Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

In a discussion at another question, rajah9 mentioned that default is used to mean to fail to repay a loan, but that in the computer world we now use it to mean a value used when no value has been explicitly set.

Somewhat closer to the IT meaning, default can also mean to lose a game or a lawsuit by failing to show up, as in lose the baseball game by default. At least, I can see a similarity between this is what you get if you don't say what you want and this is what you get if you don't show up.

Is there any context outside of IT field where default is used to mean what you get if you didn't say what you want?

Particularly, is there such a usage before IT people started using the word in this sense?

share|improve this question
Does the etymonline entry for default help here? The senses "don't show up" and "don't give a value" do indeed seem identical in the sense of "failure/lack/deficiency". – Andrew Leach Dec 14 '12 at 14:48
1  
@AndrewLeach That entry tells only half the story. In IT parlance, default is the value assumed by something in the absence of a definition or of assignment of value. This sense is exclusive to IT I believe. – Kris Dec 14 '12 at 14:56
I was going to answer this; until I got to the "outside of IT world" part ... – Richard Rodriguez Dec 14 '12 at 14:56
@Kris A default value is one given in default of getting anything specific. A default judgement is one given when one party is in default by not turning up. I see no difference between those sentences in applying default as an adjective. It's possible that the IT use has evolved a little further in some locales, I suppose, and the adjective "default" is now a noun in its own right. But the etymology is clear. – Andrew Leach Dec 14 '12 at 15:06
1  
@AndrewLeach There is a fundamental difference. By the usage in computer field, a default judgment would be that which is to be deemed to have been delivered in the absence of any judgment having been delivered -- a dangerous interpretation :) -- so let's not draw implications too far. – Kris Dec 14 '12 at 15:11
show 2 more comments

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

The complete list of meanings in various contexts, fields and subjects is given in TheFreeDictionary online.

The list mentions the particular sense exclusively in Electronics & Computer Science:

4. a. Computer Science A particular setting or value for a variable that is assigned automatically by an operating system and remains in effect unless canceled or overridden by the operator: changed the default for the font in the word processing program.(quoting The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition).

and

6 (Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science (also)) Computing
a. the preset selection of an option offered by a system, which will always be followed except when explicitly altered
b. (as modifier) default setting
(quoting from the Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged ©)

That said, it seems the closest one can come to compare the IT parlance and general English usage could be:

3 The failure of one or more competitors or teams to participate in a contest: won the championship by default. [emphasis mine] (AmerHeritageDict)

share|improve this answer
1  
I agree that the AHD definition comes closest to the no-choice choice. I have also heard it used after a competition, for instance when it is discovered that a player was ineligible. – rajah9 Dec 14 '12 at 15:52
@rajah9 'used after a competition' -- you are right in the observation. I had even thought of mentioning that in the answer -- it's not exactly the same sense of default as in IT usage. – Kris Dec 15 '12 at 14:12
up vote 1 down vote

As can be seen from this chart, default option/choice have certainly become far more common usages since the computer context became widespread...

enter image description here

But even a single earlier example (such as this from 1942)...

The Act makes a direct rollover the default option for involuntary distributions that exceed $1,000

...should be enough to show that such usages do in fact predate the computer context.

share|improve this answer
1  
Thank you for doing this research. The 1942 citation seem suspect. It says later in that paragraph, "The distribution must be rolled over automatically to a designated IRA..." While Google says this US tax reporter tome was from 1942, the IRA was not enacted until 1974, with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Either the US Tax Reporter was amazingly prescient, or Google is reporting the wrong year. – rajah9 Dec 14 '12 at 18:13
Put me in the category of "anyone who's not convinced." The 1923 citation is from the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Law Institute (1999). (Maybe this should be moved to Meta and given similar warnings to Google nGrams usage.) – rajah9 Dec 14 '12 at 18:18
@rajah9: You're right about that second one, so I'll take it out. It makes no difference to the substance of my answer - which as I said, requires just a single example to prove the usage wasn't somehow "invented" solely by or for the computer context. – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '12 at 18:37
Was there an instance in there of "default" being used in the "IT sense" before computers came along? I went through a bunch of the Google-books hits, and while I certainly might have missed something, every instance I checked before 1960 was either (a) something misdated -- like the IRA example above, a Hansard extract that Google dated to the 1930s but that said 1994 on the top of the page, etc; or (b) a coincidental combination of words, like I found a bunch that said something along the lines of "In case of default, option is given the borrower to ...". – Jay Dec 17 '12 at 16:04
1  
@Jay: How about this one from 1957, which describes all available coverages, including a default option coverage plan. – FumbleFingers Dec 17 '12 at 16:14
show 4 more comments

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.