable) Extras in a scene who have no spoken lines.

массо́вка

extras in a scene who have no spoken lines


hack

Abbreviation of hackney (“an ordinary horse”), probably from place name Hackney.

Dason is nothing but a two-bit hack.

He's nothing but the typical hack writer.

(derogatory, authorship) An untalented writer.


lavender

lavender (countable and uncountable, plural lavenders)

From Middle English lavendre, from Anglo-Norman lavendre (French lavande), from Medieval Latin lavendula, possibly from Latin lividus (“bluish”), but influenced by lavō (“wash”) due to use of lavender in washing clothes.

(film, historical, uncountable) A kind of film stock for creating positive prints from negatives as part of the process of duplicating the negatives.


slate

slate (countable and uncountable, plural slates)

From Middle English slate, slat, slatte, sclate, sclatte, from Old French esclate, from esclat (French éclat), from Frankish *slaitan (“to split, break”), from Proto-Germanic *slaitijaną, causative of *slītaną (“to cut up, split”). Doublet of éclat.


slate

en-verb

slate (third-person singular simple present slates, present participle slating, simple past and past participle slated)

slates (present singular third-person)
slating (participle present)
slated (participle past)
slated (past)

From Middle English slatten, sclatten, from the noun (see above).

Why You Want to Slate your Shots

2013, Rick Smith, Kim Miller, Shoot to Sell: Make Money Producing Special Interest Videos:

(transitive, film) To record a synchronization mark using a clapperboard.


finger

Sranan Tongo: finga

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”). Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.

sormi

something similar in function to a finger

(radio) Any of the individual receivers used in a rake receiver to decode signal components.


MA

en-noun

MA (countable and uncountable, plural MAs)

(US, television) Initialism of mature audience, a television rating.


AC

adult contemporary
adult contemporary#English

(music, radio) Initialism of adult contemporary (a radio format).


English

en-adj

English (comparative more English, superlative most English)

more English (comparative)
most English (superlative)

From Middle English Englisch, English, Inglis, from Old English Englisċ (“of the Angles; English”), from Engle (“the Angles”), a Germanic tribe + -isċ; equivalent to Engle + -ish. Compare West Frisian Ingelsk, Scots Inglis (older ynglis), Dutch Engels, Danish engelsk, Old French Englesche (whence French anglais), German englisch, Spanish inglés, all ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- (“narrow”) (compare Sanskrit अंहु (áṃhu, “narrow”), अंहस् (áṃhas, “anxiety, sin”), Latin angustus (“narrow”), Old Church Slavonic ѫзъкъ (ǫzŭkŭ, “narrow”)).

англи́йски

of or pertaining to an Englishman, Englishwoman, the English

Coordinate term: Chinese

(film, television) Denoting a vertical orientation of the barn doors.


SD

Coordinate term: HD

standard definition
standard definition#English

(television) Initialism of standard definition (“typically 640×480 pixels”).


turtle

Modification of Middle English tortou, tortu, from Old French tortüe (under the influence of Middle English turtel, turtur (“turtledove”), see Etymology 2 below), from Medieval Latin tortuca (compare Spanish tortuga), the same source of tortoise (see there for more). Displaced native Old English byrdling.

Alan Bermingham, Location Lighting for Television
Using an appropriate turtle allows the full range of pan and tilt adjustments on the luminaire and avoids possible heat damage to floor coverings.

(television) A low stand for a lamp etc.


TX

(broadcasting) Abbreviation of transmission.


hammock

en-verb

hammock (third-person singular simple present hammocks, present participle hammocking, simple past and past participle hammocked)

hammocks (present singular third-person)
hammocking (participle present)
hammocked (participle past)
hammocked (past)

Borrowed from Spanish hamaca, from Taíno *hamaka (compare Lokono hamaka, Wayuu jama'a), from Proto-Arawak *hamaka. Columbus, in the narrative of his first voyage, says: “A great many Indians in canoes came to the ship to-day for the purpose of bartering their cotton, and hamacas, or nets, in which they sleep.”

Coordinate term: tentpole

(transitive, broadcasting) To schedule (a new or unpopular programme) between two popular ones in the hope that viewers will watch it.


jump

Brill Publishers
hydraulic jump
jump cut
jump discontinuity
jump instruction

From Middle English jumpen (“to walk quickly, run, jump”), probably of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gumpōną ~ *gumbōną (“to hop, skip, jump”), an iterative verb. The OED suggests an imitative origin. Others have connected it to Ancient Greek ἀθεμβούσα (athemboúsa, “uninhibited”), which is unlikely. Related to jumble. In the sense “to propel oneself” it displaced leap partially and spring largely.
Cognates
Cognate with Middle Dutch gumpen (“to jump”), Low German jumpen (“to jump”), Middle High German gumpen, gampen (“to jump, hop”) (dialectal German gampen, Alemannic German gumpe, Walser dialect kumpu), Old Norse goppa (“to jump”) Danish gumpe (“to jolt”), Swedish gumpa (“to jump”), Danish gimpe (“to move up and down”), Middle English jumpren, jumbren (“to mix, jumble”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

قَفْزَة

instance of propelling oneself into the air — see also leap


gaffer

From gaff (“hook”) + -er.
* (cinema): The natural lighting on early film sets was adjusted by opening and closing flaps in the tent cloths, called gaff cloths or gaff flaps.
* (glass)

(film) A chief lighting technician for a motion-picture or television production.


gun

Sranan Tongo: gon

From Middle English gunne, gonne, possibly from Gunnhild, a female given name formerly used as a nickname for engines of war. The name is composed of the Norse elements gunnr and hildr, both meaning "battle".

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

you get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone

The problem is figuring out how to get the electrons from the red gun to hit only the red phosphors, the electrons from the blue gun to hit only the blue phosphors, and so on.

2012, Brand Fortner, Theodore E. Meyer, Number by Colors, page 202:


slug

Nicoline van der Sijs
Slug (disambiguation)

Originally referred to a slow, lazy person, from Middle English slugge (“lazy person", also "slowth, slothfulness”), probably of either Old English or Old Norse origin; compare Norn slug (“lazy, slothful, sluggish”), dialectal Norwegian slugg (“a large, heavy body”), sluggje (“heavy, slow person”), Danish slog (“rascal, rogue”); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sliǵ-ōn, from *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”) or otherwise from the root of Old Norse slókr (“lazy person, oaf”), whence Icelandic slókur (“laziness”). Compare also Dutch slak (“snail, slug”). Doublet of slotch.


beat

→ Pennsylvania German: biede

From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to hit, strike”).
Compare Old Irish fo·botha (“he threatened”), Latin confutō (“I strike down”), fūstis (“stick, club”), Albanian bahe (“sling”), Lithuanian baudžiù, Old Armenian բութ (butʻ)).

der

march to the beat of a different drummer

(authorship) A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect.


trail

→ German: Trail

→ Russian: трейл (trejl)

From Middle English trailen, from Old French trailler (“to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry”), from Vulgar Latin *tragulāre (“to drag”), from Latin tragula (“dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap”), probably related to Latin trahere (“to pull, drag along”).

(television) A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.


ad lib

Abbreviation of ad libitum, borrowed from New Latin ad libitum.

(acting) An instance of something improvised, especially a line.


exit

From Middle English exit, from Latin exitus (“departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue”), from exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Exeō is derived from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + eō (“to go”) (ultimately from ). The English word is cognate with Italian esito, Portuguese êxito, Spanish éxito. Doublet of ejido.
The verb is derived from the noun.

ikje

action of going out or going away, or leaving — see also departure

All the world's a ſtage, / And all the men and women, meerely Players; / They haue their Exits and their Entrances, / And one man in his time playes many parts, / His Acts being ſeuen ages.

c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], page 194, column 1:

Why do directors assume that exits and entrances need not be rehearsed?

1968, Leon C. Miller, “Blocking the Play”, in How to Direct the High School Play, Chicago, Ill.: The Dramatic Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 39 and 43:

An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.

(specifically, drama) The action of an actor leaving a scene or the stage.


exit

Borrowed from Latin exit, the third-person singular present active indicative of exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”); see further at etymology 1 above.

I take no mony, but good vvords, raile not if I tell true, if I do not reuenge. Farevvell. Exit Bom[bie].

c. 1590 (date written), [John Lyly], Mother Bombie. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv, signature [E4], verso:

A ſauage clamor? / Well may I get a-boord: This is the Chace, / I am gone for euer. / Exit purſued by a Beare.

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 288, column 2:

Agnes exit rapidly, and Ravenſburg is partly perſuaded, and partly forced off, by the Prince Palatine. END OF ACT I.

1810 July, Frederic Reynolds, “The Free Knights; or The Edict of Charlemagne. A Drama, in Three Acts, Interspersed with Music; as Performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.”, in The Jersey Magazine; or Monthly Recorder, volume II, number 7, Jersey: Printed and published by J. Stead, →OCLC, act I, scene iii, page 325, column 1:

(intransitive, drama, also figuratively) Used as a stage direction for an actor: to leave the scene or stage.

el

used as a stage direction for an actor: to leave the scene or stage


bird

en-verb

bird (third-person singular simple present birds, present participle birding, simple past and past participle birded)

birds (present singular third-person)
birding (participle present)
birded (participle past)
birded (past)

From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century.
The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.

inh

Unless the TV crew has its own flyaway, the locals can still defeat a story they couldn't prevent reporters from covering by cutting it off at the pass, when it is being birded through their facilities.

1995, David D. Pearce, Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media, page 43:

After being sent by fast car to Tel Aviv the cassettes would be 'birded' by satellite to the USA and London.

2012, Yoel Cohen, Media Diplomacy, page 127:

(transitive, television) To transmit via satellite.


traffic

en-noun

traffic (usually uncountable, plural traffics)

From Middle French trafique, traffique (“traffic”), from Italian traffico (“traffic”) from trafficare (“to carry on trade”). Potentially from Vulgar Latin *trānsfrīcāre (“to rub across”); Klein instead suggests the Italian has ultimate origin in Arabic تَفْرِيق (tafrīq, “distribution, dispersion”), reshaped to match the native prefix tra- (“trans-”).
The adjective sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog trapik and follows a general trend in Philippine English to make nouns adjectives.

trafik

pedestrians or vehicles on roads or on the air

Vakea

exchange or flux of information, messages or data

Exchange or flux of information, messages or data, as in a computer or telephone network.

(radio) In CB radio, formal written messages relayed on behalf of others.


blonde

Coordinate term: redhead

Most [camera crews] carry two blondes and three redheads or their equivalents. Blondes are 2000 watt lamps traditionally with yellow heads (or shells) used to light fairly large areas — also referred to as 2Ks — and redheads smaller 800 watt lamps traditionally with red shells to light faces.

2012, Colin Hart, Television Program Making, page 63:

(film, television, theater) A kind of 2,000-watt lamp.


voice

en-verb

voice (third-person singular simple present voices, present participle voicing, simple past and past participle voiced)

voices (present singular third-person)
voicing (participle present)
voiced (participle past)
voiced (past)

From Middle English voysen, voicen, from the noun (see above).

The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek.

2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits :”, in The Onion AV Club:

(television, film) To act as a voice actor to portray a character.


bite

en-noun

bite (countable and uncountable, plural bites)

Sranan Tongo: beti

From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”).
Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).

cold open: Starting a TV newscast with video or a bite from the lead story rather than starting with the anchor or the standard show open.

2015, Robert A. Papper, Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook:


vocal

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-vocal.wav

Late Middle English vocal, borrowed from Latin vōcālis (“uttering a voice, sounding, speaking”), from vōx (“a voice, sound, tone”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of vowel and vocalis. Compare Old French vocal.

af

(music) A part of a piece of music that is sung.

(acting) A musical performance involving singing.


lead

en-noun

lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

From Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan (“to lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to cause one to go, lead”), causative of Proto-Germanic *līþaną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to leave, die”).
Cognate with West Frisian liede (“to lead”), Dutch leiden (“to lead”), German leiten (“to lead”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lede (“to lead”), Norwegian Nynorsk leia (“to lead”), Swedish leda (“to lead”). Related to Old English līþan (“to go, travel”).

der

"You make moving pictures. In jungles and places." "That's me. And I've picked you for the lead in my next picture."

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 43:

(acting, theater) The main role in a play or film; the lead role.

(acting) The actor who plays the main role; lead actor.


recast

en-verb

recast (third-person singular simple present recasts, present participle recasting, simple past and past participle recast)

recasts (present singular third-person)
recasting (participle present)
recast (participle past)
recast (past)

According to As the World Turns producer, Michael Laibson, the decision was made to recast the role, because the producers and writers felt it would annoy the audience to have Betsy discontinued so soon after her long-delayed marriage […]

2002, Robert C. Allen, To Be Continued...: Soap Operas Around the World, Routledge, →ISBN, page 153:

(transitive, film, theater) To assign (roles in a play or performance) to different actors.

She was recast as the villain.

(transitive, film, theater) To assign (actors) to different roles.


cable

Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.

der

cable television
cable television#English

(communication) A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.

(television) Ellipsis of cable television, broadcast over the above network, not by antenna.


blow

From Middle English blowe, blaw, northern variant of blēwe, from Proto-Germanic *blewwaną (“to beat”) (compare Old Norse blegði (“wedge”), German einbläuen, Middle Dutch blouwen). Related to block.

The blow is important because it transitions the reader and eventually the audience from one scene to another.

2014, Martie Cook, Write to TV: Out of Your Head and onto the Screen, page 105:

(television) Synonym of button (“the punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene”)


bug

First attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a bedbug), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), a conflation of two words:
# Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”), perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg ("ghost, hobgoblin"; compare Welsh bwgwl ("threat", older "fear")) or from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”) (compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin”, “snot”)). Or, from a word related to buck and originally referring to a goat-shaped spectre.
# Middle English budde (“beetle”), from Old English budda (see sċearnbudda (“dung beetle”)), from Proto-Germanic *buddô, *buzdô, from the same ultimate source as above (compare Low German Budde (“louse, grub”), Norwegian budda (“newborn domestic animal”)). More at bud.
The term is used to refer to technical errors and problems at least as early as the 19th century, predating the commonly known story of a moth being caught in a computer.

cog

given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow

Channel 4's bug distracted Jim from his favorite show.

(broadcasting) A small, usually transparent or translucent image placed in a corner of a television program to identify the broadcasting network or cable channel.

logo

a small image placed in a corner of a television program


card

en-noun

card (countable and uncountable, plural cards)

→ Bengali: কার্ড (karḍo)

→ Burmese: ကတ် (kat)

→ Chinese: 卡 (kǎ)

→ Gujarati: કાર્ડ (kārḍ)

→ Hausa: kati

→ Hindi: कार्ड (kārḍ)

→ Italian: card

→ Japanese: カード (kādo)

→ Korean: 카드 (kadeu)

→ Malay: kad

→ Pashto: کارډ (kārḍ)

Pitcairn-Norfolk: kaad

→ Sinhalese: කාඩ් (kāḍ)

→ Swahili: kadi

→ Tagalog: kard

→ Urdu: کارڈ (kārḍ)

From Middle English carde (“playing card”), from Old French carte, from Latin charta, from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs, “paper, papyrus”). Doublet of chart.

der

(television) A title card or intertitle: a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action at various points, generally to convey character dialogue or descriptive narrative material related to the plot.


business

en-noun

business (countable and uncountable, plural businesses)

Tok Pisin: bisnis

→ Albanian: biznes

→ Belarusian: бі́знэс (bíznes)

→ Bulgarian: би́знес (bíznes)

→ Czech: business, byznys

→ Dutch: business

→ Indonesian: bisnis, bisnes

→ Faroese: besnissaður

→ Finnish: bisnes, business

→ French: business

→ Haitian Creole: biznis

→ Italian: business

→ Japanese: ビジネス (bijinesu)

→ Jersey Dutch: bääznäs

→ Marshallese: peejnej

→ Moroccan Arabic: بزناس (biznās)

desc

→ Newar: बनय्ज्या (banêjyā), बनेज्या (banejyā)

→ Pennsylvania German: Bisniss

→ Polish: biznes

→ Romanian: bișniță

desctree

→ Russian: би́знес (bíznes)
→ Armenian: բիզնես (biznes)
→ Yakut: биисинэс (biisines)

→ Slovak: biznis

→ Spanish: bisnes

→ Tatar: business

→ Ukrainian: бі́знес (bíznes)

→ Welsh: busnes

From Middle English busines, busynes, businesse, bisynes, from Old English bisiġnes (“business, busyness”), equivalent to busy + -ness. Doublet of busyness.

business

action carried out with a prop or piece of clothing

business in the front, party in the back

The business with the hat is a fine example of the difficulty of distinguishing between 'natural' and 'formal' acting.

1983, Peter Thomson, Shakespeare's Theatre, →ISBN, page 155:

(acting, theater) Ellipsis of stage business (“aspect of acting”)..


button

→ German: Button

→ Hindi: बटन (baṭan)

→ Gujarati: બટન (baṭan)

→ Korean: 버튼 (beoteun)

→ Maori: pātene

→ Marathi: बटण (baṭaṇ)

→ Urdu: بٹن (baṭan)

From Middle English boton, botoun, from Old French boton (Modern French bouton), from Old French bouter, boter (“to push; thrust”), ultimately from a Germanic language. Doublet of Biden and beat. More at butt.

One thing you definitely don't want to do is write past the button. For example, a scene's natural button might run something like this:
TONY: That kind of talk is exactly what I'm talking about.
Whereas an example of writing past the button would sound something like this:
TONY: That kind of talk is exactly what I'm talking about.
CARMELLA: Okay. 'Bye.
TONY: Bye.

2006, David Kukoff, Vault Guide to Television Writing Careers, page 77:

(television) The punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene.


bubble

Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.

onom

imitative

A bare lamp (bulb, globe, 'bubble') radiates light in all directions.

2013, Gerald Millerson, Lighting for TV and Film, page 296:

(television, slang) A bulb or lamp; the part of a lighting assembly that actually produces the light.


speed

From Middle English spede (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”). Related also to Old English spōwan (“to be successful, succeed”), Albanian shpejt (“to speed, to hurry”) and Russian спеши́ть (spešítʹ, “to hurry”), Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”), spērō (“hope”, verb), perhaps also to Ancient Greek σπεύδω (speúdō, “to urge on, hasten, press on”).

cog

“Speed,” Carlos, the soundman, said. […]
“Camera.”
“Rolling,” replied Bryce, the cameraman.

2000, Brian J. Hayes, A Boy Scout in Hollywood, page 30:

[…] the director called, “Roll 'em,” the sound man said, “Speed,” and Norling stepped in and said, […]

2012, Tom Mascaro, Into the Fray, page 52:

(film) Called by the soundman when the recording equipment has reached running speed and is ready to go.


shot

en-noun

shot (countable and uncountable, plural shots)

→ Dutch: shot

→ French: shot

→ Macedonian: шот (šot)

→ Malay: syot

→ Polish: shot

→ Portuguese: shot

→ Russian: шот (šot)

→ Spanish: shot

→ Swedish: shot

→ Ukrainian: шот (šot)

From Old English sceot, from Proto-Germanic *skutą; compare the doublet scot.

you miss 100% of the shots you don't take

We got a good shot of the hummingbirds mating.

Even if everyone else is taking close-up shots of the crumpled body of a rock climber who fell to his death, and your photographer did too, maybe you don't feel the need to air that shot.

2004, Robert Thompson, Cindy Malone, The Broadcast Journalism Handbook: A Television News Survival Guide, →ISBN, page 4:

On arrival at Birmingham New Street, I make my way upstairs to the mezzanine to get shots of an almost deserted concourse, polka-dotted with social distancing circles like some strange board-game.

2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

(photography, film) A single snapshot or an unbroken sequence of photographic film exposures, or the digital equivalent; an unedited sequence of frames.

لَقْطَة

photography: single unbroken sequence of photographic exposures


tell

en-verb

tell (third-person singular simple present tells, present participle telling, simple past and past participle told or (dialectal or nonstandard) telled)

tells (present singular third-person)
telling (participle present)
told (participle past)
told (past)
telled (dialectal participle past)
telled (dialectal past)
tell (infinitive)

From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talǭ (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja. More at tale.

cog

piss on someone's leg and tell them it's raining

Maria rewrote the section of her novel that talked about Meg and Sage's friendship to have less telling and more showing.

(authorship, intransitive) To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement -- contrasted with show


polecat

From Middle English polcat, pulkat, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English *pole, *poule (“hen”), from Old French poule (“hen”) + Middle English cat. Compare English foulmart.

This is adjustable telescopic tubing, wedged securely between floor and ceiling (vertical pole) or wall-to-wall (horizontal pole), within corridors, arches, window openings, doorways, etc. It may be held in position by a strong internal spring or end-screws. Designs include polecat, varipole, barricuda, jack tube, Acrow.

1991, Gerald Millerson, The Technique of Lighting for Television and Film, page 323:

This uses a battery-operated HMI/MSR 200 W rigged on a magic arm fastened to a vertical 'pole-cat'. Check that the car roof is suitable for this application and remember to include a clean card (beer mat) between the top of the pole-cat and the car roof!

2013, Alan Bermingham, Location Lighting for Television, page 196:

(television) A tubular device used to support lights on a set.


crush

en-noun

crush (countable and uncountable, plural crushes)

From Middle English cruschen (“to crush, smash, squeeze, squash”), from Old French croissir (“to crush”), from Late Latin *crusciō (“to brush”), from Frankish *krustijan (“to crush, squeeze, squash”), from Proto-Germanic *kreustaną (“to crush, grind, strike, smash”).
Akin to Middle Dutch crosen (“to bruise, crush”), Middle Low German krossen, krȫsen (“to break, shatter”), Old Swedish krusa (“to crush”), Swedish krysta (“to squeeze”), Danish kryste (“to squash”), Icelandic kreista (“to squeeze, squash”), Faroese kroysta (“to squeeze”), Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to gnash”).

cog

black crush; white crush

(television, uncountable) The situation where certain colors are so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display.


crush

en-verb

crush (third-person singular simple present crushes, present participle crushing, simple past and past participle crushed)

crushes (present singular third-person)
crushing (participle present)
crushed (participle past)
crushed (past)

He frames his subject in distant close-ups (we feel the distance, due mostly to the crushed perspective brought about by the telephoto lens).

2003, Michel Chion, The Films of Jacques Tati, page 78:

They realise that trajectories, space expansion and crushing are different with different lenses, whether wide angle or telephoto, and that actors' eyelines will be altered.

2010, Birgit Bräuchler, John Postill, Theorising Media and Practice, page 319:

(film, television) To give a compressed or foreshortened appearance to.

My old TV set crushes the blacks when the brightness is lowered.

(transitive, television) To make certain colors so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display.


anchor

→ Chuukese: angko

From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern form is a sixteenth-century modification after the Medieval Latin spelling anchora. Doublet of ancora and anker.

Condoleezza Rice pops up on Fox to be told by the anchor: “When you invade a sovereign nation, that is a war crime.”

2022 March 17, Aditya Chakrabortty, “Western values? They enthroned the monster who is shelling Ukrainians today”, in The Guardian:

(television) An anchorman or anchorwoman.


ride

ride (third-person singular simple present rides, present participle riding, simple past rode or (obsolete) rade or (obsolete) rid, past participle ridden or (now colloquial and nonstandard) rode)

rides (present singular third-person)
riding (participle present)
rode (past)
rade (obsolete past)
rid (obsolete past)
ridden (participle past)
rode (colloquial nonstandard participle past)

From Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīdan, from Proto-Germanic *rīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreydʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-.
Cognates:
From Proto-Germanic: North Frisian ride (“to ride”), Saterland Frisian riede (“to ride”), West Frisian ride (“to ride”), Low German rieden (“to ride”), Dutch rijden (“to ride”), German reiten (“to ride”), Danish ride (“to ride”), Swedish rida (“to ride”).
From Indo-European: Welsh rhwyddhau (“to hurry”).

set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the Devil

vocal riding

The board operator normally watches the meter scale marked for modulation percentage, riding the gain to bring volume peaks into the 85% to 100% range.

2006, Simran Kohli, Radio Jockey Handbook:

“You don't want them riding the volume knob, so that's why you learn how to do your levels properly to make the whole thing transparent for the listener. […]

2017, Michael O'Connell, Turn Up the Volume: A Down and Dirty Guide to Podcasting, page 22:

(radio, television, transitive) To monitor (some component of an audiovisual signal) in order to keep it within acceptable bounds.


crisis

From Latin crisis, from Ancient Greek κρίσις (krísis, “a separating, power of distinguishing, decision, choice, election, judgment, dispute”), from κρίνω (krínō, “pick out, choose, decide, judge”).

der

(drama) A point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.


shoot

en-verb

shoot (third-person singular simple present shoots, present participle shooting, simple past shot, past participle shot or (rare) shotten)

shoots (present singular third-person)
shooting (participle present)
shot (past)
shot (participle past)
shotten (participle past rare)
shoot (infinitive)

→ Catalan: xut

→ Greek: σουτ (sout)

→ Hijazi Arabic: شوت (šūt)

→ North Levantine Arabic: شوت (šūt)

→ Persian: شوت (šut)

→ Portuguese: chuto, chutar

→ Romanian: șut

→ Vietnamese: sút

From Middle English shoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-West Germanic *skeutan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti, from *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian sjitte, Low German scheten, Dutch schieten, German schießen, Danish skyde, Norwegian Bokmål skyte, Norwegian Nynorsk skyta, Swedish skjuta; and also, through Indo-European, with Russian кида́ть (kidátʹ), Albanian hedh (“to throw, toss”), Persian چست (čost, “quick, active”), Lithuanian skudrùs.

(+ partitive object when injuring or genitive object when killing) ampua

when the looting starts, the shooting starts

The film was mostly shot in France.

(transitive, intransitive, analogous, film, television) To film.


act

en-noun

act (countable and uncountable, plural acts)

From Middle English acte, from Old French acte, from Latin ācta (“register of events”), plural of āctum (“decree, law”), from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. Compare German Akte (“file”). Partially displaced deed, from Old English dǣd (“act, deed”).

“H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what […] will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. […]”

1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.

(countable, drama) A division of a theatrical performance.

գործողություն

drama: division of theatrical performance


broad

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-der.?
Proto-Germanic *braidaz
Proto-West Germanic *braid
Old English brād
Middle English brood
English broad
From Middle English brood, brode, from Old English brād (“broad, flat, open, extended, spacious, wide, ample, copious”), from Proto-West Germanic *braid, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz (“broad”), of uncertain origin.
Cognate with Scots braid (“broad”), West Frisian breed (“broad”), Saterland Frisian breed (“broad”), Low German breed (“broad”), breet, Dutch breed (“broad”), German breit (“broad, wide”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål bred (“broad”), Norwegian brei (“broad”), Icelandic breiður (“broad, wide”).

inh

[…] fresnel spotlights, old-type broads, sky-pans, cone-lights, etc.

Some broads have barn doors (see page 115) to block gross light spill into other set areas; others have even an adjustable beam, […]

1976, Herbert Zettl, Television Production Handbook, volume 10, page 105:

Light bounced from large white surfaces (e.g., matte reflector boards, or a white ceiling). Floodlights include scoops, broads, floodlight, banks, internally reflected units, strip lights, and cyclorama lights.

2015, Jim Owens, Television Production, page 194:

(film, television) A kind of floodlight.


effect

en-noun

effect (countable and uncountable, plural effects)

Of the noun: from Middle English effect, from Old French effect (modern French effet), from Latin effectus (“an effect, tendency, purpose”), from efficiō (“accomplish, complete, effect”); see effect as a verb. Displaced Old English fremming, fremednes from fremman.
Of the verb: from Middle English effecten, partly from Medieval Latin effectuō, from Latin effectus, perfect passive participle of efficiō (“accomplish, complete, do, effect”), from ex (“out”) + faciō (“do, make”) (see fact and compare affect, infect) and partly from the noun effect.

der

The effect of flying was most convincing.

The colored bands of color that strobe through much of the text and other visual elements are perhaps the most prototypical of all Amiga demoscene effects and, again, are a direct result of the hardware on which Megademo was created to run.

2018, Jimmy Maher, The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga, page 186:

(cinematography, computer graphics, demoscene) An illusion produced by technical means (as in "special effect")


dialogue

en-noun

dialogue (countable and uncountable, plural dialogues)

Inherited from Middle English dialog, from Old French dialoge (French dialogue), from Late Latin dialogus, from Ancient Greek διάλογος (diálogos, “conversation, discourse”), from διά (diá, “through, inter”) + λόγος (lógos, “speech, oration, discourse”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to converse”), from διά (diá) + λέγειν (légein, “to speak”).

der

The movie had great special effects, but the dialogue was lackluster.

In 1936, Anstey had co-directed Housing Problems, which featured direct dialogue recording - allowing the subjects of the film to speak for themselves. As Anstey said: "At the time nobody had done it, and we gave slum dwellers a chance to make their own films."

2021 March 10, Greg Morse, “Telling the railway's story on film”, in RAIL, number 926, page 42:

(authorship) In a dramatic or literary presentation, the verbal parts of the script or text; the verbalizations of the actors or characters.

حِوَار

verbal part of a literary or dramatic work


cut

en-verb

cut (third-person singular simple present cuts, present participle cutting, simple past cut or (nonstandard) cutted, past participle cut or (archaic) cutten)

cuts (present singular third-person)
cutting (participle present)
cut (past)
cutted (nonstandard past)
cut (participle past)
cutten (archaic participle past)

From Middle English cutten, kitten, kytten, ketten (“to cut”) (compare Scots kut, kit (“to cut”)), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *kytja, *kutta, from Proto-Germanic *kutjaną, *kuttaną (“to cut”), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *kwetwą (“meat, flesh”) (compare Old Norse kvett (“meat”)). Akin to Middle Swedish kotta (“to cut or carve with a knife”) (compare dialectal Swedish kåta, kuta (“to cut or chip with a knife”), Swedish kuta, kytti (“a knife”)), Norwegian Bokmål kutte (“to cut”), Norwegian Nynorsk kutte (“to cut”), Icelandic kuta (“to cut with a knife”), Old Norse kuti (“small knife”), Norwegian kyttel, kytel, kjutul (“pointed slip of wood used to strip bark”). Displaced native Middle English snithen (from Old English snīþan; compare German schneiden), which still survives in some dialects as snithe or snead. See snide. Adjective sense of "drunk" (now rare and now usually used in the originally jocular derivative form of half-cut) dates from the 17th century, from cut in the leg, to have cut your leg, euphemism for being very drunk.

tondi

to cut out fabric to specific lengths and shapes to make clothes

klippa bort

remove a portion during editing of a tape

cut the ground from under someone's feet

one's stomach thinks one's throat has been cut

The camera then cut to the woman on the front row who was clearly overcome and crying tears of joy.

(intransitive, film) To make an abrupt transition from one scene or image to another.

(transitive, film) To edit a film by selecting takes from original footage.


cut

en-noun

cut (countable and uncountable, plural cuts)

leikkaus

notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging

The director asked the cast to note down the following cuts.

(especially theater, film) A passage omitted or to be omitted from a play, movie script, speech, etc.

the director's cut

(film) A particular version or edit of a film.

versio

cinema: particular version or edit of a film


cut

(film and television) An instruction to cease recording.


cover

en-verb

cover (third-person singular simple present covers, present participle covering, simple past and past participle covered)

covers (present singular third-person)
covering (participle present)
covered (participle past)
covered (past)

→ German: covern

→ Danish: lave en cover

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-?
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Latin operiō
Latin cooperiō
Old French covrirbor.
Middle English coveren
English cover
From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again”, the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir (“to cover”).

cog

I wish that popular afternoon show would let us cover some of their commercials – their national stuff can be so annoying.

(transitive, broadcasting) To air or run locally originated material in place of network material during an internal spot break in a syndicated program.


round

en-adj

round (comparative rounder or more round, superlative roundest or most round)

rounder (comparative)
more round (comparative)
roundest (superlative)
most round (superlative)

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.

kerekített

Formal, used when number was derived from a more accurate value on some purpose. Contrary, "kerek" refers to any round(ed) number. Eg. "1000 is a round number." vs. "For cash payments in Hungary, final sum is rounded to the nearest 5-HUF value since 2008, in which year coins with smaller denominations (1HUF, 2HUF) have been withdrawn from circulation."

pyöreä

pronounced with the mouth in the shape of an "O"

(authorship, of a fictional character) Well-written and well-characterized; complex and reminiscent of a real person.


MOR

But MOR as a programming powerhouse began to lose strength as the radio industry evolved during those decades.

2003, Christopher H. Sterling, Encyclopedia of Radio, page 1575:

middle of the road
middle of the road#English

(radio) Initialism of middle of the road.


flat

flat (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)

flatter (comparative)
flattest (superlative)

bumpy

antonym(s) of “having no variations in altitude”

→ Portuguese: flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

The author added a chapter to flesh out the book's flatter characters.

(figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.

(authorship, figuratively, especially of a character) Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.


skein

From Middle English skayne, from Old French escaigne (Modern French écagne), probably of Proto-Celtic origin, from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to split off”). Compare Irish scáinne (“skein, clew”).

der

All three tele skeins are pitching furiously to snag the super Easter Day tele show to be bankrolled by Frigidaire, […]

Three comedy shows from the U. S. are in the CTV lineup: CBSTV's Phil Silvers and Danny Thomas skeins and NBC-TV's "Harry's Girls."

1963, Radio Television Daily, volume 93, page 5:

(radio, television, dated) A series created by a web (major broadcasting network).


faction

Blind genius of faction / Obituary of Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer [title]

1986 June 16, W. J. Weatherby, “Blind genius of faction”, in The Guardian:

Contemporary reviewers offered different labels in attempts to describe the genre of Schindler's List. Lorna Sage, D.J. Enright and Robert Taubman called it a ‘documentary novel’; Paul Bailey and Gay Firth ‘faction’; […]

2000, Sue Vice, Holocaust Fiction, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 93:

[Norman Mailer] was, though, absolutely the daddy of faction, his novels or journalism reporting every conflict from 1939 to Iraq and biographising Americans including John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Neil Armstrong.

2007 November 12, Mark Lawson, “The king of faction”, in The Guardian:

(literature, film) A form of literature, film etc., that treats real people or events as if they were fiction; a mix of fact and fiction.


dark

en-adj

dark (comparative darker, superlative darkest)

darker (comparative)
darkest (superlative)

From Middle English derk, from Old English deorc, from Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“dim, dull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“dull, dirty”).

donker

having an absolute or relative lack of light

the darkest hour is just before the dawn

(broadcasting, of a television station) Off the air; not transmitting.


leader

→ Catalan: líder

→ Czech: lídr

→ Galician: líder

→ Japanese: リーダー (rīdā)

→ Korean: 리더 (rideo)

→ Polish: lider

→ Portuguese: líder

→ Romanian: lider

→ Russian: ли́дер (líder)

→ Spanish: líder

→ Turkish: lider

→ Ukrainian: лі́дер (líder)

From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).

cog

If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool. Do not rewind so much that the leader disappears into the cassette.

2011, Rebekah Modrak, Bill Anthes, Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice:

Someone or something that leads or conducts.

(film, printing) A piece of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll to allow the material to be threaded or fed onto something, as a reel of film onto a projector or a roll of paper onto a rotary printing press.

The leader only runs three seconds, but it acts like a drop curtain in a theater.

1913, Epes Winthrop Sargent, The Technique of the Photoplay, New York, page 15:


gram

(broadcasting, dated) A gramophone recording.


platform

en-verb

platform (third-person singular simple present platforms, present participle platforming, simple past and past participle platformed)

platforms (present singular third-person)
platforming (participle present)
platformed (participle past)
platformed (past)

From Middle French plateforme (“a flat form”), from plate (“flat”) (from Old French plat, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “flat”)) + forme (“form”) (from Latin fōrma (“shape; figure; form”)); compare flatscape.

der

But serious movies are not necessarily good movies. A studio that decides to platform a film had better be sure the film will get the necessary good reviews and audience approval. Otherwise, like United Artists' "A Small Circle of Friends," which was platformed around the same time as "The Elephant Man," the film will fail calamitously.

1981 September 2, Aljean Harmetz, “Comes Fall, a Chance for Serious Movies?”, in The New York Times, page C21:

Each of these films will be "platformed," the industry term to describe the strategy of opening a movie first in a limited number of theaters to give it an aura of exclusivity, then having its appeal build through word of mouth.

1993 November 25, Bernard Weinraub, “For Movie Industry, Thanksgiving Means A Box-Office Feast”, in The New York Times, page C11:

(film, transitive) To open (a film) in a small number of theaters before a broader release in order to generate enthusiasm.


still

From Middle English stille (“motionless, stationary”), from Old English stille (“still, quiet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stillī, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telH- (“to be silent; to be still”). Cognate with Scots stil (“still”), Saterland Frisian stil (“motionless, calm, quiet”), West Frisian stil (“quiet, still”), Dutch stil (“quiet, silent, still”), Low German still (“quiet, still”), German still (“still, quiet, tranquil, silent”), Swedish stilla (“quiet, silent, peaceful”), Icelandic stilltur (“set, quiet, calm, still”). Related to stall.
(noun: Falkland Islander): Military slang, short for still a Benny, since the military had been instructed not to refer to the islanders by the derogatory term Benny (which see).

cog

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

(photography) A photograph, as opposed to movie footage.

(cinematography) A single frame from a film.


field

→ Japanese: フィールド (fīrudo)

From Middle English feeld, feld, from Old English feld, from Proto-West Germanic *felþu, from Proto-Germanic *felþuz (“field”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“field, plain”) or *pleth₂- (“flat”) (with schwebeablaut).
Cognate with Scots feld, feild (“field”), North Frisian fjild (“field”), West Frisian fjild (“field”), Dutch veld (“field”), German Feld (“field”), Swedish fält (“field”). Related also to Old English folde (“earth, land, territory”), Old English folm (“palm of the hand”). More at fold.

veld

land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; open country

fushë

sports: area reserved for playing a game

Euclidean domain ⊂ principal ideal domain ⊂ unique factorization domain

Noetherian domain ⊂ integral domain ⊂ commutative ring

Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.

(electronics, film, animation) Part (usually one half) of a frame in an interlaced signal.


live

en-adj

live (comparative more live, superlative most live)

more live (comparative)
most live (superlative)

The station presented a live news program every evening.

Are we live?

(broadcasting) Being broadcast ("on the air"), as it happens.

مُباشِر

(broadcasting) seen or heard from a broadcast, as it happens

(film) Featuring humans; not animated, in the phrases “live actors” or “live action”.


play

en-verb

play (third-person singular simple present plays, present participle playing, simple past and past participle played)

plays (present singular third-person)
playing (participle present)
played (participle past)
played (past)

desc

→ Kashubian: plejowac (Canada, United States)

From Middle English pleyen, playen, pleȝen, plæien, also Middle English plaȝen, plawen (compare English plaw), from Old English pleġan, pleoġan, plæġan, and Old English plegian, pleagian, plagian (“to play, exercise, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *plehan (“to care about, be concerned with”) and Proto-West Germanic *plegōn (“to engage, move”); both perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *blek- (“to move, move about”), from Proto-Indo-European *bal- (compare Ancient Greek βλύω (blúō), βλύζω (blúzō, “I gush out, spring”), Sanskrit बल्बलीति (balbalīti, “it whirls, twirls”)).
cognates and related terms
Cognate with Scots play (“to act or move briskly, cause to move, stir”), Saterland Frisian pleegje (“to look after, care for, maintain”), West Frisian pleegje, pliigje (“to commit, perform, bedrive”), Middle Dutch pleyen ("to dance, leap for joy, rejoice, be glad"; compare Modern Dutch pleien (“to play a particular children's game”)), Dutch plegen (“to commit, bedrive, practice”), German pflegen (“to care for, be concerned with, attend to, tend”). Related also to Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight, pledge.
The noun is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, plega, plæġa (“play, quick motion, movement, exercise; (athletic) sport, game; festivity, drama; battle; gear for games, an implement for a game; clapping with the hands, applause”), deverbative of plegian (“to play”); see above.

gloss

compare English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">plaw</i>

gloss

"to dance, leap for joy, rejoice, be glad"; compare Modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">pleien</i> (“to play a particular children's game”)

cog

His latest film is playing in the local theatre tomorrow.

Some kind of lounge music was playing in the background.

(transitive, intransitive) To produce sound (especially music), moving pictures, or theatrical performance.

(intransitive, of a theatrical performance, film or music) To be performed, reproduced, or shown.


key

From Middle English keye, kaye, keiȝe, from Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), of uncertain origin. The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kay (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *kēgaz, *kēguz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-, *ǵegʰ-, *ǵegʰn- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."

шпи́лка

object used to maintain the orientation between two others

Key in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

You can easily create this type of user interface by creating a bitmap with certain portions set to a predefined color you want to use as the transparency key.

2004, Mark Schmidt, Simon Robinson, Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Developer's Cookbook, page 195:

There are key controls that adjust the “slice level” or the level at which the key kicks-in and starts cutting a hole for the “fill” […] Chroma key is another form of keying, which derives the key cutter or hole from a selected color.

2016, Jerry C. Whitaker, The SBE Broadcast Engineering Handbook:

(computer graphics, television) A color to be masked or made transparent.


key

en-verb

key (third-person singular simple present keys, present participle keying, simple past and past participle keyed)

keys (present singular third-person)
keying (participle present)
keyed (participle past)
keyed (past)

(telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).

(radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).

avaintaa

radio: operate (transmitter switch of a two-way radio)


mask

Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā from which English mesh is regularly inherited.
Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier.
Compare also Hebrew מַסֵּכָה (masseiḥa).

maski

two-color bitmap used to create transparency in an image

(publishing, film) A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image.


generation

en-noun

generation (countable and uncountable, plural generations)

/ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/

Inherited from Middle English generacioun, from Anglo-Norman generacioun, Middle French generacion, and their source, Latin generātiō, from generāre, present active infinitive of generō (“to beget, generate”). Compare generate.

inh+

With one-inch C format or half-inch Betacam used in the component mode, quality loss through additional generations is not such a problem. In this situation, it would be usual to make the necessary alterations while re-recording onto a third generation master […]

2014, K. G. Jackson, G. B. Townsend, TV & Video Engineer's Reference Book:

Each generation away from the original or master produces increased degradation in the image quality.

2002, Keith Jack, Vladimir Tsatsoulin, Dictionary of Video and Television Technology, page 131:

(television) A copy of a recording made from an earlier copy.


link

Azerbaijani: link

Belarusian: лінк (link)

Bulgarian: линк (link)

Catalan: link

Chinese:

Hong Kong Cantonese: link (ling1), 拎 (ling1)

Czech: link

Danish: link

Dutch: link

Estonian: link

Finnish: linkki

Georgian: ლინკი (linḳi)

German: link

Hebrew: לינק (línk)

Hindi: लिंक (liṅk)

Hungarian: link

Italian: link

Japanese: リンク (rinku)

Korean: 링크 (ringkeu)

Lower Sorbian: link

Macedonian: линк (link)

Persian: لینک (link)

Polish: link

Portuguese: link

Romanian: link

Serbo-Croatian: линк, link

Slovak: link

Spanish: link

Russian: линк (link)

Thai: ลิงก์ (líng)

Turkish: link

Ukrainian: лінк (link)

Yiddish: לינק (link)

From Middle English linke, lenke, from a merger of Old English hlenċe, hlenċa (“ring; chainlink”) and Old Norse *hlenkr, hlekkr (“ring; chain”); both from Proto-Germanic *hlankiz (“ring; bond; fettle; fetter”). Used in English since the 14th century. Related to lank.

tejlidhje

computing: short for hyperlink — see also hyperlink

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

Too much talk on a music-based station can cause listeners who tune in for the music to go elsewhere. […] 'Some people will say “your link has to be 45 seconds long” but I don't do that,' explains the programme controller of Trent FM, Dick Stone.

2002, Carole Fleming, The Radio Handbook, page 53:


image

German: Image

Slovak: imidž

Russian: и́мидж (ímidž)

Armenian: իմիջ (imiǰ)

From Middle English ymage, borrowed from Old French image, from Latin imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym-; the same PIE root is the source of imitari (“to copy, imitate”); see imitate. Displaced native Old English biliþe (“an image, a representation, resemblance, likeness; pattern, example”). Doublet of imago.

cog

(radio) A form of interference: a weaker "copy" of a strong signal that occurs at a different frequency.


squelch

en-verb

squelch (third-person singular simple present squelches, present participle squelching, simple past and past participle squelched)

squelches (present singular third-person)
squelching (participle present)
squelched (participle past)
squelched (past)

Unknown. Perhaps a blend of squash + quell + quench. Compare also English squolsh, English squoosh.

(transitive, radio technology) To suppress the unwanted hiss or static between received transmissions by adjusting a threshold level for signal strength.

придушити

radio technology: suppress hiss or static


squelch

en-noun

squelch (countable and uncountable, plural squelches)

(radio technology) The suppression of the unwanted hiss or static between received transmissions by adjusting the gain of the receiver.


ABC

American Broadcasting Company
w:American Broadcasting Company

(television) Initialism of American Broadcasting Company: an American commercial broadcast television network founded in 1943.

American Broadcasting Company

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
w:Australian Broadcasting Corporation

(radio, television) Initialism of Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Australian Broadcasting Company
w:Australian Broadcasting Company

(historical, radio) Initialism of Australian Broadcasting Company.

Australian Broadcasting Commission
w:Australian Broadcasting Commission

(historical, radio, television) Initialism of Australian Broadcasting Commission.

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation
w:Asahi Broadcasting Corporation

(radio, television) Initialism of Asahi Broadcasting Corporation.


kick

→ German: Kick

→ Irish: cic

From Middle English kyken (“to strike out with the foot”), from Old Norse kikna (“to sink at the knees”) and keikja (“to bend backwards”) (compare Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards, the belly jutting forward”)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (“bent backwards”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kī-, *kij- (“to split, dodge, swerve sidewards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyH- (“to sprout, shoot”). Compare also Dutch kijken (“to look”), Middle Low German kīken (“to look, watch”). See keek.

cog

(film, television) Synonym of kicker (“backlight positioned at an angle”)


star system

Chapters have examined the general structural trends that have defined particular phases in the organisation of the star system, looking at the conditions in which the system emerged, how the studios controlled the ownership of star images, and the power of the star in contemporary Hollywood.

2001, Paul McDonald, The Star System: Hollywood's Production of Popular Identities, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 107:

(film) A method of creating, promoting and exploiting movie stars in cinema, emphasizing on their images rather than acting.


UPN

United Paramount Network
w:United Paramount Network

(television, US) Initialism of United Paramount Network.


MTV

Originally an initialism of Music Television, incorporating the earlier abbreviation TV for television.

I want my, I want my MTV / Now look at them yo-yo's, that's the way you do it / You play the guitar on the MTV / That ain't workin', that's the way you do it / Money for nothin', and chicks for free

1985, Sting, Mark Knopfler (lyrics and music), “Money for Nothing”, in Brothers in Arms, performed by Dire Straits:

We won the race, got out of the place / Went back home, got a brand new face for the boys on MTV

1990, “Freedom! ’90”, in Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, performed by George Michael:

(television) A television channel that originally showed mostly music videos but now shows a wide variety of content.


PPV

en-noun

PPV (countable and uncountable, plural PPVs)

(television) Initialism of pay-per-view.


HBO

/ˌeɪtʃ ˌbiː ˈoʊ/

(television) Initialism of Home Box Office., a premium movie and entertainment channel


CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
w:Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

(Canada, television, radio) Initialism of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Company
w:Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Company

(Japan, television, radio) Initialism of Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Company.


PBS

(Canada, US, television) Initialism of Public Broadcasting Service.

Public Broadcasting Services
w:Public Broadcasting Services

(Malta, broadcasting) Initialism of Public Broadcasting Services.


NPR

National Public Radio
w:National Public Radio

(US, radio) Initialism of National Public Radio.


ham

Uncertain, though it is generally agreed upon that it first appeared in print around the 1880s. At least four theories persist:
* It came naturally from the word amateur. Deemed likely by Hendrickson (1997), but then the question would be why it took so long to pop up. He rejects the folk etymology of Cockney slang hamateur because it originated in American English.
* From the play Hamlet, where the title character was often played poorly and/or in an exaggerated manner. Also deemed likely by Hendrickson, though he raises the issue that the term would have likely been around earlier if this were case.
* From the minstrel's practice of using ham fat to remove heavy black makeup used during performances.
* Shortened from hamfatter (“inferior actor”), said to derive from the 1863 minstrel show song The Ham-fat Man. William and Mary Morris (1988) argue that it's not known whether the song inspired the term or the term inspired the song, but that they believe the latter is the case.

Writing in The New Yorker in 2005, James Wood praised Mr. McCarthy as “a colossally gifted writer” and “one of the great hams of American prose, who delights in producing a histrionic rhetoric that brilliantly ventriloquizes the King James Bible, Shakespearean and Jacobean tragedy, Melville, Conrad, and Faulkner.”

2023 June 13, Dwight Garner, quoting James Wood, “Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(acting) An overacting or amateurish performer; an actor with an especially showy or exaggerated style.


ham

en-verb

ham (third-person singular simple present hams, present participle hamming, simple past and past participle hammed)

hams (present singular third-person)
hamming (participle present)
hammed (participle past)
hammed (past)

(acting) To overact; to act with exaggerated emotions.


linear

From Latin līneāris, from līnea (“line”) + -āris (adjectival suffix), equivalent to line + -ar. Doublet of lineal.

linear amplifier
linear amplifier#English

(radio slang) Ellipsis of linear amplifier..


CC

en-noun

CC (countable and uncountable, plural CCs)

Alternative form: cc

(television) Initialism of closed caption.


bicycle

en-verb

bicycle (third-person singular simple present bicycles, present participle bicycling, simple past and past participle bicycled)

bicycles (present singular third-person)
bicycling (participle present)
bicycled (participle past)
bicycled (past)

Borrowed from French bicycle (modern bicyclette), from bi- (“bi-”) + cycle (“cycle”). First attested in English in 1868, and in French in 1847.
(promiscuous woman): From double meaning of ride ("to transport oneself upon" vs. "to mount someone to have sex with them"). A communal bicycle would have many riders.

“Bicycling” defeated the possibility of topicality, a prime production habit of the network-trained production executives staffing the new entity.

2002, Roger Phillips Smith, The Other Face of Public Television, page 56:

In turn, two-inch tapes of these could be “bicycled” from one place to another across the country, thereby altering and improving production economies.

2014, Horace Newcomb, Encyclopedia of Television, page 177:

(television, historical, transitive) To physically ship (a recorded programme) to another broadcasting entity.


AI

Audio (US)

(television) Initialism of American Idol.


PC

en-noun

PC (countable and uncountable, plural PCs)


daily

From Middle English dayly, from Old English dæġlīċ, from Proto-West Germanic *dagalīk, from Proto-Germanic *dagalīkaz (“daily”), equivalent to day + -ly. Cognate with Scots dayly, daly (“daily”), German Low German dagelk, dagelik (“daily”), Dutch dagelijks (“daily”), German täglich (“daily”), Danish daglig (“daily”), Swedish daglig (“daily”), Icelandic daglegur (“daily”).

Something that is produced, consumed, used, or done every day.

(US, film, television) Raw, unedited footage traditionally developed overnight and viewed by the cast and crew the next day.


PG

PG (countable and uncountable, plural PGs)

I've had it. That's it George! For one year now, I've been providing X-rated entertainment and you reciprocate with PG! It's an iniquitous arrangement!

1979, Blake Edwards, 10, spoken by Neighbor:

(uncountable, film, British, US) Initialism of parental guidance, a rating for a film that may be viewed by minors at their parents' discretion.


FX

(slang, video games, film, television) Alternative form of F/X (“special effects”)


POP

(television) Acronym of picture outside of picture.


lexicon

en-verb

lexicon (third-person singular simple present lexicons, present participle lexiconing, simple past and past participle lexiconed)

lexicons (present singular third-person)
lexiconing (participle present)
lexiconed (participle past)
lexiconed (past)

William Fulke
lexicon
lexicon (disambiguation)

Through Middle French or directly from New Latin lexicon, from Byzantine Greek λεξικόν (lexikón, “a lexicon, a dictionary”), ellipsis from Ancient Greek λεξικὸν βιβλίον (lexikòn biblíon, literally “a book of words”), from λεξικός (lexikós, “of words”), from λέξις (léxis, “a saying, speech, word”), from λέγω (légō, “to speak”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather, collect”).
Attested at least since 1583 (in William Fulke's A Defense of the Sincere and True Translations of the Holy Scriptures into the English tongue) in the sense 'a dictionary of a classical language'.

der

λεξικὸν βιβλίον

Mrazek’s legislation would discourage time compression, a technique used to speed up a movie, and “lexiconing,” a process of altering the soundtrack to match the shorter, compressed version.

1991 July 26, Beth Hawkins, “A Call for Legal Action Against Film Alterations : Movies: Six prominent filmmakers join a N.Y. congressman in asking for warning labels if a film has been ‘colorized,’ ‘lexiconed’ or compressed.”, in Los Angeles Times:

(film) To shorten a soundtrack to fit a shortened version of a movie.


protagonist

Penguin Books
The Independent
The Sense of Style
protagonist

From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”). By surface analysis, prot- (“first”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).

πρωταγωνιστής

surf

(authorship) The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.


jib

Attested since the 1660s, of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortening of gibbet.

(metonymically, cinematography, film) A crane used for mounting and moving a video camera.

кран

crane for mounting, moving a video camera


hook

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.

(authorship) A brief, punchy opening statement intended to get attention from an audience, reader, or viewer, and make them want to continue to listen to a speech, read a book, or watch a play.


pot

en-verb

pot (third-person singular simple present pots, present participle potting, simple past and past participle potted)

pots (present singular third-person)
potting (participle present)
potted (participle past)
potted (past)

While the announcer is talking, the select switch on the mixing board for the microphone input is selected, and the microphone is “potted up.”

1999, A Broadcast Engineering Tutorial for Non-engineers, page 23:

(slang, broadcasting) To fade volume in or out by means of a potentiometer.


nemo

In New York City alone, there are nearly three dozen of these "nemo" points from which speeches, music, and entertainment are broadcast regularly.

1929, Popular Science, volume 115, number 4, page 153:

All "nemo" broadcasting, except entirely musical, would be abandoned. Stations would not risk broadcasting anything arising outside the studio, as there would be no editorial or censorship power.

1935, Alison Reppy, Air Law Review, volume 6, page 86:

(broadcasting, dated) Acronym of not emanating from main office, i.e. broadcast from some remote location instead.


pilot

→ Dari: پیلوت (pilot)

→ Hindi: पायलट (pāylaṭ)

→ Japanese: パイロット (pairotto)

→ Korean: 파일럿 (pailleot)

→ Northern Kurdish: pîlot

From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).

der

I think her biggest deal was she starred in a pilot.[…]Well, the way they pick TV shows is they make one show. That show's called a pilot. Then they show that one show to the people who pick shows, and on the strength of that one show, they decide if they wanna make more shows.

1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson):

(television) A sample episode of a proposed TV series produced to decide if it should be made or not. If approved, typically the first episode of an actual TV series.


television

en-noun

television (countable and uncountable, plural televisions)

→ Japanese: テレビジョン (terebijon), → Japanese: テレビ (terebi)

→ Korean: 텔레비전 (tellebijeon)

→ Malay: televisyen

→ Maltese: televixin

desctree

→ Sanskrit: दूरदर्शन (dūradarśana) (semantic loan)
→ Thai: โทรทัศน์ (too-rá-tát)
→ Lao: ໂທລະທັດ (thō la that)
→ Khmer: ទូរទស្សន៍ (tuurĕəʼtŭəh)

→ Swahili: televisheni

→ Yoruba: tẹlifíṣọ̀n

/ˈtɛlɪˌvɪʒən/

/ˈtɛləˌvɪʒən/

/ˌtɛlɪˈvɪʒən/

/ˌtɛləˈvɪʒən/

From tele- + vision; first attested in 1900, probably influenced by French télévision from Constantin Perskyi's 1900 paper that was unpublished but presented at a Paris conference.

It's a good thing that television doesn't transmit smell.

(uncountable, broadcasting) An electronic communication medium that allows the transmission of real-time visual images, and often sound.


wash

en-noun

wash (countable and uncountable, plural washes)

From Middle English wasshen, waschen, weschen, from Old English wascan, from Proto-West Germanic *waskan, from Proto-Germanic *waskaną, *watskaną (“to wash, get wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“wet; water”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian waaske (“to wash”), West Frisian waskje (“to wash”), Dutch wassen, wasschen (“to wash”), Low German waschen (“to wash”), German waschen (“to wash”), Danish vaske (“to wash”), Norwegian Bokmål vaske (“to wash”), Swedish vaska (“to wash”), Icelandic vaska (“to wash”).

der

(television) A lighting effect that fills a scene with a chosen colour.


turnaround

en-noun

turnaround (countable and uncountable, plural turnarounds)

(film) A contractual provision by which, if the studio elects to abandon a film project, the producer has a limited period in which to sell it elsewhere.


side

side (countable and uncountable, plural sides)

From Middle English side, from Old English sīde (“side, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ (“side, flank, edge, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēy- (“to send, throw, drop, sow, deposit”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Siede (“side”), West Frisian side (“side”), Dutch zijde, zij (“side”), German Low German Sied (“side”), German Seite (“side”), Danish and Norwegian side (“side”), Swedish sida (“side”).

der

know which side one's bread is buttered on

laugh out of the other side of one's mouth

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

Some directors use full scripts (book); others use “sides,” which consist of one or two words of the cue and the subsequent full speech of the individual actor.

2010, Viola Spolin, Carol Sills, Theater Games for Rehearsal: A Director's Handbook, page 12:

The short scenes in this book are particularly useful for audition workshops since audition sides are rarely longer than two pages.

(drama) A written monologue or part of a scene to be read by an actor at an audition.


font

en-verb

font (third-person singular simple present fonts, present participle fonting, simple past and past participle fonted)

fonts (present singular third-person)
fonting (participle present)
fonted (participle past)
fonted (past)

Borrowed from Middle French fonte, feminine past participle of verb fondre (“to melt”).

When figures or quotes are thought helpful to understanding a spot, they're "fonted" over the cover picture.

1981, William Safire, On language, page 78:

[…] character generator instead of an easel card to create letters on camera or telephone numbers that can run across the TV screen. The process is called fonting.

1987, The Foundation Center, Promoting issues & ideas: a guide to public relations for nonprofit organizations, page 97:

(television, colloquial, transitive) To overlay (text) on the picture.


grid

Back-formation or clipping of griddle or gridiron.

Everything on the grid – all the backdrops and curtains, anything that has to move up and down from the fly-tower – has to be counterweighted.

(theater, television) An openwork ceiling above the stage or studio, used for affixing lights etc.


grain

en-noun

grain (countable and uncountable, plural grains)

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.

𒊺

harvested seeds of various grass-related food crops

гран

unit of mass notionally based on grain's weight

(photography, videography) Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.

rakeisuus

visual texture in processed photographic film


score

en-verb

score (third-person singular simple present scores, present participle scoring, simple past and past participle scored)

scores (present singular third-person)
scoring (participle present)
scored (participle past)
scored (past)
score (infinitive)

→⇒ Irish: scóráil

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English score, skore, schore, from Old English scoru (“notch; tally; score”), from Old Norse skor, from Proto-Germanic *skurō (“incision; tear; rift”), which is related to *skeraną (“to cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“cut”). Cognate with Icelandic skora, Swedish skåra, Danish skår. Related to shear.
For the sense “twenty”: The mark on a tally made by drovers for every twenty beasts passing through a tollgate.

der

Godfather II is nothing like ready. It is not yet scored, and thus not mixed. There remain additional shooting, looping, editing.

1974, New York Magazine, volume 7, number 45, page 98:

Robertson scored several of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman.

2023 August 10, Adrian Horton, “Robbie Robertson, member of the Band, dies at age 80”, in The Guardian, UK:

(transitive, music, film) To provide (a film, etc.) with a musical score.

soitintaa

to provide a film, etc. with a musical score


arc

Inherited from Middle English ark, from Old French arc, from Latin arcus (“a bow, arc, arch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos (“bow, arrow”). Doublet of arch, arco, and arrow.

For all practical purposes the old carbon arcs, which were the backbone of film lighting, are no longer used.


antagonist

From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (antagōnistḗs, “opponent”) (ἀντί (antí, “against”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ἀνταγωνίζεσθαι (antagōnízesthai, “antagonize”).

ἀνταγωνιστής

So God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being / I mean, imagine if antagonists lacked any evil scheme

2022, Will Wood (musician) (lyrics and music), “The Main Character”, in In case I make it,, performed by Will Wood:

(authorship) The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.


subtext

→ Hebrew: סאבטקסט (sábtekst)

Everyone heard the announcement, but not everyone agrees on what the subtext was.

The word dick has meant penis since the 1890s, but Chester Gould’s private detective “Dick Tracy” has no puerile subtext related to this word.

2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 113:

While his major plays appear on the surface to have little plot, their subtext is full of overheated romance and melodrama.

2012 July 27, Jason Zinoman, “Chekhov's Banana Peel”, in Slate:

(authorship) The implicit meaning of a text, often a literary one, or a speech or dialogue.


process

en-verb

process (third-person singular simple present processes, present participle processing, simple past and past participle processed)

processes (present singular third-person)
processing (participle present)
processed (participle past)
processed (past)

From Middle English proces, from Old French procés (“journey”), from Latin prōcessus (“course, progression”), nominalization of prōcēdō (“proceed, advance”).

(transitive, photography, film) To develop photographic film.