What are Thumbnail Definitions?

Thumbnail definitions are, themselves, best explained using thumbnail definitions.

Thumbnail; that means, brief but concise.

Definition; that means, explanation of meaning.

Thumbnail definitions are an efficient way to record and keep track of the definitions of a nomenclature. When creating a formal vocabulary, using thumbnail definitions to generate terms can be an efficient strategy. “Thumoslang” is the first nomenclature developed this way.

However, a thumbnail definition in Thumoslang’s nomenclature does not describe what the targetted concept is. Instead, it only presents when the concept is at play; in an active state. To further explain, let us use the below definition of “focusing” as an example.

Focus; that means, saying no to all else.

If a speaker were to claim “I focused today,” they may provide supporting evidence using the above thumbnail definition. The definition specifies that focus is at play when one says “no” to not just some but all of the things not targetted by the focus. In other words, if the speaker cannot identify and express at least several things to which they said no, then they do not possess evidence to support their claim. On the other hand, if they were to, for example, specify that “I declined to speak with my friend on the phone that night, and instead devoted my time to my essay for school,” then they have, by the above definition, demonstrated focus. Once again, in the terminology used in this example, focusing does not occur unless someone says no to all else.