foreign
Foreign means from another country. A person might say foreign to talk about languages, food, customs, or people that come from somewhere else. It often carries a sense of unfamiliar or not belonging here.
What a model may hear
- foreign key databases
- Assume the user wants to link tables by a column that references another table's primary key, and may write SQL or schema code
- foreign function interface programming
- Expect the user wants to call code written in another language, such as C from Python, and may suggest ctypes, cffi, or similar tools
- foreign address or foreign agent networking, mobile IP
- Interpret the word as part of routing for devices away from home networks, possibly generating network configuration advice
- foreign transaction databases, SQL
- Treat the context as about distributed transactions across multiple database systems
Where people and models part ways
“I need to handle foreign records”
Meant: The person needs to organize paperwork for people from other countries
May be taken as: The model designs a database schema with foreign key constraints
Say instead: “I need to organize immigration or visa records for people from other countries”
“How do I call foreign code?”
Meant: The person wants to phone or contact someone overseas
May be taken as: The model explains programming interfaces for calling C libraries from other languages
Say instead: “How do I make an international phone call or send a message to someone in another country”
“The foreign settings look wrong”
Meant: Settings for a different country seem incorrect on their device
May be taken as: The model troubleshoots database foreign key settings or network foreign agent configurations
Say instead: “The region or country settings on my phone or computer look wrong”
“I have a foreign problem”
Meant: A problem coming from outside their organization or country
May be taken as: The model assumes a technical issue with foreign keys, foreign functions, or foreign network addresses
Say instead: “I have a problem caused by an outside vendor or an issue coming from another country”
Tips
- Add 'country' or 'language' when you mean international, not technical
- Say 'database relationship' or 'linked table' if you mean foreign key
- Specify 'programming library' or 'C code' if you mean foreign function interface
- Use 'international' instead of 'foreign' when talking about calls, travel, or people
- Say 'outside system' or 'external service' if you mean something from another organization
Often confused with
- alien
- stronger otherness, also legal term for non-citizen
- external
- purely outside, no country implied
- import
- bringing in goods or code modules, not origin
- domestic
- direct opposite, home country only
- exotic
- unusual and intriguing, not necessarily from abroad
- overseas
- specifically across an ocean, more geographic