# Is a question seeking for an English word for a new terminology on-topic?

I'm a grad student pursuing Master's degree. Though I'm unsure this counts as a research (it has a serious motivation, though), yet I was playing with point-set topology, and I made my own new terminology. Namely:

Given a topological space $$X$$ and its subset $$A$$, the set $$A \cap \overline{X \setminus A}$$ is said to be the curtain of $$A$$.

Though I'm happy with this terminology, I'm afraid because, (1) I'm unsure whether other people will intuitively understand it, and (2) there might be another time when I'd have a hard time seeking for an appropriate terminology.

Is Math SE a good place for questions like?:

• What would an appropriate English word for this new notion I made be?

• This is my proposed terminology for this new notion I made. Is there a better word?

• My opinion is no; this is more like an artistic question. Its different if you are asking about a known concept and you want to know what people already call it. This has a definite answer Feb 21 at 12:22
• @CalvinKhor Would ELL SE be an appropriate place then? Feb 21 at 12:26
• That's not a site I'm familliar with so I don't know, sorry. But I will add, you could try the chat rooms, e.g. chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/36/mathematics Feb 21 at 12:28
• There is nothing wrong with improvising your own terminology provided you supply a definition for your Readers (as I'm sure you would). There are related questions you might have about the concept that could be on-topic, but inasmuch as you are free to introduce new names, there is no definite answer as @CalvinKhor notes on what you should call it. That said, you might use approach0 to locate previous posts that use that math expression. Feb 21 at 19:19
• I can foresee a problem if every graduate student created their own lexicon; doing so will not improve understanding, but undermine it, as it would require each thesis writer who chooses to create unique concepts, to include a "glossary", of self-named concepts, when there already are well-established concepts that currently exist. Do you want to be understood, or do you want to insist every understand your "new math?" Feb 21 at 21:13
• @DannyuNDos English Language Learners SE is for getting help with learning English for non-native speakers, so getting advice on creating new academic jargon is way beyond that site's remit. Does this 'curtain' have some special significance? Feb 22 at 1:38
• @OliverHouse it looks to be the part of the boundary inside the original set. Feb 22 at 3:09