Shell casing

MachIVshooter · Jun 17, 2012

Who else becomes severely annoyed by this term? We all have our pet peeves, and outsiders constantly reference guns using terms we find unfavorable (assault weapon, etc). But this one really gets me, because anyone with even the most basic understanding of the English language should realize that it is a 100% redundant (or nonsensical) term.

Shell: A (usually hard) outer covering

Casing: A (usually hard) outer covering

Seriously. Pick one. Call them shells, call them cartridge casings. But calling them shell casings is like saying "liquid water" or "adhesive glue". And taken literally, a "shell casing" would be a casing over a shell :scrutiny:

.

Unless one is referencing artillery shells shipped in a protective casing, this term has no reason for being used. It absolutely does not apply to small arms.

MedWheeler · Jun 17, 2012

... or "hot water heater". Why would you need to heat "hot water"?

Certaindeaf · Jun 17, 2012

Bullet head. I think he's related to Butter Bean.. the fighter.

TurtlePhish · Jun 17, 2012

I usually say casing.. I connect "shell" with an artillery shell.

danez71 · Jun 17, 2012

MachIVshooter said:
Who else becomes severely annoyed by this term? We all have our pet peeves, and outsiders constantly reference guns using terms we find unfavorable (assault weapon, etc). But this one really gets me, because anyone with even the most basic understanding of the English language should realize that it is a 100% redundant (or nonsensical) term.

Shell: A (usually hard) outer covering

Casing: A (usually hard) outer covering

Seriously. Pick one. Call them shells, call them cartridge casings. But calling them shell casings is like saying "liquid water" or "adhesive glue". And taken literally, a "shell casing" would be a casing over a shell .

Unless one is referencing artillery shells shipped in a protective casing, this term has no reason for being used. It absolutely does not apply to small arms.

Apparently, at times, I do not have even the basic understanding of the English language.

I apparently should apologize for such annoyance to someone that I dont even know, will probably never meet, and probably wont influence anything in my, or my firends or family's lives.

"liquid water"... as opposed to 'frozen water' or 'water vapor'. Go figure!

I'd venture to guess that such intolerance isnt very productive in the welcoming of new shooters and affirming to the anti's and the fence sitters that we are very level headed, moderate, 'every day' type people.

YMMV.

Oh.. and I mispell things sometimes. Sorry for that too.

56hawk · Jun 17, 2012

Actually I think shell casing is the correct term. When talking about ammunition the shell is the projectile.

Shell: payload-carrying projectile
Casing: A cover that protects or encloses something

Josh45 · Jun 17, 2012

You think that's bad? My dad still calls the casing bullets sometimes!
I don't correct em, Sometimes I do.

This is how it goes. This only happens when were looking for brass on the floor at the range.

Dad - Found another bullet on the floor!
Me - What kinda casing is it?

Then he sometimes corrects himself but often does it again.

JohnM · Jun 17, 2012

I just haven't managed to lose a lot of sleep over that one.
I thought I was pretty good at being a curmudgeon, but I can see I need a lot of practice.

ColtPythonElite · Jun 17, 2012

As long as I know what a guy is talking about, I don't really care what word or word combo he is using to get the message across.

Sol · Jun 17, 2012

I was thinking about this quandry while loading the CLIP on my glock.

rcmodel · Jun 17, 2012

I bet you wre loading your clip with bullets too weren't you.

rc

ColtPythonElite · Jun 17, 2012

What are you saying?....It sounds like you were doing your laundry while reading a magazine on Glocks.

MachIVshooter · Jun 17, 2012

"liquid water"... as opposed to 'frozen water' or 'water vapor'. Go figure!

There are words for those things. Most would call it "ice" and "mist". Besides which, water, as defined, is liquid;

wa·ter/ˈwôtər/Noun: A colorless, transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid

Adding the adjective "frozen" denotes a change in it's physical state. Of course, mist is still plain ol' liquid H2O that happens to be suspended in many tiny quantities:

mist/mist/Noun: A cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere

I'd venture to guess that such intolerance isnt very productive in the welcoming of new shooters and affirming to the anti's and the fence sitters that we are very level headed, moderate, 'every day' type people.

YMMV.

Yeah, it does. Should we condone incorrect terms for the sake of warm fuzzy feelings?

People who take great offense to their errors being noticed/corrected are just one of many problems in society today, and exemplify the "me generation". If I'm saying or doing something wrong, I want to know. I don't want "politeness" allowing me to continue doing something incorrectly.

ETA:

Actually I think shell casing is the correct term. When talking about ammunition the shell is the projectile.

Shell: payload-carrying projectile
Casing: A cover that protects or encloses something

Only when speaking of artillery. Small arms projectiles are bullets, not shells.

Sol · Jun 17, 2012

Tasteless? Mine tastes like chalk and flouride.

Certaindeaf · Jun 17, 2012

^
Does it sound like a tumbleweed blowing along the prarie when you put your ear to it?

MachIVshooter · Jun 17, 2012

Tasteless? Mine tastes like chalk and flouride.

I guess that definition doesn't account for city water (or rusty pipes). lol.

Sol · Jun 17, 2012

Water mist is still water just smaller droplets. Water vapor is heated to the point of a gaseous state. The difference being that vapor is well above the boiling point of water, but is still water. The difference between a cloud and a car radiator spewing steam.

Sol · Jun 17, 2012

Just kidding, I drink the flammable dead zone waters of the beautiful lake Erie.

MachIVshooter · Jun 17, 2012

Water mist is still water just smaller droplets. Water vapor is heated to the point of a gaseous state. The difference being that vapor is well above the boiling point of water, but is still water. The difference between a cloud and a car radiator spewing steam.

va·por/ˈvāpər/Noun: A substance diffused or suspended in the air, esp. one normally liquid or solid

Main Entry: vapor [vey-per] Show IPA/ˈveɪpər/ Show Spelled
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: fumes, mist

Regardless of specific nuances in definition, The point of redundancy remains. Would you call it "gaseous vapor" or "gaseous steam"? Of course not, because the noun is completely descriptive without the adjective.

Salmoneye · Jun 17, 2012

I work for the US Department of Redundancy Department...

rcmodel · Jun 17, 2012

Shotgun shells are shells.

rc

MachIVshooter · Jun 17, 2012

Shotgun shells are shells.

Or hulls. But agreed. Like I said:

Pick one. Call them shells, call them cartridge casings.

I work for the US Department of Redundancy Department...

That actually made me chuckle.

jcwit · Jun 17, 2012

I have many more important things to concern myself with than to get upset with meaningless things such as this.

buck460XVR · Jun 17, 2012

jcwit said:
I have many more important things to concern myself with than to get upset with meaningless things such as this.

Same here. But then if one really wants to be a Grammar Nazi, the term casing/casings is for sausages. The correct word for the part of the cartridge that contains the powder, primer and end of the projectile is called a case. More than one are cases.

monotonous_iterancy · Jun 17, 2012

What gets me is when people call magazines "clips". They're two different things. It's a common mistake, it's in video games all the time. I guess you can't blame people for thinking that it's sort of a catch-all term.

Shell casing

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