Author Topic: Technical misnomers, ambiguous or plain incorrect terms in general usage.  (Read 30047 times)

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Offline Mr. Scram

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That would be one. People seem to quite consistently confuse bits and bytes, even when the difference is pointed out. A computer with 8 Gb of RAM really isn't the same as one with 8 GB of it. In that case you might argue the intended meaning is obvious and it's being pedantic, but quite often it's quite unclear what the intent was. The resulting message could be off by an order of magnitude.

We're not even taking about the gb crowd.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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That would be one. People seem to quite consistently confuse bits and bytes, even when the difference is pointed out. A computer with 8 Gb of RAM really isn't the same as one with 8 GB of it. In that case you might argue the intended meaning is obvious and it's being pedantic, but quite often it's quite unclear what the intent was. The resulting message could be off by an order of magnitude.

We're not even taking about the gb crowd.

It also doesn't help that every STEM discipline outside of computer science uses the kilo prefix to mean 1000, not 1024. Indeed, to indicate 1024 the prefix should be Ki (kibi) and not K. How many people do you ever come across distinguishing the two?

I giggle judgingly to myself when I see people boasting about clock speeds of hundreds or thousands of mHz - wow, so fast - and data speeds of mbps.
 

Offline David Hess

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It also doesn't help that every STEM discipline outside of computer science uses the kilo prefix to mean 1000, not 1024. Indeed, to indicate 1024 the prefix should be Ki (kibi) and not K. How many people do you ever come across distinguishing the two?

It was not a problem until the marketing geniuses at the mass storage companies changed to the SI convention because it made their drives look bigger.
 
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Offline helius

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It has been a problem for a long time. Whence "1.44 MB" floppy disks?
 

Offline David Hess

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It has been a problem for a long time. Whence "1.44 MB" floppy disks?

Oh, I agree it has been a problem for a long time.  But I am old enough to remember when it was *not* a problem and when it first became an issue, complaints were immediate.  This was before the World Wide Web existed but you can probably find something on Usenet about it.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:

The problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".
 
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Offline Mr. Scram

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:

The problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".
I think that's an example where language has moved on and some people are left behind.
 

Offline helius

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A recent howler was a poster on another messageboard who was talking about the Windows scheduler. He kept saying oh the quantas are 15ms long and this and that, oblivious to "quanta" already being plural.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:

The problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".
I think that's an example where language has moved on and some people are left behind.

Having read this, I really hate the grammar police's insistence that dangling modifiers, split infinitives and prepositions at the end of a sentence are all sins against the language. I'd like to firmly ram a stick up the tubes they shit out of.

I committed all three sins in the above....
 
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Online Circlotron

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:

The problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".
Same as when people talk about their Por-sha.  :rant:
 

Online Circlotron

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A recent howler was a poster on another messageboard who was talking about the Windows scheduler. He kept saying oh the quantas are 15ms long and this and that, oblivious to "quanta" already being plural.
Could be worse. 2.76523 quantas.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:

The problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".
Same as when people talk about their Por-sha.  :rant:

But it's a German name.

On the other hand, coupe' - 'coup-ay', not 'coup'. I'm not a damned chicken!
« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 03:22:49 am by JohnnyMalaria »
 
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Offline Nominal Animal

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:
Let's say I pull the results of some large simulation from a cluster to local external disks, and put them all into a box for the researcher to carry.

Do I really have to say "The data are here."?

Reminds me too much of Star Trek TNG.
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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But it's a German name.

On the other hand, coupe' - 'coup-ay', not 'coup'. I'm not a damned chicken!
How would it being a German name make a difference?
 

Offline basinstreetdesign

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It grinds me every time I see a post on some board about something that is based "off" something else.  Since I was born the phrase has always been "based ON something".  But ever since the 1980's, that particular bastardization has caught on in a big way.   >:(   |O
STAND BACK!  I'm going to try SCIENCE!
 

Online tggzzz

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:

Er, "datum" is the singular and "data" is the plural. So it isn't as simple as you would like to believe.

Quote
The problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".

Or tomato, or Leicester, or Himalaya, or...
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
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Online Circlotron

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Grinds my gears when people use the word “shall”.
As in “you shall not do this”.
Sounds like they are looking down their nose at you.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Data ARE, not data IS :scared: |O :palm:
Er, "datum" is the singular and "data" is the plural. So it isn't as simple as you would like to believe.

Eh? That's my point.  :-//
 

Offline Mr. Scram

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Grinds my gears when people use the word “shall”.
As in “you shall not do this”.
Sounds like they are looking down their nose at you.
That's a bit like how some people loathe the term "boss" or anything similar. I feel it often coincides with a little man complex, though I'm not saying that's true in your case. People can call or address me however they like, it's not going to change anything anyway.
 

Offline helius

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Grinds my gears when people use the word “shall”.
As in “you shall not do this”.
Sounds like they are looking down their nose at you.
"Shall" is a funny word. I don't use it, but the way I learned is that its meaning is flipped depending on whether the subject is the first person.
I shallYou will(Indicative mood: statement of fact)
I willYou shall(Imperative mood: statement of necessity)
In the US hardly anybody uses it these days. Too confusing.
 

Offline BillB

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Old time Requirements Specifications were full of Shalls.  Now, it's very rare that I come across them anymore (heck, even formal requirements specifications themselves seem to be increasingly rare). 

On occasion, I do use "I shall".
 
 

Offline bob225

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'Digital' aerials (antennas) - There is nothing digital about them its the signal that binary that's a rx or tx via a RF waveform
 

Offline GlennSprigg

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I hate hearing the phrases......   "AC Current", or "DC Current".....  >:(
'AC' means 'Alternating Current', so 'AC Current' means "Alternating Current Current"  Aarrgh....
Diagonal of 1x1 square = Root-2. Ok.
Diagonal of 1x1x1 cube = Root-3 !!!  Beautiful !!
 

Offline bob225

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I hate hearing the phrases......   "AC Current", or "DC Current".....  >:(
'AC' means 'Alternating Current', so 'AC Current' means "Alternating Current Current"  Aarrgh....

That's like PAT testing - Portable Appliance Testing testing
 
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Offline Nominal Animal

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That's a bit like how some people loathe the term "boss" or anything similar. I feel it often coincides with a little man complex, though I'm not saying that's true in your case. People can call or address me however they like, it's not going to change anything anyway.
The Finnish word for boss, "pomo", is derived from Russian помощник (pomóšnik): helper or assistant.  Very apt, IMO!
 


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