# Common but incorrect names of things **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466 "2021-08-11T18:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/21 "2021-08-12T17:32:52Z")
Yes, well, my dictionary also defines bullets as such a projectile [as described for definition a.] in a metal casing; cartridges. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/22 "2021-08-12T17:37:10Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Lead has never been used as the writing material in pencils but the term arose from an ancient Roman writing implement\*. > **[The Unleaded Pencil](https://pencils.com/pages/the-unleaded-pencil)** > > Here’s a myth buster: There is no lead in pencils. Rather, the core is made up of a non-toxic mineral called graphite. The common name “pencil lead” is due to an historic association with the stylus made of lead in ancient Roman times. If you’re... > There is no lead in pencils. Rather, the core is made up of a non-toxic mineral called graphite. The common name “pencil lead” is due to an historic association with the **stylus made of lead** in ancient Roman times. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/23 "2021-08-12T17:57:54Z")
U.S.A. reference here- a coin worth one hundredth of a dollar is not a penny. It is a cent. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/24 "2021-08-12T18:00:59Z")
That North American marsupial that often ends up as roadkill. Thats ‘opossum.’ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/25 "2021-08-12T18:05:36Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > a coin worth one hundredth of a dollar is not a penny Perhaps you should inform the [U.S. Mint](https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/penny). ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/26 "2021-08-12T18:14:00Z")
You spelled “armadillo” wrong. 🙂 And the O in “opossum” is silent. If you go around calling it an oh-possum, you’re going to get some strange looks. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/27 "2021-08-12T18:17:03Z")
> [@the\_bing](#): > > The small electronic device used to change the TV channel without rising from a seated position? > It’s called a “remote control” (“remote” for short is acceptable). > > It is not a “clicker”. > Or a “doofer”. > Or a “dooberry” (sp?) > [@Didi44](#): > > The correct name is: “Where is that damn THING!” Several of my relatives refer to it as “the God-Stick”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/28 "2021-08-12T18:26:54Z")
Last I checked, armadillos aren’t marsupials. In the North East at least we have groundhogs to fill the smallish road kill niche. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/29 "2021-08-12T18:40:24Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > **Tin** foil and **tin** cans are usually made of _aluminum_ these days. Cans were never made of tin, which is too soft for the purpose. They were tin-coated steel. However, tin foil was indeed made of tin. A paradigm is simply a model, but nobody ever uses it simply. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/30 "2021-08-12T18:54:25Z")
It’s used properly a lot, but in a Catholic church, a lot of people will call the whole sanctuary “the altar.” The sanctuary is the whole sort of “stage” part. The altar is just the table. Nobody ever stands on the altar. Almost everything that takes place “at the altar” other than the Eucharist actually takes place elsewhere in the sanctuary. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/31 "2021-08-12T19:21:28Z")
Yeah, well groundhogs aren’t marsupials either. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/32 "2021-08-12T19:56:43Z")
But those aren’t incorrect names. Those are just slang/colloquial terms for a remote. The example in the OP, podium vs lectern, is clearly using the “wrong” name for the object (though it may be in common enough usage now that it’s the right name.) An esoteric example would be the coffee pot you cook Turkish coffee in. In English-speaking countries, it’s mostly called an _ibrik_. It is actually, if you’re going by the Turkish, a _cezve_, since in Turkish an _ibrik_ is a type of spouted ewer. Similar-ish idea, but different type of pot that is not placed over a fire to brew up Turkish coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/33 "2021-08-12T20:23:21Z")
Well, again, my dictionary (_American Heritage_) contains the following entry (IPA omitted): > **po di um** > _n._ _pl._ **po di ums** or **po di a** > **1.** An elevated platform, as for an orchestra conductor or public speaker. > **2.** A stand for holding the notes of a public speaker; a lectern. ETA: My post #16 wasn’t replying to **Telemark** / **Didi44** about the remote, but to the general topic. Nevertheless, again my dictionary, > **click er** > _n_. > One that clicks, as: > **a.** A remote control, as for a television or DVD player. > […] I think you will find most if not all common misnomers or even slang are represented in the dictionary. This particular entry is not marked as slang though. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/34 "2021-08-12T20:28:07Z")
Yeah, that makes sense. By now, the popular usage has standardized it, hence my parenthetical. (And I’m going to guess that podium to mean lectern probably goes a ways back. Let me see if etymonline has anything to say about this. Hmm…it doesn’t, which means it’s probably a more recent shifting of the word.) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/35 "2021-08-12T20:40:17Z")
The paved area where airplanes park is not called the “tarmac”. It’s called the “ramp” or “apron”. Tarmac is a paving material. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/36 "2021-08-12T21:56:59Z")
And when 99% of people use the term “direct flight”, what they really mean is “_non-stop_ flight”. Direct flights can have stops; all it means is that the airline uses the same flight number from A to B to C. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/37 "2021-08-13T00:12:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Perhaps you should inform the [U.S. Mint](https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/penny). [He’s right.](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/5112) And (I knew this before looking up the cite) the “nickel” is properly called an 5-cent piece. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/38 "2021-08-13T00:22:50Z")
But that doesn’t mean “penny” and “nickel” are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/39 "2021-08-13T00:48:56Z")
From my world: **Rockets** and **missiles** are not the same thing. “Missiles” are rockets with a guidance package or capability. “Rockets” are unguided (but may be aimed). **Motors** and **engines** are different too: “motors” are solid fuel where as “engines” mix fuel and an oxidizer for propulsion. Those pointy things that sit on submarine-carried missiles? Those are **warheads** not **bombs**. Bombs are slung underneath/within airplanes and are dropped. Warheads go for niftier rides. Tripler I’m kinda tied to the jargon. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/40 "2021-08-13T02:07:10Z")
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