The Meaning is Opaque

Steve: The first word she has on her list is not that common a word but I think it's a very useful word and the word is opaque. Now do you use the word opaque very often?

Jill: I could probably count on one hand how many times I've used it in my life. It's not a word that I use often and when I use it, it would be more referring to color, like opaque nylons, sort of the type of fabric of nylons. Steve: Right.

Jill: That's I think really the only that I've ever used that word. Steve: So you're referring it, to it in terms of sort of basically clothing. Right.

It's interesting that in the example where Sumiko found this, the opaque here, it says the important parts of the message remain stubbornly opaque, was the sentence which again, doesn't give you a good sense of the meaning. Jill: No.

Steve: Now, of course, opaque means not transparent. I am very familiar with the word opaque because I used to be in the paper business.

Jill: Right.

Steve: And opacity is a very important characteristic of paper because sometimes you want the paper to be very opaque for example because you are printing on both sides so you don't want any see through. Jill: Right.

Steve: So if you are selling newsprint paper and of course, the opacity is not absolute, right. So one of the characteristics when they evaluated our paper and I was working for a Canadian company, we were selling paper to the Japanese telephone directory company and they're printing all these telephone numbers, they don't want them to see through on the other side. So, opacity which is a characteristic of being opaque, that was you know, important to us. So opaque in the sense of opaque nylon obviously refers to nylon that is not see through.

Jill: A thicker nylon.

Steve: A thicker nylon.

Jill: Yeah one that doesn't really show your leg. You usually wear opaque nylons, maybe more in the winter because they might keep you a little bit warmer or it just happens to be the style at that time to have nylons that are less through.

Steve: Right.

Right.

So opaque but an opacity, or opaque paper, glass, nylons or opaque in the sense of a meaning that is not clear. So hopefully that gives enough of a background to the word opaque. I think in normal conversation it's not used but I think in that it has this sort of less literal meaning of opaque in terms of opaque meaning obscure, not clear, I think is a useful word. And I think for an advanced learner like Sumiko it's a word that I think she should, it's a good word for her to know. She doesn't have to know it but it's a good word. End.