AP Human Geography - The Cultural Landscape: Chapter 4 - Vocabulary

Habit

A repetitive act performed by a particular individual.

Custom

The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.

Folk culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Terroir

The contribution of a location's distinctive physical features to the way food tastes.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Malware, or malicious software

Hostile or intrusive software designed to cause intentional harm.

Ransomware, or cryptoviral extortion

A form of malware that encrypts the victim's files, making them inaccessible, until a ransom is paid to decrypt them.

Cyber espionage

The unauthorized and clandestine deployment of a virus to observe or destroy data in the computer systems of government agencies and large corporations.

Fake news

A false report disseminated under the guise of an authentic news report, created to maliciously spread misinformation and mislead consumers of the content.

Alternative fact, or alt fact

A statement that can be proved to be false.

Trolling

The practice of posting deliberately inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in social media in order to provoke quarrels or otherwise agitate people.

Cultural homogenization

The process of reduction in cultural diversity through the diffusion of popular culture.

Franchise

An agreement between a corporation and businesspeople to market that corporation's products in a local area.