Urgent Need for a Guide to Technical Nouns Cited in Everyday Life

I still have not found a thorough and practically useful and fully illustrated dictionary or guide to each that clearly identifies and defines each of the technical nouns or technical terms that I have the most frequent need to cite in my everyday life.

Today, for instance, I was not able to think of the correct technical noun that describes the plastic weight contained in many bottles of prescribed medications.

That plastic weight, I was told tonight by a female pharmacist on the telephone, is designed to keep those medications as dry as possible.


Unfortunately, the current guidebooks to technical nouns often fail to provide the correct terminology for the objects and things that Americans in their everyday lives have a need to concisely refer to or describe.

Among those types of objects from everyday life that challenge most Americans' ability to refer to those items quickly, clearly, and with ease, and the related questions of language usage that arise, are:

---What is the correct term for each section of the printer to one's personal computer inside one's residence?

---What is the difference between a nameplate, placard, a nametag, or a lapel, for instance?

--What is the difference between a podium and a rostrum? Are there other, similar or related terms or nouns that are also used?

--Which technical noun or term refers to the stand where an on-duty host or hostess is normally stationed inside a restaurant?

---What is the difference between a "foyer," and a "lobby," inside a building?

---What is meant by the term "veranda"?

---What are the different types of terms used to refer to the various types of videocameras and television monitors situated inside a store that each film or offer televised images of customers as they enter that store.

---What is the term used to refer to each of the various types of non-electric items that dangle from the ceilings inside business establishments? One of those terms is "mobile"; but what about other technical terms used to refer to non-electric displays or items dangling from the ceilings inside stores?

---What term is used to refer to a large shiny item (a ball or dome, or some such item) that dangles from the ceiling inside some stores, and that is somehow used by that store for security purposes.

---What is a "retractable ballpoint pen," as distinct from a regular ballpoint pen?

---What is the difference between a "pin" and a "pushpin"?

---What is the generic term for each of the items inside one's home that we currently refer to using a manufacturer's name instead of actually describing or defining that type of item. What, for instance, is the generic term for a mini-card-file that many Americans refer to as being a "Rolodex," Rolodex being a company's name for that type of product.

---What is the term for the various alternatives to an attache case that are similar to an attache case without actually being one?

---Inside a gym, what is the difference between an elliptical and a treadmill?

---What is meant by the term "stationary bicycle"?

---Which technical nouns or terms refer to the personal-memorabilia object, such as a figurine of "Our Lady of Guadalupe," that dangles from the rear-view mirror near the driver seated inside an automobile?

--What is the term that most precisely refers to the mirror protruding outside from the right side and left side of each motor vehicle near the front passenger and the driver, respectively? Is "side-view mirror" or "side mirror" the correct term for that type of mirror?

---Which terminology is used to describe each category of "lamp" that might be found in one's home or workplace? For instance, which technical noun is used to refer to a lamp that dangles from the ceiling and is connected to a chain or link or cord?

---Which categories of calendars are there, in addition to a "wall calendar" or a "desk calendar," for instance?

---Which technical terms are used to refer to the various types of maps one might use in everyday living? For instance, do I refer to the map of the entire world that's posted on the wall of my apartment as a "wall map of the world" or a "poster map of the world"?

---What is the technical term to describe an object placed on one's desk that is used to hold pens? Is that a "pen-holder," a "pencil-holder," or something else? If I am storing pens inside a pencil-holder, would it be incorrect to refer to that as a pencil-holder?

--What are the various terms used to refer to the various types of notebooks one might purchase inside a stationery store? What is a bound notebook, for instance, and how does it differ from a loose-leaf notebhook or other types of notebooks?

---Which various technical nouns or technical terms are used to describe artworks that are replicas of actual paintings?

---Aside from the term "tea kettle" and "tea cup," which other technical nouns or technical terms are used in describing the process of preparing homemade tea or serving homemade tea?

---What is the semantic or connotational difference between a "tea cup" and a "coffee cup"? Is a tea cup generally smaller or larger than a coffee cup, for instance.

---What is the technical term that refers to food products or beverages that bear the name of the supermarket chain where those products are sold? Are they the "store brand," the "company brand name," the "house-brand name," or what?

--What are the various terms to refer to items of clothing or jewelry or the types of shoes that ladies or girls sometimes wear? What is meant by the terms "pumps" and "broach," for instance?