Language usage gripes : I'm a geek, but I hate it when geeks who pride themselves on their proper use of technical terms, abuse the terms used by all other educated people.

by gubberningbody 30 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  gubberningbody

  I hate the use of the word "simplistic" when the word used should be "simple". "Simple" is good, "Simplistic" is bad. We want things to be presented in a clear, concise and "Simple" manner. We do NOT want an abbreviated, "Simplistic" explanation.

  Further...

  "Caveat" can be used as a verb, but why would you do so? It gives the air of erudition, but when you realize the person isn't even using the awkward form of its use properly you can get really annoyed.

  For example...

  "We put the vendors in this room to give them access to wireless because we'd caveated it away, or segmented it away from the rest of the network."

  NO!!!

  It has its unfortunate usage in law and was unfortunate enough to have found a "Typhoid Mary" in Alexander Haig.

  In law it may be used as a verb in the following manner:

  2. Law A formal notice filed by an interested party with a court or officer, requesting the postponement of a proceeding until the filer is heard. v.ca·ve·at·ed or ca·ve·at·ted, ca·ve·at·ing or ca·ve·at·ting, ca·ve·ats v.intr.Law To enter a caveat. v.tr.Informal To qualify with a warning or clarification: The spokesperson caveated the statement with a reminder that certain facts were still unknown. The trouble with Alexander Haig... " Haig, a former chairman of United Technologies Corp. who once lived in Farmington, loved to use nouns as verbs. He sometimes used "caveat" to mean "I'm saying this with a warning" ("I'll have to caveat my response, Senator") and "context" to mean "to place in context" ("Not in the way you contexted it, Senator").

  http://www.1728.com/buzzword.htm

  *edited to say "word", "term" should only be used when referring to technical argot. (I'm caveatting myself here.)
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  I wouldn't call "simplistic" bad, necessarily. Simplistic explanations are sometimes necessary, depending on one's audience.

  Your overall point, however, is taken.
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  gubberningbody Your erudite elucidation, is pontificatingly, stupendously, enlightening.
• 

  wobble

  Pedants of the world unite !

  I am not being sarcastic, I mean it, the best communicators are the ones who use the correct word , the best word, to express their thought.

  Sometimes even people like that choose to change a word to gain attention, but it has to be done well, not like Haig, or you end up sounding like Bush ! And then people can easily dismisunderstand you.
• 

  BurnTheShips

  GB is right.

  BTS
• 

  TD

  I respect people who are skilled with words, but have a gripe over the invention of new verb inflections "on the fly."

  Almost everyone who has had any contact with JW's has come across the word "happifying."

  In the business world, adding "able" to almost any verb regardless of whether that is an accepted form or not is another good example. I hear the word, "accommodatable" all the time now.
• 

  THE GLADIATOR

  And then people can easily dismisunderstand you.

  Very droll. A Bush-ism I believe. It behooves me to point this out.
• 

  Finally-Free

  I just about lose it when people call me and say:

  1. I'm having a problem with my Citrix.
  2. I can't log into Citrix.
  3. My Citrix Blackberry won't work.
  4. Can I get my Citrix at home?
  5. Can you change my address in Citrix?
  6. My Citrix is f*cked!

  Most of these statements are made by users who have never accessed any of our network resources using the Citrix client. When I tell them this they yell at me. I suppose they just heard others use the word "Citrix" and fell in love with it.

  As a citizen and taxpayer, it frightens me when I see the future of my province in the hands of people who are so stupid that they don't even know the proper names of the tools they've used every day for the last ten years.

  W
• 

  gubberningbody

  I wouldn't complain, but in the misuse of the word "simplistic", when really meaning "simple" gets really annoying when you have to listen to over 40 hours of lecturing by a person who uses the word once every five minutes.

  ...same thing with this other lecture series.... this guy is constantly using the word "caveat" and he uses it like it's a crescent wrench..
• 

  TD

  1. I'm having a problem with my Citrix.
  2. I can't log into Citrix.
  3. My Citrix Blackberry won't work.
  4. Can I get my Citrix at home?
  5. Can you change my address in Citrix?
  6. My Citrix is f*cked!

  PRICELESS!!