What 'Tech Terms' make you cringe?

[Kojack]

For example, "Put a shrimp on the Barbie." In my mind, I see a Barbie doll getting humped by a craven aquatic shrimp.

Great, now I've got that image stuck in my mind.

Putting a shrimp on the barbie isn't something australians say. It's from a tourism commercial for americans. We tend to say prawns, and don't go around talking about barbecuing them, the word shrimp was chosen so americans wouldn't get confused. For most australians, the only place they would have heard this saying is from foreigners. http://www.atme.org/pubs/archives/77_1898_11926.cfm

Also, Paul Hogan (the guy in the ad who said the line) is kind of the australian equivalent of someone like Jeff Foxworthy. He's a comedian (well, was at the time) who does an exaggerated redneck-ish stereotype. Unfortunately he became our mascot, until the world discovered Steve Irwin, who makes me cringe more than any tech term.

Anyway... tech terms...

[Shockeye]

until the world discovered Steve Irwin, who makes me cringe more than any tech term.

Agreed.

[mkultra333]

"Jumbo Prawn" just doesn't work the way "Jumbo Shrimp" does. If you want to use the word "prawn" in a sentence, try "Don't come the raw prawn with me, Bruce" (or "Sheila" if it's a woman.")

I had a pet kangaroo when I was a child. Really. Two, in fact. The first died after eating poison weeds, the second was given to a wild life park after the impracticalities of keeping a kangaroo in the backyard of a normal suburban house became too obvious to ignore. Sometimes my parents just don't think things through.

There is only one tech term that annoys me: It starts with "i" and ends with "Pad" and means "something in-between a book and a computer that doesn't really work properly as either."

[reptor]

You still don't get it, do you ?

YOU don't get it!


Dear jacmoe, I understand what you are saying

However, I certainly do think I have valid reasons to criticise it. For example the use of "robbed" in the English media.

Light-hearted articles, which are more intended as jokes, in those, fine. Say what you want. But if you report a sport event, results, and so on, do not use the word "robbed" unless clearly there was some wrong-doing going on. I just see the word used in contexts I think are totally inappropriate. The use of the word gives the article a tone which is unwelcome as far as I am concerned. I do think it is fine to point it out that they could say such things better.

I do in general demand better quality from reporters, or, journalists. I see especially in sports reporting so badly written articles that it makes me think the people writing them are incompetent and should be writing a personal blog instead of writing for a newspaper.

When I read Finnish newspapers it is much less of a problem compared to when I read for example British newspapers. Yes, there is a difference. We do have our 'rags' too, but they are quite mild compared to some tabloids in the UK. There is a difference and I think I can point it out and not be shot for it The use of overly negative (or positive) expressions is one common theme in this. They are EXAGGERATING so much that it takes credibility away from them. I would call that an actual problem and not "just a cultural difference". What makes it much, much worse is that some people actually take their word for it. Which is why I said it feeds the hysteria around the subject, which I consider very unwelcome.

[MrD]

They are EXAGGERATING so much that it takes credibility away from them. I would call that an actual problem and not "just a cultural difference". What makes it much, much worse is that some people actually take their word for it. Which is why I said it feeds the hysteria around the subject, which I consider very unwelcome.

I do believe you are reading the Sun, for someone as seemingly anal as yourself, I would suggest the Times.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence in the UK is well aware that most of the stuff said in our newspapers is over sensationalised bollocks, and we accept that since we would like to think that instead of accepting shovelled news we can actually engage our brains and work out the truth for ourselves... actually, given the general population of the UK, maybe I am being a little too optimistic. Regardless, it's nowhere near as bad as the US news reporting, they seem to take to outright scaremongering.

[_tommo_]

Wow if "robbed" for you is exaggerate shouting, you should watch some italian News

There, the most "sober" tv news program uses those metaphors as a standard, in fact watching BBC i noticed how today our news language has become a bunch of synonyms, they never say anything as one would say when talking normally.
imho they over-exaggerate things to sway the unconscious opinion of the viewer towards one side, or to mask unwanted news for the government, or for outright propaganda (on the private networks).
This bias between what you know and what you feel is just too useful to influence opinions.

So i think that reptor is right about being "anal" at this, you could as well end like us

[EricB]

Being called a "Techie" has always made me want to punch the person in their face then stand there and kick them till they stopped breathing "computer guru" is another annoying one.

Some of the stuff above annoys me as well... i prefix, web 2.0, cell phone culture in general (hell i don't own a cell or even a landline!!!)

[xavier]

Regardless, it's nowhere near as bad as the US news reporting, they seem to take to outright scaremongering.

It's almost like the latest drinking game: every time the 11 o'clock news tells you of some new thing you didn't know about before, that is sure to kill you in the next ten days....you take a drink.

"Your drinking water could make you sterile! And why you should avoid breathing the air! The shocking truth at 11!"

They have to compete, like every other form of media, with the Internet, where more and more people get their news...and the one true adage in news (reporting/broadcasting) is "if it bleeds, it leads"; overhyped BS is simply another form of that.

I can't recall the last time I watched a local or network newscast -- although I do listen to whatever AM radio station in the market is the most "news-based" (I really miss KCBS in the Bay Area).

Back on topic -- it's not a tech term but I wanted to get this one off my chest -- co-workers who say "anyhoo" instead of "anyhow". It's limited almost exclusively to corporate environments in my experience, and drives me up a goddamn wall every time I hear it...

[reptor]

They are EXAGGERATING so much that it takes credibility away from them. I would call that an actual problem and not "just a cultural difference". What makes it much, much worse is that some people actually take their word for it. Which is why I said it feeds the hysteria around the subject, which I consider very unwelcome.

I do believe you are reading the Sun, for someone as seemingly anal as yourself, I would suggest the Times.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence in the UK is well aware that most of the stuff said in our newspapers is over sensationalised bollocks, and we accept that since we would like to think that instead of accepting shovelled news we can actually engage our brains and work out the truth for ourselves... actually, given the general population of the UK, maybe I am being a little too optimistic. Regardless, it's nowhere near as bad as the US news reporting, they seem to take to outright scaremongering.

Hey, the problem is exactly that, some people take their word for it. That's the problem. I can ignore their bullshit just fine. But some people can't.

You mentioned the USA. An example of "people take their word for it" is the scaremongering related to the "healthcare bill" recently debated in the USA. Some people in the media (I think Sarah Palin, for example, at least hinted to that effect) actually encouraged violence to oppose the bill. Then some nut cases actually take their word for it and start threatening people. There is certainly a connection. The media IS responsible and they should be held responsible. Who will hold them responsible if not us? What if that nut case in San Francisco had actually killed Nancy Pelosi? Yeah... the crazy guy had seen some news and then started making threats to the politician. There are people out there who take the exaggerations done by the media seriously. That's what I am worrying about. I trust myself to see the bullshit for what it is, but can I trust other people? Apparently not. Which is why I need to do something to get the media to behave more responsibly.

I do think the media reduce their own credibility by exaggerating about things like they often do. Unfortunately some people choose to go with that for whatever reason, be it that they are simply insane, or that they are so partisan that even though they know it's not true they will still be beating the drums about it and trying to get more people join them.

To take this to the extreme, guess what happened in Germany in the 1930's... some people "just accepted it". Some people just decided it's better to shut up. That's an extreme example of what happens when you quietly accept what is being said by those who control the media. As far as I can tell there were a lot of people in Germany who did not accept Hitler's ideologies at all but they decided to keep quiet about it. They sort of "accepted" it by not doing anything to stop it. Maybe for personal gain, maybe out of fear of revenge if they speak out. Any ways, they could have stopped it had they acted early on, but they didn't. This is why we don't just accept it - we tell them what we think of their garbage which they try to make look like it's the truth.

[jacmoe]

Let's not turn this into politics...

[MrD]

To take this to the extreme, guess what happened in Germany in the 1930's... some people "just accepted it". Some people just decided it's better to shut up. That's an extreme example of what happens when you quietly accept what is being said by those who control the media. As far as I can tell there were a lot of people in Germany who did not accept Hitler's ideologies at all but they decided to keep quiet about it. They sort of "accepted" it by not doing anything to stop it. Maybe for personal gain, maybe out of fear of revenge if they speak out. Any ways, they could have stopped it had they acted early on, but they didn't. This is why we don't just accept it - we tell them what we think of their garbage which they try to make look like it's the truth.

Godwin's law initiated. Debate over.

[jacmoe]

No politics. Please?

[MrD]

No politics. Please?

I was just stating that Godwin's Law had been initiated, therefore the debate on politics was over, dead, finished, done, finito, no more, kicked the bucket, snuffed it... *ahem* ... yeah, no more politics.

[jacmoe]

=)

[Pyritie]

anything involving "cyber" as a prefix

[EricB]

"savvy"


/me stabs something.


I actually like the word cyber

[Kojack]

"Mouses" instead of mice.


I did like the term hamster for a cordless mouse, but it never caught on.

[xavier]

No politics. Please?

I was just stating that Godwin's Law had been initiated, therefore the debate on politics was over, dead, finished, done, finito, no more, kicked the bucket, snuffed it... *ahem* ... yeah, no more politics.

Actually, that's not what Godwin's law states. It states simply, "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin/

My fav: "In cyberspace, *everyone* can hear you scream." Partly because the term "cyberspace" makes me scream...

[jacmoe]

"I would kill to get that." No you wouldn't.

"I am going to rip your head off." Really? No you wouldn't.

Read some Douglas Adams.
Highly recommended.
Start with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and work your way up.

Well, I truly hate the non-word 'webinar' - I mean: it sounds utterly ridiculous

[xavier]

Start with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and work your way up.

Bollocks -- start in chrono order, beginning with the "trilogy" :p

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
Life, The Universe, And Everything
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
Mostly Harmless

And *then*

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Long Dark Teatime Of The Soul


And then if you haven't had enough, I *highly* recommend "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett -- very much the same sense of humour.

BTW, whatever you do...do *NOT* watch the HHGTG movie -- it's the most wretched POS I've ever seen. I had to stop watching it 30 min in (and it was agony getting that far) and I have no desire ever to watch the rest of it...

[Kojack]

You forgot Last Chance To See, great Adams book.

I still use words from The Deeper Meaning Of Liff in general conversation. My favourites are cromartie (the congealed crap around the top of a tomato sauce bottle) and cabnicreep (when closing one cabinet door makes another one open).
Not that I talk about sauce and cabinets much.

As a fan of the tv series, radio series, books and text adventure game, I've avoided the movie. Just the trailer was bad enough. Why was everything made of spheres? It's like Space Balls, but not awesome.

[Fulmens]

Not that a lot of tech terms makes me cringe (even if webinar sounds ridiculous), but people using them when they clearly don't understand what's involveld awake the murderer deep inside of me, because they have a part in draining the substance of these words (a little like using insults in every sentence to a point where they're not offending anymore).
Web 2.0, cloud ? Not that I started to hate these terms by themselves, but rather the people who sprinkles them everywhere like salt on a bad dish. C'mon, say it once again in front of me without knowing what it means and I'll rip you apart for this stupid-fake-enthusiasm-using-a-term-thinking-it-makes-you-cool .

[Scoridd]

TWAIN drivers for scanners.

(Technology Without An Interesting Name )

Ah no, I like TWAIN dwivers. Just because they sound like a two year old trying to say 'train drivers'.

[xavier]

I prefer this definition of Twain:

[syd]

there's one term that I really hate to hear, it is:

Web 2.0