"Gernade" and other terminology pet peeves

[Red Dragon]

Sergeant Sabre said:
"I could care less" <--- So you must care some then, right? Because if you couldn't care less that means you don't care at all, which is what I think you were trying to say.

One way that would make the phrase "I could care less" have the intended meaning is when it is used in an obvious sarcastic tone, but otherwise I agree that in most cases it is used incorrectly.

Of course, if we get into too much analysis of phrases such as these than we would have to start breaking down the absurdity of phrases like, " I don't give a rat's a$$" or "Like I give a s#!t"

 

[v35]

Since the thread has migrated so far from terminology to basic grammar I'll add my $0.02...

Confusion between the contraction "it's" and the possessive pronoun "its".

The fact that so many have answered this post using the correct version speaks volumes about the level of education among THR's participants.

 

[default]

My own personal peeve is the death of the adverb.

When even professional communicators and writers describe people as "running quick" it's time to just heave the style manual into the garbage real quick.

Not on the topic of firearms but you'll like this. An old high-school friend of mine told me this story after applying for his driver's license.

He was at the DMV filling out forms for his license application. The cranky lady behind the counter pointed out a spelling error he had made on one of the forms. Her irritated question: "Why dont'cha learn how to spell correct?". His reply? "Why don't you learn how to use adverbs correct...ly?"

 

[Charles Lowry]

"spartacus2002"---"anything for sale that is described using the adjective "tactical"

AMEN!!! Before long they'll be marketing tactical toilet paper, watches, caps, underwear, ad nauseum! I've been shooting for 40 years or more and have done as well eschewing anything described as "tactical".

Another is "ballistic"! "Buy Joe's Sling! Far Superior To Any Other Because It's Made With BALLISTIC NYLON!!!"

I guess terms such as these give some of us a chance to play GI Joe on the weekend, or at least LOOK like deadly 1000 yard snipers. After all, we've got a "tactical' spittoon at the range. I've seen people show up at a range with every tactical accoutrement just dripping off their rifles. They'd spend the whole day walking around so everybody could see what a fine tactical, ballistic Star Wars weapon they had, and never even shoot!

 

[BigG]

People who say "nucular" instead of "nuclear."

How bout Pres. Carta, who pronounced it new-kyer? as in new-kyer periferation?

BTW - a nuke is the biggest gun there is.

 

[Charles Lowry]

HA! I beleve that Jimmy was a good man at heart, but he shot himself in the foot during one debate with Reagan. One of the moderators asked both candidates to explain what they thought was the biggest threat to world peace. Jimmy got the first shot at the question.

He said, and I'm paraphrasing, "When I was leaving the hotel tonight, I asked my daughter, Amy(then about 13) what she thought was the biggest threat to world peace. She answered, 'Nu-kyer proliferation'."

Reagan was very respectful, even agreeing with Carter, but you could tell he KNEW he had the election in the bag!! That comment blew Carter's credibility out of the water!

 

[Declaration Day]

I get sick of hearing all of the slang for guns and shooting.

Heat = gun
Gat = gun
Packin' = carrying a weapon
"Hot" someone = to shoot someone
Clip = magazine
Bust a cap = fire a round

If everyone used proper and professional sounding words to refer to firearms, I think the image would be better. Thankfully this forum is filled with people that use words like firearm, weapon, and magazine.

Amen!

I had a "friend", actually my wife's best friend's husband, who used to ask me if I was "heatered".

I responded "Yes, I am carrying a pistol." He always laughed and thought I was joking.

We don't talk to them anymore. That story is a whole new thread.

 

[JohnKSa]

Got a new one...

Biathlon has only ONE 'a'.

 

[Hardtarget]

There are many words in the language that sound the same.The problem comes when they're written. One that I hear is "bring" and "take". It's easy to use these wrong. It bugs me the way they get mixed.

I know I make plenty of mistakes when I post, even though I try to catch and correct by reading my reply before I click the submit button.

I probably even messed up this reply.
Mark.

 

[Roadkill Coyote]

Errors proliferate because, in most online fora, volume tends to trump precision. The most accurate typist's post is usually buried six to twelve pages ago. You might as well get used to it.

 

[AStone]

In the spirit of critique,
in a similar vein as "two v. to v. too",
similar to "their v. there v. they're",
I offer then v. than.

Examples of improper usage:

If I don't buy this gun, than I will not be able to defend myself.

.45 ACP is a better gun then 9mm.
________

Examples of proper usage.

If I don't aim properly, then the deer will not fall and I will not eat venison.
{Note: if, then is a pair; if something, then something else.}

7mm08 has a flatter trajectory than .308 over longer distance.
{Note: 'than' is used in comparisons; something is <bigger, badder, smaller, less volatile, more impressive...> than something else.

One does not need to be an 'English major' to use these words correctly.



Nem, the biologist

 

[Houndawg]

The use of "quite" to refer to the sound level of an item. I see it quite often on computer boards. Somebody will say something like, "That Antec power supply is really quite."

Organic fruits and vegetables. What the hell else would they be, you freaking hippy?

 

[Bruce in West Oz]

If I don't aim properly, then the deer will not fall and I will not eat venison.
{Note: if, then is a pair; if something, then something else.}

Sorry, Nem, have to disagree there.

The "if" will stand quite happily by itself, without the necessity for "then".

If I don't aim properly, the deer will not fall and I will not eat venison.

The "if - then" nexus appears have gained popularity and credence as a result of computer logic statements; e.g. "if x = 4 then y = yes".

(Oh, and punctuation, especially using quotation marks, differs from country to country, as you will have noticed above.)

"high calibre" makes me annoyed; e.g. "He used a high calibre handgun". What's wrong with "large"?

Bruce, the editor

 

[tommygunm1a1]

"...so we don't get french benefits?"

The ones that get me to cringe the most are: Clip when they mean magazine, and semi automatic assualt rifle( an oxymoron that doesn't exist), and semi automatic pistol instead of just pistol (vs. a revolver)

 

[AStone]

The "if" will stand quite happily by itself, without the necessity for "then".

Bruce, no apology necessary. I agree. Didn't mean to imply otherwise. "If" is a great word. My intention was only to demonstrate the proper meaning of the word "then". Without an "if", "then" is meaningless, IMO.

The "if - then" nexus appears have gained popularity and credence as a result of computer logic statements; e.g. "if x = 4 then y = yes".

We agree there, also. Please help me understand, though, a use of the word "then" that doesn't depend upon "if" (at least implicitly). If you can offer such an example, then I will be enlightened.

(Oh, and punctuation, especially using quotation marks, differs from country to country, as you will have noticed above.)

Once again, we agree.

I use 'single quotes' instead of "double quotes" out of laziness. One less keystroke; saves a "shift". The exception is in a case where I must quote something within a quote. As in this example, written as if I was quoting the New York Times: "Mr. Cheney, when asked about the accident, allegedly said, 'Oh, good grief, it was only bird shot.' "

"high calibre" makes me annoyed; e.g. "He used a high calibre handgun". What's wrong with "large"?

Totally agree.

Bruce, the editor

Bro, that makes two of us.

Nem, editor at large

 

[MarkDido]

OK, I'll play.....

"....the ship floundered off the coast of Florida"

Ships FOUNDER

A FLOUNDER is a flat fish!

 

[iapetus]

"spartacus2002"---"anything for sale that is described using the adjective "tactical"

AMEN!!! Before long they'll be marketing tactical toilet paper, watches, caps, underwear, ad nauseum! I've been shooting for 40 years or more and have done as well eschewing anything described as "tactical".

Another is "ballistic"! "Buy Joe's Sling! Far Superior To Any Other Because It's Made With BALLISTIC NYLON!!!"

That reminds me of something I saw advertised in a gun magazine: "Hostage Rescue Team" boots.

I'm not sure if "hostage rescue team" was the name of the manufacturers, or the name of the boots themselves, or the new "tactical", but it would be daft whichever it was.

 

[SixForSure]

How about "put your John Henry by the X" No, it is John Hancock stemming from his large, prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence.

 

[Herself]

So what's any a' this meanta those've us who type, at times, in the vernacular? ...Or who don't type well? Or who know how to spell and occasionally miss correcting the errors....

As much fun as it is to leap all over misuseages when they happen, it is generally better to give folks the benefit of the doubt while snickering quietly to one's self. English is finicky tool, liable to turn in the user's hands and gouge out a pound of flesh just when it seems most biddable.

--H

 

[Mal H]

Ok, as long as this thread is still alive and most of my abuse-of-the-language peeves have already been stated, most more than once, I'll add one I was reminded of by Houndawg's "organic fruits and vegetables" one (that's one of mine also).

How about "aerobic exercises"? And what other type would there be?

Personally, I prefer anaerobic exercises. I find it exhilerating to do 50 jumping jacks in a complete vacuum, because it feels so good when the oxygen is released back into the room!

 

[ambush]

My wife always accuses me of going off on a "tingent" That one always makes me cringe. After 15 years of being married, I know better than to correct her.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I warsh my car in the yard.

Only damyankees wahsh their cahs in the yahd.

 

[AStone]

So what's any a' this meanta those've us who type, at times, in the vernacular? ...Or who don't type well? Or who know how to spell and occasionally miss correcting the errors....

As much fun as it is to leap all over misuseages when they happen, it is generally better to give folks the benefit of the doubt while snickering quietly to one's self.

I agree, --H.

When reading in a 'regular thread', I tend to keep my comments to myself about spelling, punctuation, grammar, word use and the like. I don't pick points. (OK, I did once a long time ago after first joining, but got over it.)

But in this thread, we're venting a bit, with the hope that when folks do have the time (which is not always), they'll take a little time to edit. I try to reread & edit everything I write, both before (note the 'preview' button just to the right of the 'submit' button) and after submitting (note the 'edit' button at the bottom of each post). It's not uncommon for me to reread and edit a post several times, especially when I'm trying to make myself clear. (For example, I've made about a dozen corrections in this one already.)

Yes, editing takes a bit of time for the writer, but if s/he doesn't write carefully, then it takes time away from the readerS (potentially dozens) trying to parse what was said.

Hypothetical example: I didn't buy th egun becase it was to expensive, more then I wanted to pay.

Example corrected: I didn't buy the gun because it was too expensive, more than I wanted to pay.

I'm a slow reader. Parsing the first version above would require an extra second or so to parse what the writer was saying.

Again, in a regular thread about a topic that I care about, I take the time to parse words, even poorly written ones.

But it's great to read well-written posts.

Nem

 

[AStone]

How about "aerobic exercises"? And what other type would there be?

Personally, I prefer anaerobic exercises. I find it exhilerating to do 50 jumping jacks in a complete vacuum, because it feels so good when the oxygen is released back into the room!

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA!!!!

Oh, thanks, Mal. First really good laugh I've had in a couple of days. I needed that. Very glad I wasn't drinking coffee when I read it. My monitor would have been caffeine coated.

But in reality, I gotta pick a minor semantic point with you. At least some of my exercise manuals do distinguish between aerobic & anaerobic exercise. (Notably this one. That author is not as much of a flake as it may look on first glance. The guy's got some really good exercises that work, and they're very cheap and can be done anywhere with no to minimal equipment.)

Admittedly, it IS a bit of a misnomer because ALL exercise requires breathing. But 'anaerobic' usually denotes exercise involving heavier than normal breathing, where one is past that aerobic zone where your muscle tissues are getting all the oxygen they need.

If you push those muscles hard enough, you get into a realm where the tissues are having to generate ATP by anaerobic means because they're not getting enough to do it by normal means (which requires oxygen). After such exercise, one's breathing remains labored and heavy while that oxygen debt is paid back.

For example, jogging, weight lifting, and dancing the two-step is mostly aerobic, while sprints and a long set of jumping jacks can get anaerobic.

Still, I totally agree with you. The lingo IS confusing, a semantic tangle.

As a biologist, I also have a few thoughts about the very real semantic tangle about the term "organic fruits and veges", but I'll save those for another day...

Nem

 

[bowfin]

I don't like "Shottie" for a shotgun. Do they call their pistols "pissies"? I guess the proponents think a nickname gives them an air of a longtime familiarity with their shotguns.

Putting an apostrophe in plural words, as plural word's

Decimate instead of devastate. (Decimate means to reduce by one tenth)

"irregardless" instead of regardless.

For those who don't think "clip" in place of "magazine" is a big deal, would it be if you got stripper clips for an M-14 or M-16 when you thought you were buying magazines?

Any statement that starts with "Basically"

Anyone who answers a question by posing his own question or questions and then answers it. Example:

Question: "Did you screw up coaching this game?"

Reply: "Do you mean do I think I could have done a better job? Of course. Am I happy with its outcome? No." Do we have to do better as a team and a coaching staff? Yes. Did I evade the question and substitute a whole bunch of meaningless drivel and platitudes for a simple yes or no answer? Yes."