Embargo vs Shipping Date

[Guest Ridgeback]

FYI

 

These two terms are almost diametrically opposed in their meaning.

 

A shipping date is the date on which shipping takes place or commences.

 

According to wiktionary an embargo is:

1. An order by the government prohibiting ships from leaving port.
2. A ban on trade with another country.
3. A temporary ban on making certain information public.

Comes from the Spanish embargar ... to arrest.

 

Edited January 13, 2016 by Ridgeback

[Patrick FR]

According to wiktionary an embargo is:

1. An order by the government prohibiting ships from leaving port.

and what if we change to: "An order by a company prohibiting items from leaving warehouse"?

[Guest Ridgeback]

The context defines the choice of words. The term embargo is commonly used in the context of geopolitics where one country places an embargo on another country ie. prohibits trade with that country.

 

When someone is trying to say that company X is going to start delivering/selling product Y on/from a certain date the term used in English is 'shipping date'. The time before that specific date is also not an embargo. It is simply the period before shipping commences.

If a company orders one of its products to not be released from the warehouse (until a certain date) it is simply not selling/shipping/releasing the item.

 

The term embargo usually implies an order from a government or a government executive body or a supra-national organisation such as the UN.

 

But hey ... I'm just trying to be helpful. Communication only works if we adhere to the agreed modi and using the correct terms is one of these rules.

Suddenly calling blue things green cos you think it's cool may be an admirable expression of your free and wonderful spirit ... but it won't do anything positive for your communication with the world. Words happen to have meanings that are generally agreed upon which is why using and translating them works. However, a course in communication theory (see C. E. Shannon and W. Weaver) would go way beyond this forum ... and most likely the interests of most of the folks here, too.

But they certainly use and rely on these models of communication, albeit unwittingly