Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[IDEngineer]

Others:

"Fell pregnant" (primarily UK)

"These ones" or "Those ones"

"Needs repaired"

[Circlotron]

The profound, deep and meaningful, hand on heart words pronounced when NASA launches a rocket.  Also, in this case, when Artemis splashed down.

[IDEngineer]

"Liftoff" doesn't make sense upon splashdown....

[PlainName]

It's backwards, the correct saying is "I couldn't care less"  In that you already care the least you possibly can about something.  "I could care less" suggests that you do indeed care and you could "care a little less".

Kind of. OTOH, if you couldn't care less you could care more, which is problematic. So with 'could care less' you couldn't care more, which is more appropriate.

[TimFox]

It's backwards, the correct saying is "I couldn't care less"  In that you already care the least you possibly can about something.  "I could care less" suggests that you do indeed care and you could "care a little less".

Kind of. OTOH, if you couldn't care less you could care more, which is problematic. So with 'could care less' you couldn't care more, which is more appropriate.

Almost everyone who says "I could care less" means that he could not care less about the topic.
I have never heard anyone say "I could care less" when he meant that.
Another example of a common error is "irregardless" for "regardless", which some easy graders think is a double-negative intensifier for "regardless", but is usually just careless.

[eti]

People (<cough> Dave) pronouncing “H”, “Haych”. Ugh! Apparently it’s an Aussie affliction. Not a good excuse, hehe

Pronouncing “X-rays” as “X-uh-rays”

Software people trying to speak like they know about hardware realms. Stop.

My peeve is hyphenating "X rays".
Punctuation usage says to hyphenate the adjective "x-ray" or "X-ray" in, for example, "X-ray tube", but not the noun as in "turn on the X rays".

Haha! 😂

[eti]

My pet peeve, one I've had for several years now, is the trend towards removing physical power switches from appliances. Time and time again we read in "modern" instruction and troubleshooting guides that we must "remove the power cable from the wall" to fully reset or restart some device.

It is like a Kafka novel, the elephant in the room, sheer stupidity that makes stuff harder to use for many people (disabled and elderly people for example).

The increasing reliance too on (often) cruddy software, means there is a greater need than in the past, to force restart many devices because they are so poorly designed that a reboot is the only option and the "way" they let us do that is to move furniture and crawl around pulling wires out, waiting several minutes and then reinserting.

Doing that in the dark or dim, while tired or bending uncomfortably is a risk too, especially in the USA where power outlets DO NOT HAVE SWITCHES !. One can struggle to pull and grab the plug and accidentally touch the live connecter - it is insanity.

Almost all "on/off" switches these days are not that at all, they simply put the device into standby, low power mode, they are (in essence) a request to the device not an interruption of power. If these designers insist on making stuff that needs a true power cycling to recover then they should make that easy and put a good old fashioned power switch (or at the very least supply a cable with an in-built physical switch at some point along its length) - but oh no, that's a sin these days, that's a cost, a maintenance burden!

We've gone backwards not forwards.

I think there’s an obsessive trend for “Touch = modern” with lemming designers. Don’t use a particular interface type “just because”, use it where ONLY it makes sense. I’d love to hear Dieter Rams’ views on this, he’s very rational and direct (both attributes which I admire)

[paulca]

It's backwards, the correct saying is "I couldn't care less"  In that you already care the least you possibly can about something.  "I could care less" suggests that you do indeed care and you could "care a little less".

Kind of. OTOH, if you couldn't care less you could care more, which is problematic. So with 'could care less' you couldn't care more, which is more appropriate.

Almost everyone who says "I could care less" means that he could not care less about the topic.
I have never heard anyone say "I could care less" when he meant that.
Another example of a common error is "irregardless" for "regardless", which some easy graders think is a double-negative intensifier for "regardless", but is usually just careless.

Some of them make it into the dictionary.

Examples from my trade ...   "Output",  "Input" and many others.  Made up words.  Now in the dictionary. 

Merriam-Webster defines irregardless as "nonstandard" but meaning the same as "regardless." "Many people find irregardless to be a nonsensical word, as the ir- prefix usually functions to indicates negation; however, in this case it appears to function as an intensifier," the dictionary writes.

[TimFox]

I have no problem with neologism, the development of new words to go with new situations.
"Transistor", "laser", "to google", etc.
What I detest is when two words with different meanings are confused, so that one must use longer phrases for a specific statement.
For example, the confusion between "to infer" and "to imply".
(Yes, I know that the confusion between them is historical, but still detestable.)

[SilverSolder]

My pet peeve, one I've had for several years now, is the trend towards removing physical power switches from appliances. Time and time again we read in "modern" instruction and troubleshooting guides that we must "remove the power cable from the wall" to fully reset or restart some device.

It is like a Kafka novel, the elephant in the room, sheer stupidity that makes stuff harder to use for many people (disabled and elderly people for example).

The increasing reliance too on (often) cruddy software, means there is a greater need than in the past, to force restart many devices because they are so poorly designed that a reboot is the only option and the "way" they let us do that is to move furniture and crawl around pulling wires out, waiting several minutes and then reinserting.

Doing that in the dark or dim, while tired or bending uncomfortably is a risk too, especially in the USA where power outlets DO NOT HAVE SWITCHES !. One can struggle to pull and grab the plug and accidentally touch the live connecter - it is insanity.

Almost all "on/off" switches these days are not that at all, they simply put the device into standby, low power mode, they are (in essence) a request to the device not an interruption of power. If these designers insist on making stuff that needs a true power cycling to recover then they should make that easy and put a good old fashioned power switch (or at the very least supply a cable with an in-built physical switch at some point along its length) - but oh no, that's a sin these days, that's a cost, a maintenance burden!

We've gone backwards not forwards.

I think there’s an obsessive trend for “Touch = modern” with lemming designers. Don’t use a particular interface type “just because”, use it where ONLY it makes sense. I’d love to hear Dieter Rams’ views on this, he’s very rational and direct (both attributes which I admire)

I recently "upgraded" an old car to a slightly newer old car...  the old car had a button-operated navigation system, the newer one has a touch screen.  No prizes for guessing which is the most straightforward to use, and which one is almost dangerous in how distracting and how much attention you have to put into it, in order to use it "on the fly"!

[paulca]

I recently "upgraded" an old car to a slightly newer old car...  the old car had a button-operated navigation system, the newer one has a touch screen.  No prizes for guessing which is the most straightforward to use, and which one is almost dangerous in how distracting and how much attention you have to put into it, in order to use it "on the fly"!

"almost dangerous".  No, they are deadly.  I have a rental Citreon C3 and it has a big touch screen for everything including the heating controls.  You have to look away from the road.  Location the right bit of screen.  Press it.  Then wait on feedback.  That takes way longer than 2 seconds.  FAR too long.

My own car has tactlile rotary encoders and physical buttons, even if they are just "soft" buttons you can "feel" them and don't need to look at all.

[james_s]

I think it's less touch = modern and more touch = cheap. Good quality switches and buttons are expensive, touchscreens and capacitive buttons are cheap. I do think touchscreens should be illegal in cars, they really are dangeorus. My car has physical switches, knobs and sliders, they're laid out logically and can be operated entirely by feel, I never have to take my eyes off the road.

[jonovid]

neologism   26x26x26

[IDEngineer]

I think it's less touch = modern and more touch = cheap. Good quality switches and buttons are expensive, touchscreens and capacitive buttons are cheap.

True, the human input device(s) may be cheaper, but then on the other end you need some kind of actuator (relay, linear actuator for HVAC stuff, etc.) backed by a CAN-enabled MCU which adds back cost. Before touchscreens, to adjust the vents or temperature you slid/rotated a manual control that moved a cable or lever system which directly controlled the object in question. I don't know how those costs compare.

I do think touchscreens should be illegal in cars, they really are dangeorus. My car has physical switches, knobs and sliders, they're laid out logically and can be operated entirely by feel, I never have to take my eyes off the road.

I agree with this sentiment. I have a 2020 Lotus Evora GT, and until very recently Lotus was known for extreme simplicity so they could focus on the driving experience. Despite my car being manufactured as recently as 2020, my HVAC controls are three round knobs that I can operate by feel without ever taking my eyes off the road. My parking brake is a lever between the seats, not a button, so I can apply rear mechanical brakes to any degree desired at any time. The gauges are analog so they mentally register instantly (though there is also a digital speed display if you prefer that) and being analog they give you a immediate relative indication based solely on the needle's position, which is often more important than the absolute value.

I'm not a Luddite, but this is how motor vehicles should be controlled. Simple, tactile, eyes-don't-have-to-leave-the-road. Maximum safety requires you sacrifice the "Space Shuttle" interior experience.

[radar_macgyver]

That's nothing compared with: 

"I could care less"

It's backwards, the correct saying is "I couldn't care less"  In that you already care the least you possibly can about something.  "I could care less" suggests that you do indeed care and you could "care a little less". 

Minute mark 1:07 has Mr. Yankovic's thoughts on this.

[james_s]

True, the human input device(s) may be cheaper, but then on the other end you need some kind of actuator (relay, linear actuator for HVAC stuff, etc.) backed by a CAN-enabled MCU which adds back cost. Before touchscreens, to adjust the vents or temperature you slid/rotated a manual control that moved a cable or lever system which directly controlled the object in question. I don't know how those costs compare.

I have no data but I suspect the electrical actuators and associated electronics are still cheaper than the old mechanical stuff, especially if you want automatic climate control which I think is almost universally terrible but everyone else seems to want that now. The HVAC in my car uses vacuum servos on the dampers and the dash controls are vacuum valves, the fancier models had an early electronic climate control that added electrically actuated vacuum valves to control the servos. I have one double acting servo with a leaky diaphragm which is difficult to access and replacements are no longer available so I'm not sure I'm real crazy about that aspect but it did work pretty well for many years.

Speaking of climate control, I think the fatal flaw with every one of them that I've played with is that they try to regulate the cabin temperature which is a futile task in a car. What they really ought to be doing is regulating the temperature of the air coming out of the vents since that seems to be largely what determines how warm the cabin feels. They also all seem to love to crank the fan up to full blast when the measured temperature is far enough off the set point and I find that absolutely obnoxious. The fan should never ramp up to more than about half speed without the user manually selecting max fan.

[eti]

That's nothing compared with: 

"I could care less"

It's backwards, the correct saying is "I couldn't care less"  In that you already care the least you possibly can about something.  "I could care less" suggests that you do indeed care and you could "care a little less". 

Minute mark 1:07 has Mr. Yankovic's thoughts on this.

Ah! One of my favourite songs! 🤣

This one makes it SO clear why “could care less” is simply idiotic, and in a very precise manner:

[pcprogrammer]

There is nothing left to care more or less about 

[eti]

There is nothing left to care more or less about 

That’s not even logical. When you couldn’t care less, you COULD care more.

[pcprogrammer]

The mind works in mysterious ways 

[tooki]

Some of them make it into the dictionary.

Examples from my trade ...   "Output",  "Input" and many others.  Made up words.  Now in the dictionary. 

What makes you think they’re “made up”? Those words, in similar meaning to current ones, predate our lifetimes by a bit, and earlier meanings stretch back many centuries.

We simply took existing words with relevant meanings and applied them to new technologies, like we do with kinda everything.

[pcprogrammer]

What makes you think they’re “made up”? Those words, in similar meaning to current ones, predate our lifetimes by a bit, and earlier meanings stretch back many centuries.

Every word in every language is "made up" at some point in time. Unless you believe in some god who made everything including language, and even then it is made up by this god.

Like it or not, language is fluid, and changes over time. Maybe in 10, 20 years time the youth only speaks in abbreviations, like they do in text messages and on the internet, because the teachers forgot about proper language due to this phenomena.

A lot of the new fashion abbreviations, also used here on the forum, I have to look up what they mean.

[tooki]

What makes you think they’re “made up”? Those words, in similar meaning to current ones, predate our lifetimes by a bit, and earlier meanings stretch back many centuries.

Every word in every language is "made up" at some point in time. Unless you believe in some god who made everything including language, and even then it is made up by this god.

Like it or not, language is fluid, and changes over time. Maybe in 10, 20 years time the youth only speaks in abbreviations, like they do in text messages and on the internet, because the teachers forgot about proper language due to this phenomena.

A lot of the new fashion abbreviations, also used here on the forum, I have to look up what they mean.

All true, but why are you telling me? I wasn’t the person complaining (incorrectly, no less) about input and output being neologisms. Indeed, my reply was to point out that they aren’t.

FYI, in English to “make something up” does indeed mean “invent”, but has a strong connotation of “deceptive”, “illegitimate” or “phony”, and of “created deliberately”. It’s not just a neutral synonym for “create” or “come into existence”. The implication, when someone says a word is is “made up”, is that the norm is that words evolved naturally. (Of course, in practice, to many people it’s really just “any word that was established before I learned the language is legitimate, and anything coined later is bogus!” )

(Linguistics was my minor at university.)

[pcprogrammer]

... but why are you telling me? ...

I wasn't. Just emphasizing your point. 

[IDEngineer]

I thought "made up" meant "consists of" or "comprises", as in "Cellphones are made up of a variety of components". {evil grin}

English as a second language must be extraordinarily challenging. So many different used for the same words and phrases....