HI2115{"id":1461,"date":"2022-07-30T10:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T10:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/?p=1461"},"modified":"2024-12-11T07:21:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T07:21:21","slug":"are-you-using-the-term-collide-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/are-you-using-the-term-collide-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you using the term \u201ccollide\u201d right?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Table of Content:<\/h4>\n
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  1. \u201cCollide\u201d: Origin and Usage<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Changing Meaning of \u201cCollide\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. \u201cCollide\u201d in Use<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Common Mistakes When Using \u201cCollide\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    \u201cCollide\u201d: Origin and usage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The word \u201ccollide\u201d is used quite commonly in written and spoken English. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, \u201ccollide\u201d is an intransitive verb which means, \u201cto come together with solid or direct impact.\u201d The word comes from the Latin term collidere<\/em> which means \u201cto smash together.\u201d<\/p>\n

    If it is used without a prepositional phrase, \u201ccollide\u201d is used to denote the action of two moving objects getting smashed together; it does not mean one moving object crashing with a stagnant one. However, as language evolves, words take on different meanings.<\/p>\n

    Changing meaning of \u201ccollide\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Since the first half of the 17th<\/sup> century, \u201ccollide<\/em>\u00a0has been in use in its transitive sense (\u201cto strike against\u201d), which is now obsolete. The intransitive sense (\u201cto come together with solid or direct impact\u201d) started being used during the early 18th century.<\/p>\n

    For the better part of the 20th century, it was common to find collide<\/em> being used only to denote two moving objects. Which means, one could not collide with a tree, but they could bump against or crash into it.<\/p>\n

    However, this usage has diminished in recent years, mostly because of people using the term to talk about a crash between two objects, in which one is stagnant.<\/p>\n

    However, there are a large percentage of puritans who may shame you for saying you collided against one of the guards at the Vatican! You may argue by saying one can collide against stagnant objects. Neither of you would be wrong.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u201cCollide\u201d in use<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    In the two examples given below, the term \u201ccollide\u201d denotes a collision between two moving objects. In both cases, the \u201cobjects\u201d colliding are not concrete, but abstract concepts.<\/p>\n

    Academic:<\/strong> These ideas directly collide with<\/em> the beliefs of some schools of thought, like Stoicism, where sensual experiences are disfavored compared to the power of order and reason in discovering spiritual truth. (Thommen, 2014)<\/p>\n

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