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Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Frayed Knot May 19 2019 06:06 PM

I'm thinking of those specifically in the context of public life: newspapers, news/sports announcers, etc., but everyday life ones are OK as well. -- I saw another article today describing a condemned building's implosion. An implosion is a specific scientific event where something collapses inward due to a greater pressure force pushing in than that pushing out. But a series of explosions collapsing a building so that it falls inward and is easier to clean up is NOT an implosion, it's merely a series of strategically placed explosions and an explosion is closer to the opposite of an implosion. But that doesn't stop both print and electronic journalists (or pretenders) from using 'implosion' close to 100% of the time when they have film of a structure being brought down. -- I've mentioned this one before, but a team with an off-week in the NFL is NOT on a 'Bye' week, it's merely a fucking off-week designed to stretch 16 weeks of football into 17 weeks. A bye is something that's earned, usually for a superior record, that automatically advances a team to a further round of play without having to play. The #1 & #2 ranked team in each conference sitting out the opening round of the NFL playoffs ... THAT is being granted a bye. The other is nothing more than a day off from work. I'm sure the genesis of this one is that the networks are under orders from the league to call an off-week a 'Bye' and they, of course, obey just as they do when they universally refer to exhibition games as 'pre-season'. And now both phrases have become so ingrained in the heads of football yakkers that no one even thinks of calling either case as anything else. Still, it would be nice if just one maverick were unafraid to use the more accurate terms.

Edgy MD May 19 2019 07:12 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Yeah, well a pinch hitter refers to a hitter who hits in a tight spot — or perhaps who enters the game to hit in a tight spot. A guy who just comes on to hit for the pitcher with no one on in the fifth because the pitcher is done? That guy is just a substitute hitter. If someone has reversed course, he has not done a "complete 360," Pascal. He or she has done a 180. One AND the same, guys, not one IN the same. And "illegal" isn't a noun.

RealityChuck May 19 2019 08:51 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 19 2019 08:57 PM

Frayed Knot wrote: I'm thinking of those specifically in the context of public life: newspapers, news/sports announcers, etc., but everyday life ones are OK as well. -- I saw another article today describing a condemned building's implosion. An implosion is a specific scientific event where something collapses inward due to a greater pressure force pushing in than that pushing out. But a series of explosions collapsing a building so that it falls inward and is easier to clean up is NOT an implosion, it's merely a series of strategically placed explosions and an explosion is closer to the opposite of an implosion. But that doesn't stop both print and electronic journalists (or pretenders) from using 'implosion' close to 100% of the time when they have film of a structure being brought down. -- I've mentioned this one before, but a team with an off-week in the NFL is NOT on a 'Bye' week, it's merely a fucking off-week designed to stretch 16 weeks of football into 17 weeks. A bye is something that's earned, usually for a superior record, that automatically advances a team to a further round of play without having to play. The #1 & #2 ranked team in each conference sitting out the opening round of the NFL playoffs ... THAT is being granted a bye. The other is nothing more than a day off from work. I'm sure the genesis of this one is that the networks are under orders from the league to call an off-week a 'Bye' and they, of course, obey just as they do when they universally refer to exhibition games as 'pre-season'. And now both phrases have become so ingrained in the heads of football yakkers that no one even thinks of calling either case as anything else. Still, it would be nice if just one maverick were unafraid to use the more accurate terms. First rule of complaining about misused words: Look them up in a dictionary. "Implosion" has meant "something exploding inward" since at least 1960. The building falls inward due to explosives, so it's a perfectly fine usage and certainly is an important distinction: "The building exploded" and "The building imploded" have two very different meanings. A "bye" has meant a person/team has no competitor for that week. The original meaning (from the 1850s) has nothing to do with playoffs: it occured when there were an odd number of participants and simply means someone is not playing. Back when I was in Little League we had an odd number of teams, and thus someone had a bye every week. It's a simple matter to expand the concept to include times with more than one team isn't playing.

RealityChuck May 19 2019 08:55 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Edgy MD wrote: Yeah, well a pinch hitter refers to a hitter who hits in a tight spot — or perhaps who enters the game to hit in a tight spot. A guy who just comes on to hit for the pitcher with no one on in the fifth because the pitcher is done? That guy is just a substitute hitter. And "illegal" isn't a noun. Fifty percent. A pinch hitter is defined in the OED as "A substitute batter." First cite: 1899. And "illegal" is also listed in the OED as a noun meaning "illegal immigrant" and dates from 1939. Follow Casey Stengel and look it up.

Edgy MD May 19 2019 09:02 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

It's a morally vacant usage. Also, I got 67%, Snippy.

MFS62 May 20 2019 07:17 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

And its not going to get better if this becomes more prevalent in the US. https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-nys-regents-tests-are-terrible-20190520-weqgzyl5brdeppsle5bthbr264-story.html Later

Centerfield May 20 2019 08:08 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

For all intensive purposes. In regards to. Literally.

Benjamin Grimm May 20 2019 08:42 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

A mute point.

TransMonk May 20 2019 09:42 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Political pundint.

Chad ochoseis May 20 2019 10:22 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

"Reign in" and "free reign". They're horse-related metaphors. The word is "rein".

41Forever May 20 2019 11:18 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

You'll see this in every paper every day, but I used to tell my students to never use "officials" when describing someone. "Township officials....." No one's job title is an official. They can be a planner, a finance staffer, a board member, or whatever, but they have an actual job that can be described more specifically. Even "administrator" is better because it's at least a little more specific. And: signage. "Sign," without the age added on works perfectly in every situation.

Lefty Specialist May 20 2019 11:30 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

'Democrat' used as an adjective. The correct word is 'Democratic'. This is probably the most frequently misused word in politics. All misuses are from one side, of course. :)

Frayed Knot May 26 2019 05:34 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Lefty Specialist wrote: 'Democrat' used as an adjective. The correct word is 'Democratic'. This is probably the most frequently misused word in politics. All misuses are from one side, of course. :) I don't quite get the fuss over this one. I mean I get the part about it being grammatically incorrect and all. And, yes, at least some on the right do this so as to tweak the left (although sometimes it's probably just lazy grammar too). But I don't quite get why. The only thing I can think of is that the right doesn't want to say 'Democratic' so as to imply that (large 'D') Democrats aren't very democratic. If that's their point then it's maybe the lamest zinger ever. But then the left, as they are often wont to do, makes it worse by over-reacting to the "insult" as if this lamest zinger ever is something that cuts to their very soul. It's a bit reminiscent of back when GHWB called Dukakis "a liberal". Dukakis should have reacted by either: - Explaining why he wasn't a liberal and how his policies differed from those who were OR - Saying, 'Damn right I'm a liberal!!' and then telling the populace what liberal policies are and why they were the best for the country moving forward. He wound up doing neither and instead went whining to the press: 'Wahhhh, Georgie called me a Liberal mom, make him stop', an action which wound up making him look both uncommitted to any political philosophy and like someone who couldn't handle the White House if he couldn't take the heat of an even minor tweaking. That action also seemed to poison the very word 'liberal' in many political circles to the point where the 'progressive' label was revived and adopted as an alternative description by those who figured that anything sounded better than being labeled a liberal. Both cases should have been much ado about nothing really. But screaming over much ado about nothing is often the go-to move of politicians.

MFS62 May 26 2019 01:38 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

When someone uses dems as an insult, I remind them that in the present administration, cons is short for convicts. Later

TransMonk May 26 2019 06:57 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

I don't know if this is the thread for it, but I have a feeling the term "rust belt" is going to be thrown around pretty liberally over the next 18 months in the media run up to the 2020 election. As someone who lives in the geographic area commonly referred to as "the rust belt", I can't think of a term containing "rust" as a positive referral to where I'm from. It's certainly not relevant to me or where I specifically live. Cows and corn don't rust. "Industrial mid-west", maybe? Or perhaps, just the fucking mid-west? We got lots of things other than failing industry to fly over.

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2019 01:55 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

It's WimbleDon sports update announcer guys, not WimbleTon And while this next item is not a frequently mis-used phrase, I'll throw it in here because I heard it in the same update as the above (which IS frequently botched) and because it's symptomatic of the types of guys they hire for that type of job these days: while giving a rundown of baseball scores, the update guy credited a home run to 'J. J. Yelich'. I suspect this happened because the name sounds something like hoopster J. J. Reddick and because employees at these outfits (forget whether it was a FOX or ESPN update - as if there's a difference) are as likely to have seen a baseball game or know who Christian Yelich is as was Les Nessman wherever he had to fill in with sports news on WKRP. Needless to say, he never corrected himself nor, at least in the two or three minutes that followed, did anyone else on the station.

Edgy MD Jul 07 2019 07:30 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

For what it's worth what used to be referred to as "The Rust Belt" extended beyond the longitudes of the Mid-West into western Pennsylvania, northern New York, and no small part of southern New England. One of the rusty beltiest towns I ever visited was Worcester, Massachusetts. But that was 30 years ago, and continuing to use the term as if nothing has changed in the landscape in that time is certainly lazy at best and ignorant at worst. As is just using the term as not-so-shorthand for "Mid-West."

Frayed Knot Aug 02 2019 04:02 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

This latest Kennedy death is not a continuation of some "curse". It could be more accurately described as part of a pattern of reckless behavior, one which more than occasionally includes drug and alcohol abuse. That doesn't make this particular death deserved or not sad, but it also doesn't make it an example of something which keeps perpetuating itself on this particular clan for random or unexplained reasons.

Double Switch Aug 02 2019 05:01 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Mis-used word in baseball: scuffling (engage in a short, confused fight or conflict at close quarters) for struggling (striving to achieve or attain something in the face of difficulty or resistance). Players in a slump like to insist they are scuffling when, in fact, they are struggling, or something far more similar to struggling than scuffling.

Benjamin Grimm Aug 02 2019 08:03 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

"Scuffling" has been a pet peeve of mine for years.

Frayed Knot Aug 03 2019 02:38 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

It's as if they've decided that 'scuffling' is a form of 'struggling-lite'. We don't want to say struggling because that sounds like you're saying the guy is playing poorly. So we're going with scuffling instead ... it's kinda like struggling, only not as bad.

Edgy MD Aug 03 2019 02:52 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Frayed Knot wrote: This latest Kennedy death is not a continuation of some "curse". It could be more accurately described as part of a pattern of reckless behavior, one which more than occasionally includes drug and alcohol abuse. That doesn't make this particular death deserved or not sad, but it also doesn't make it an example of something which keeps perpetuating itself on this particular clan for random or unexplained reasons. Oh, I think there's a curse. I mean, look at Rose. She only lived to ... what? 105? Spooky ...

Double Switch Aug 03 2019 02:54 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Frayed Knot wrote: It's as if they've decided that 'scuffling' is a form of 'struggling-lite'. We don't want to say struggling because that sounds like you're saying the guy is playing poorly. So we're going with scuffling instead ... it's kinda like struggling, only not as bad. Which is why now the DL has transformed into the IL. Geez, perception, not reality, is most important, eh? Sugar-coating is the name of the game.

Vic Sage Aug 22 2019 10:32 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

I just dropped my kid off at college and there was an orientation session. Every speaker, from student volunteers to the President of the college, prefaced their statements by announcing their preferred pronouns ("Hi, i use he, him and his"). I could feel my son's eyes rolling in his head constantly. I'm not sure he's going to make it through 4 years without his eyeballs actually rolling out onto the floor. If he's ever put in a position of having to announce his pronouns, i'm sure he'll say something like "Hi, I use `IT, IT and ITS.'" What i don't get is why anyone cares. If i'm using a pronoun to refer to you, instead of your name, then i'm likely talking ABOUT you, not TO you. And you don't get a say as to how i talk ABOUT you. If i use the "wrong" pronoun to describe you (based on your particular gender identity) in your presence, please feel free to correct me and i will happily oblige. But the whole world shouldn't have to wear buttons telling each other what our pronouns are (by the way, they were, in fact, giving out said buttons.) I get that people have gender identity issues, or are non-binary (or whatever is the acceptable euphemism is at this particular hour of this particular day), and such people can be (and often are) bullied and abused by the mainstream culture (just as many other minority groups are), and what the school admin was doing is a well-intentioned gesture to make everyone feel included (INCLUSION = the 21st century buzzword), but i don't think this nonsense is helpful. It simply calls constant attention to gender as an issue and makes people resentful of having someone else's issue being made THEIR issue. Like most such thought police intrusions and orwellian newspeak going on on campuses, its the libertarian backlash that has helped foment fascist Trumpism. Like "trigger warnings" and its ilk, it is an effort to stigmatize previously neutral language with the effect (and intent) of stifling speech and discussion, rather than encouraging it, which is what concerns me, particularly in a university setting, and particularly when its used to villify professors and others, even costing them their jobs. I formed an anti-censorship organization years ago, to fight the religious right's attempt to control speech, and thereby thought, and ultimately our culture. Now the battle is on the left. I just didn't see that coming.

Frayed Knot Aug 28 2019 08:31 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Can we all agree that this stuff all started going downhill right after, and quite possibly because of, the introduction of the DH? One wonders if there were any college admins at that orientation who chose Not to introduce themselves with their preferred pronouns. I suspect there might have been a few but those were the ones who missed the meeting due to the fact that they were, at the time, being pummeled backstage by university hired goons. But seriously folks, one of the bigger problem with this stuff is that there's a degree of 'gotcha-ism' to it all. As Vic says, there exists a virtual requirement to use only those euphemisms that are "acceptable at this particular hour on this particular day". If I, for example, were to use the phrase "colored people" I would be derided as someone a century behind the times and the worst kind of racist even if no other evidence existed of me being so. But alter that phrase, even if used by the same person in the same context, to "people of color" and I am suddenly assumed to be hip, inclusive, even "woke", as well as someone who votes for the 'right' candidates and probably both flosses and recycles religiously. The two phrases should be a distinction without a difference but are instead treated as if there's a YUGE difference due to nothing more than some group deciding that all the cool kids use the one while those 'enemies of the people' need to be identified and ferreted out by their use of the other.

Ceetar Aug 28 2019 08:47 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

that's because 'colored people' has history to it and still using it is a possible indicator that the speaker still ascribes to many of the other associated racist beliefs of the time when it was used. And i'm not sure "people of color" is uh, 'woke'. It's the same with pronouns. It's almost definitely an imperfect solution, and it seems centered more on awareness. But a lot of people have been very harshly treated and belittled by this. Women that are constantly told to be more manly and you gotta play sports and you can't wear that dress with a penis and all that. A lot of it's just trying to get out in front of it, and educating the public is a good way to do that, a good way to signal you're going to try to create an inclusive culture. It's hokey and perhaps silly, but whatever. And hell, it's gotta be frustrating to constantly say "actually i'm a girl" constantly if it's not immediately obvious and people keep saying 'he' or making assumptions. College is about education after all, and very little of the important stuff is book learning.

Lefty Specialist Aug 28 2019 08:47 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Yeah, 'people of color' always bothers me. But I think it's just trying to take the phrase back, just as 'queer' went from being an Archie Bunker-style epithet to a statement of identity.

Vic Sage Aug 28 2019 09:28 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

that's because 'colored people' has history to it and still using it is a possible indicator that the speaker still ascribes to many of the other associated racist beliefs of the time when it was used. And i'm not sure "people of color" is uh, 'woke'. It's the same with pronouns. It's almost definitely an imperfect solution, and it seems centered more on awareness. But a lot of people have been very harshly treated and belittled by this. Women that are constantly told to be more manly and you gotta play sports and you can't wear that dress with a penis and all that. A lot of it's just trying to get out in front of it, and educating the public is a good way to do that, a good way to signal you're going to try to create an inclusive culture. It's hokey and perhaps silly, but whatever. And hell, it's gotta be frustrating to constantly say "actually i'm a girl" constantly if it's not immediately obvious and people keep saying 'he' or making assumptions. College is about education after all, and very little of the important stuff is book learning. yeah, i get it. That's why i said: I get that people have gender identity issues, or are non-binary (or whatever is the acceptable euphemism is at this particular hour of this particular day), and such people can be (and often are) bullied and abused by the mainstream culture (just as many other minority groups are), and what the school admin was doing is a well-intentioned gesture to make everyone feel included (INCLUSION = the 21st century buzzword), but i don't think the good intentions and educational intent is being well served. Because i AGREE that college is about education. But this is not education; this is the imposition of a new orthodoxy that is a litmus test for a different sort of labeling, distinguishing those that are socially correct from those that are retrograde. Its not just silly, imperfect or harmless. It has real consequences, as i also said: but i don't think this nonsense is helpful. It simply calls constant attention to gender as an issue and makes people resentful of having someone else's issue being made THEIR issue. Like most such thought police intrusions and orwellian newspeak going on on campuses, its the libertarian backlash that has helped foment fascist Trumpism. Like "trigger warnings" and its ilk, it is an effort to stigmatize previously neutral language with the effect (and intent) of stifling speech and discussion, rather than encouraging it, which is what concerns me, particularly in a university setting, and particularly when its used to villify professors and others, even costing them their jobs.

Ceetar Aug 28 2019 09:53 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

trigger warnings don't stigmatize previously neutral language anymore than R ratings stigmatize previously child-friendly movies.

Frayed Knot Aug 28 2019 10:23 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

that's because 'colored people' has history to it and still using it is a possible indicator that the speaker still ascribes to many of the other associated racist beliefs of the time when it was used. And i'm not sure "people of color" is uh, 'woke'. 'Colored People', in my experience and memory, was at worst a neutral reference, if not a downright friendly one, that was used instead of other derogatory terms. So while it may have been in use during similar times, its history and implications weren't anywhere close to the same as more infamous slurs. I'm certainly betting that the NAACP thinks so. And, again, it's the idea that one version is considered horrid while a virtually identical one puts you in with the in crowd. It's a distinction without a difference and the reasons why they're not currently thought of in the same way are completely arbitrary and, I believe, intentional to a certain degree.

batmagadanleadoff Aug 28 2019 10:33 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases Edited 7 time(s), most recently on Aug 28 2019 10:39 AM

Eventually, the phrase "people of color" will also become unfashionable if not downright offesnsive and it'll be on to the next euphemism in this never-ending loop. That's just the way it is because at its root, people, subconsciously, have issues more so with the underlying condition itself rather than the term du jour that's supposed to mask the root condition. A "handicapped" or "disabled" or "crippled" or jeez -whatever already-- person will have physical limitations that most people don't have and that ain't going away no matter what we're supposed to call it. Racism isn't going away, either, for that matter. It's deeply deeply embedded in the fabric of our nation. With enough time, negative connotations will eventually attach to the newest politically correct and socially acceptable terms, as well.

Edgy MD Aug 28 2019 10:34 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Frayed Knot wrote: If I, for example, were to use the phrase "colored people" I would be derided as someone a century behind the times and the worst kind of racist even if no other evidence existed of me being so. Well, sure, man. I mean, you are, aren't you?

Frayed Knot Aug 28 2019 11:21 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Edgy MD wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: If I, for example, were to use the phrase "colored people" I would be derided as someone a century behind the times and the worst kind of racist even if no other evidence existed of me being so. Well, sure, man. I mean, you are, aren't you? A century or more behind the times? Yeah, in many things certainly. I'd add more to this answer but I have to go churn some butter right now.

Vic Sage Aug 28 2019 01:16 PM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

trigger warnings don't stigmatize previously neutral language anymore than R ratings stigmatize previously child-friendly movies. of course they do. suppose that some particular group decided that the "princess paradigm" of all the early Disney movies was a sufficiently anti-feminist trope that such films now required "trigger warnings" before they showed up on the Disney Channel. Instead of people watching the films and discussing the evolution of the princess trope from Snow White to Moana, to show the growth in female empowerment the movies represent, now folks will just say "oh don't watch those sexist movies". The trigger warning becomes a signifier that justifies the work being pushed aside from further consideration. and of course ratings stigmatize. they are granted based on biased, subjective, and often commercial or political reasons. You can show a man ripping a heart out of someone's chest in a studio picture and get a PG (because they hadn't yet invented the pg-13 for such purposes), but if you are an indie, you'll get an R. You can show a serial killer cutting a woman's vagina with a knife and get an R, but a tender love scene showing a tongue in a vagina = X. violence is fine, sex is verboten. these cultural determinations absolutely stigmatize expression. When the x-rated film began, it was to denote films intended for an adult audience. But the public's response (theaters refusing to show them, papers and tv refusing to carry advertising for them, groups protesting them) turned the x into a scarlet letter that denoted only pornography and was a commercial death sentence for non-pornographic films. R rated films, by and large, are less profitable than PG13; PG is more profitable than G; everything is more profitable than X.

MFS62 Aug 29 2019 07:37 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Not sure if this belongs here (maybe a separate thread?), but I heard* that the word on food packaging that turns off (and makes them decide not to buy) most potential buyers is vegan, followed by diet, low fat and light. The words on food labels that are most likely to get someone to buy them include fresh, locally grown and from the garden. Interesting, nothing about GMO, either positive or negative, on either list. Maybe this belongs in a thread about words that turn you off. Later * = forget which radio show.

Ceetar Aug 29 2019 07:59 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

That's just marketing. Personally if something says "GMO created" I'm more likely to buy it. I'm starting to think all fast food burgers should be plant based.

MFS62 Aug 29 2019 08:23 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

=Ceetar post_id=20249 time=1567087185 user_id=102] That's just marketing.

My post was about words that some perceive to have negative connotations, not the reason those words are used.

Later

dinosaur jesus Aug 29 2019 10:27 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

"Vegan" always confuses me. To me, it's a science fiction word, referring to the star Vega. In James Blish's Cities in Flight series, the Vegan Tyranny is the old empire supplanted by the human expansion into space. It also doesn't help that the way it's pronounced makes no sense: how do you get from a short e and soft g in "vegetable" to a long e and hard g in "vegan"? Those words can't be related. Of course, I used to be confused by "Venetian blinds" too. I heard it as "Venusian."

Vic Sage Aug 29 2019 11:44 AM Re: Frequently Mis-used Words & Phrases

Neptune's Beard! You don't have to be mercurial about it, or saturnine. Chill out, for Jupiter's sake! With our country turning into a plutocracy soon to be ruled by martial law, we have bigger issues to get loony over.