On Thursdays, we read reviews or news stories about art or design and study the language used in them. This week’s article is about a wearable design for a cryptocurrency wallet called Trove by Benjamin Hubert.
Here are the first three paragraphs from Dezeen, in italics.
Benjamin Hubert’s design studio Layer has launched Trove, a digital wallet and app system that allow you to store your cryptocurrency without fear of loss or theft.
Layer collaborated with fintech startup Trove to launch the products, which are designed to make it safer and easier to store and manage digital currencies such as bitcoin.
The system keeps cryptocurrency offline, making it less susceptible to hackers, and also incorporates smart security systems, making it much harder to lose if you forget your password. The designers call it unhackable and unloseable.
My comments:
In the first paragraph, we learn that this designer has launched, or begun making a new kind of wallet – a digital wallet, called Trove. (Usually, the word trove is used to describe a place to hide a treasure.) Cryptocurrency is a somewhat new idea, and it refers to any form of currency that only exists digitally. It uses a decentralized system, which means there is not one person controlling it, but a group that shares the power. They record transactions, like who earns or spends the currency, and they manage the issuance of new units, which means they control how much new currency is created. This digital wallet is a safe place for people who earn cryptocurrency to store it, or keep it, and not worry about anyone else trying to steal it.
In the second paragraph, we learn that Layer, which is Herbert’s studio, collaborated, or worked with, a fintech startup company. This means a company that works with financial technology. Bitcoin is one example of a cryptocurrency. Others are Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and EOS.
In the third paragraph, we learn that this system keeps the cryptocurrency safe by storing it offline. We also learn that it incorporates, or includes, smart security systems. In this situation, smart means controlled by computers and able to do things that seem intelligent, like a smart phone. Finally, we see the words unhackable and unloseable. In English, it’s common to create new words by adding different prefixes and suffixes to change the meaning of a word that everyone knows. Adding the prefix un- means you can’t do something, for example, unbreakable means something can’t be broken. Adding the suffix –able means it is able to do something, like a bendable material is one that can bend. So by adding un and able to the words hack and lose, we create two new words, unhackable and unloseable. This means the new digital wallet can’t be lost or hacked.
It can be difficult to explain your work when it uses new technology that people may not yet understand. Sometimes, you may even need to create new words to explain your meaning, as this article did. A good language coach can help you to find or create the best words possible to explain your work effectively.
At Artglish, we help artists and designers to describe their work with the best vocabulary and language possible. Every Thursday we study reviews and articles to share useful words and phrases to help you improve your reading and writing skills. If you want to learn more, click here to join The Studio and try some free ways to improve your English, or check out our Lessons page to learn how Artglish can help you succeed.
I’ve chosen 5 words or phrases for you to focus on today. They are in bold. If you don’t know them, look up the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, and other forms of these words. You can find links to Merriam-Webster dictionary sites at the bottom of this page.
To read the original article, written by Natashah Hitti on June 5, 2018, click the link below:
https://www.dezeen.com/2018/06/05/layer-benjamin-hubert-trove-cryptocurrency-wallet/