The Pet Peeves Thread

[GenesisNemesis]

Authors who are careless with their wording. Currently reading the book How We Die and this annoyed me:

"When a would-be suicide hooks up one end of a hose to an automobile's exhaust pipe..."

Referring to a person as "a would-be suicide"? Just doesn't sound right to me. How hard is it to write "potential suicide victim" or something like that?

"Would-be" sounds fine to me.  It implies—obviously—that the person intended
to take their own life, but in this particular case was ultimately unsuccessful.

Like a would-be doctor who failed their final year medical degree.

 
It just simply sounds better to say "a suicidal person" rather than "a would-be suicide" because the suicide is not the defining aspect of the person, and it makes it sound like they're just a statistic rather than a person. Also we don't refer to people who were murdered as "would-be murder" or a person who was raped as a "would-be rape".

[Dānu]

"Would-be" sounds fine to me.  It implies—obviously—that the person intended
to take their own life, but in this particular case was ultimately unsuccessful.

Like a would-be doctor who failed their final year medical degree.

 
It just simply sounds better to say "a suicidal person" rather than "a would-be suicide" because the suicide is not the defining aspect of the person, and it makes it sound like they're just a statistic rather than a person. Also we don't refer to people who were murdered as "would-be murder" or a person who was raped as a "would-be rape".

The "would-be suicide" is similar to a debate within mental health concerning the use of terms like borderline, bipolar, and so forth which describe a person as 'being' their condition as opposed to describing it as a condition the person has or is experiencing. The former leads to shame and stigmatization.

[SYZ]

...The "would-be suicide" is similar to a debate within mental health concerning the use of terms like borderline, bipolar, and so forth which describe a person as 'being' their condition as opposed to describing it as a condition the person has or is experiencing.  The former leads to shame and stigmatization.

Some people have asked my if I'm diabetic, which I usually respond
to by saying 'not really, I'm just a person suffering that illness'.

I used to notice the same thing with my brother:  People would often
say 'oh yeah, he's an asthmatic'.     Again, that doesn't define him by any
means, as he was more readily "defined" as an electrical engineer, for EG.

[Rizen]

When cute pet videos, or the like, think they need an annoying narrator to tell you what's happening in plain sight. What is this America's Funniest Home Videos? 

[Rizen]

When people post relatively obscure acronyms on social media etc. and assume everybody knows what they mean.

[brewerb]

When people post relatively obscure acronyms on social media etc. and assume everybody knows what they mean.

IDKWYTA

[Fireball]

When people post relatively obscure acronyms on social media etc. and assume everybody knows what they mean.

IDKWYTA

Part of my job was technical writing. I recall going to a different defense program and having to sort through the vernacular and acronyms. Sometimes, on really old programs, nicknames for components crept in. One was, at the end of a procedure, to turn off the "K-Mart" light. When a spacecraft is using electrical power, a flashing blue light is lit in the area to alert people that this is the case, as people can get shocked. That's completely unprofessional, and I avoided or corrected it as necessary. Our company had a thick book of acronyms, some of which had up to seven different meanings. The rule is to spell a term out first and then give the acronym.

And I've been around you, Mark, and the internet in general, to figure out what you meant. 

[brewerb]

IDKWYTA

Part of my job was technical writing. I recall going to a different defense program and having to sort through the vernacular and acronyms. Sometimes, on really old programs, nicknames for components crept in. One was, at the end of a procedure, to turn off the "K-Mart" light. When a spacecraft is using electrical power, a flashing blue light is lit in the area to alert people that this is the case, as people can get shocked. That's completely unprofessional, and I avoided or corrected it as necessary. Our company had a thick book of acronyms, some of which had up to seven different meanings. The rule is to spell a term out first and then give the acronym.

And I've been around you, Mark, and the internet in general, to figure out what you meant. 

Titles from one alert email this morning.

Don't CHAMPION Watchman in AF
LAAC an Alternative for NOAC in Lower-Risk AF Patients
Adoption Before Evidence: CHIP-BCIS3 Humbles Impella
More Support for Lower LDL-C in 'Primary' Prevention: VESALIUS-CV
CTO PCI Reduces Angina vs Sham: ORBITA-CTO

The articles/studies follow the rules.

[Unsapien]

Trying to match plastic containers with the correct lid.

We have a cabinet full of plastic containers, and sometimes it takes me 5-10 mins trying to match them up (maybe an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like) . You try to keep it organized, but it always turns into mess after a bit.

Of course I can be my own worst enemy too, cause instead of being proactive and getting my lunch ready the day before, I leave it to the morning when I'm trying to get to work on time.

So I guess sometimes I'm actually peeving myself.

 I'm self-peeving.  

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I recall going to a different defense program and having to sort through the vernacular and acronyms.

Twenty years of that shit, after doing four years of "Industrial Arts" in high school. MPACs, HPACs, Evaps, SSTG, #1NMIPFP. It starts to dribble out one's ears after a decade or so.

(And all those are legit terms if you're in the right environment.)

[brewerb]

Every time I fill up the gas can for the mower/blower there is always dribble on the outside that stinks up the car. Thankfully the station is only 5 blks away.

[SYZ]

Why is Gen-Z now apparently turning acronyms into proper
names—at least here in Australia?      

Anzac, Unesco, Nato, Qantas, Anzus, Asio, Covid, etc etc.

Someone suggested it's because that's the way the acronym
would (should?) be printed as it can be vocalised as an actual word.

[Paleophyte]

I'm pretty sure that most of those were words long before Gen Z. I'd have trouble blaming Gen X for the first four.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm pretty sure that most of those were words long before Gen Z. I'd have trouble blaming Gen X for the first four.

I think his gripe is that those are now being used as proper names for people. If that's the case, I agree, they're pretty schlocky.

[brewerb]

Naming our next dog FUBAR, maybe SNAFU.

[Paleophyte]

I'm pretty sure that most of those were words long before Gen Z. I'd have trouble blaming Gen X for the first four.

I think his gripe is that those are now being used as proper names for people. If that's the case, I agree, they're pretty schlocky.

Can we name one of Trump's kids Nato?

[Thumpalumpacus]

I think his gripe is that those are now being used as proper names for people. If that's the case, I agree, they're pretty schlocky.

Can we name one of Trump's kids Nato?

I'd love to see one of them named PIDOOMA.

[SYZ]

Can we name one of Trump's kids Nato?

I'd love to see one of them named PIDOOMA.

Very appropriate... I'm guessing Trump's old boy has been firing
blanks for decades, certainly since he was 60. The question should
be raised then... where did Barron come from?    

Who inseminated Melanija?   

[Paleophyte]

I'd love to see one of them named PIDOOMA.

Very appropriate... I'm guessing Trump's old boy has been firing
blanks for decades, certainly since he was 60.  The question should
be raised then... where did Barron come from?    

Who inseminated Melanija?   

You'd think that naming the poor kid Barren would have been a giveaway.

[Rizen]

I just went in for an annual checkup so I could get a refill on my blood pressure medication but today I got a call that I need to get another checkup to get refills because last time wasn't with my primary care physician so it didn't count. Want a waste of time. I hate incompetence like this.

[SYZ]

I just went in for an annual checkup so I could get a refill on my blood pressure medication but today I got a call that I need to get another checkup to get refills because last time wasn't with my primary care physician so it didn't count. Want a waste of time. I hate incompetence like this.

Downunder, we can telephone our primary care physician
and get five repeat prescriptions emailed to our pharmacy
of choice for filling and pickup.

In Australia, medications for hypotension or hypertension are
considered treatment for a chronic disorder, and don't need
retesting for ongoing scripts.

[Dānu]

I just went in for an annual checkup so I could get a refill on my blood pressure medication but today I got a call that I need to get another checkup to get refills because last time wasn't with my primary care physician so it didn't count. Want a waste of time. I hate incompetence like this.

Downunder, we can telephone our primary care physician
and get five repeat prescriptions emailed to our pharmacy
of choice for filling and pickup.  

In Australia, medications for hypotension or hypertension are
considered treatment for a chronic disorder, and don't need
retesting for ongoing scripts.

Getting a doctor on the phone in the States is a no-go. When you need a scrit refilled, unless you see them in person, they insist on talking exclusively to the pharmacy about it.

[Fireball]

For prescribed medications, I refill at the pharmacy electronically. Some require doctor approval, but that is taken care of internally. But then it's stuff like BP and cholesterol meds, which they are happy to allow refills. They are also free, to me. Neither of these require testing. I get blood drawn quarterly for another condition, so they're up to date, anyway.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Naming our next dog FUBAR, maybe SNAFU.

Rita, PITA, and Cheetah.

[Dānu]

Naming our next dog FUBAR, maybe SNAFU.

Not shithead?