Smalltalk

See also: smalltalk, small talk, small-talk, and Small Talk

English

Etymology

From small talk; according to Alan Kay (one of its creators):

The name actually appeared before the first Smalltalk design, which was done in 1971. I had mentioned to someone that the "prose" of then current programming languages was lower than a cocktail party conversation, and that great progress would have been made if we could even get to the level of making "smalltalk". It then occured^[sic] to me that this word was also a great pun for a language aimed at the world of small children.

As for hype: Another motive for "smalltalk" was the practice at the time of naming operating, and other, systems (which hardly did anything) after mighty indo-european gods, such as Thor, Zeus, Odin, etc. I figured that if Smalltalk ever did something neat, then people would be pleasantly surprised.

Proper noun

Smalltalk

1. (computer languages) An object-oriented, dynamically-typed, reflective programming language.

Derived terms

• Smalltalker

German

Alternative forms

• Small Talk

Etymology

Borrowed from English small talk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsmɔːlˌtɔːk/, /ˈsmɔlˌtoːk/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Smalltalk m or (rare) n (strong, genitive Smalltalks, plural Smalltalks)

1. small talk

   Synonym: Plauderei

2. a conversation involving small talk

   Synonym: Plauderei

Usage notes

• Generally masculine; the neuter is very rare.

Declension

Declension of Smalltalk [masculine // neuter (rare), strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der, das	Smalltalk	die	Smalltalks
genitive	eines	des	Smalltalks	der	Smalltalks
dative	einem	dem	Smalltalk	den	Smalltalks
accusative	einen, ein	den, das	Smalltalk	die	Smalltalks

Further reading

• “Smalltalk” in Duden online
• “Smalltalk”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)