Uploading

/ʌpˈloʊdɪŋ/ verb

Definition

The process of transferring data from a local device to a remote server or the internet.

Etymology

From 'up' (toward a larger system) and 'load' (to put data into a computer). The term emerged in the 1980s-90s with the internet era, as the opposite of 'downloading.'

Kelly Says

The terms 'upload' and 'download' created a spatial metaphor for the internet as if it were physically above us—'the cloud' reinforced this. Language adapted to the digital age by using movement metaphors from the physical world.

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