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MULTI MEDIA or MULTI MEDIUM?


noelsmith

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The term 'Multi Media' seems to have become accepted generally to describe kits of different materials, but is this correct?

I always thought that 'Media' was collectively Television, Radio, Movies, Advertising and Newspapers etc.

Surely 'Multi Medium' should be the correct term for these kits?

 

 

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Media is the plural of the word medium. Therefore when discussing muliple types of medium (in this case, plastic, resin, metal), multimedia would be the proper word because the prefix multi- implies more than one.

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Thanks for your response Robin......It prompted me to look in the Oxford English Dictionary as I still had a niggling doubt.

As you quite rightly pointed out Media is indeed the plural of medium..but not quite as we have been led to believe it seems.

The dictionary describes Media as TV, Radio and Newspapers as the means of mass communication.

It describes Medium in 5 ways as follows; A means by which something is communicated. A substance through which a force can be transmitted. A liquid with which pigments are mixed to make paint. A person claiming to be able to communicate between the dead and the living. The middle state between two extremes.

I thought like yourself that a material would be described as a medium in this respect, but was surprised to find that the dictionary did not describe it in this way.

This led me think that both terms Multi Media and Multi Medium in respect to model kits after all were BOTH suspect.

So I thought that I would have a look at how Material was described instead.

The dictionary describes Material as follows.....The matter from which something is or can be made. Items needed for doing or creating something.

So maybe after all MULTI MATERIAL would be the correct way to describe these kits, considering that they may contain plastic, resin, metal (raw material,cast and/or photo etched) in any combination.

However, despite my personal ramblings I cannot see the description 'Multi Media Kit' changing as it has now simply become a common term in modelling circles to describe these kits.

Edited by noelsmith
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