# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/41 "2021-08-13T02:57:57Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The paved area where airplanes park is not called the “tarmac”. It’s called the “ramp” or “apron”. Tarmac is a paving material. Or, as far as I’m concerned, just call it a “parking lot”. At the airport where I’ve had a few occasions to fly (Buchanan Field in Concord, CA), people could just drive in and park their cars alongside their airplanes. Airports often have a washrack, a designated area where people can wash their airplanes. One day, returning from a flight somewhere, our pilot wanted me to help him wash his SUV. In the midst of that, the security guy came by and told us that we really aren’t supposed to be washing our cars there. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/42 "2021-08-13T03:58:19Z")
Nerdgeek time. A TV is not a monitor and a monitor is not a TV. A TV has a built in tuner, a monitor does not. Speakers may be built in on both. Edit: I used to have a Sony PVM-2530 that described what it was in the name Professional Video Monitor. The tuner and speakers were optional. Ha! I’ve also heard Presentation Video Monitor, but I’m sure Professional is the correct name. Edit: Thinking about it, the names are correct, but the common usage isn’t for the below. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) and a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent/Individual/Inexpensive Drives) are two completely different things. You can have a NAS without RAID and a RAID without a NAS. I get so tired of people saying “I have a NAS with X number of hard drives.” assuming you know they’re talking having a RAID setup in a NAS. A NAS can be any storage device accessible over a local network or over the internet. RIP in regards to Video DVD (yes, that’s the correct term for DVDs with the very specific VIdeo DVD structure) and Video Blu-Rays means extracting the video(s) exactly bit for bit as it exists on the disc except for (usually) the copy protection. You can’t RIP to anything other than an exact bit for bit copy. You also can’t RIP LPs, videotapes, or any analog source and you can’t rip streaming video or audio, you download it. Even RIPPING a CD is questionable because you have to convert the .CDA to WAV to make it playable, so it no longer is in the original format as on the disc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/43 "2021-08-13T04:35:20Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > > [@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 – Pencils.com](https://pencils.com/pages/the-unleaded-pencil) > > > 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 As long as you brought it up, that pointy thing that you use to play a record is not a needle. It’s a stylus. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/44 "2021-08-13T05:13:01Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > And the O in “opossum” is silent. If you go around calling it an oh-possum, you’re going to get some strange looks. Actually it isn’t. Exactly. [Either form is acceptable nowadays per Merriam-Webster, but the original was not silent.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/possum-vs-opossum-difference-pronunciation) I swing both ways on this one myself. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/45 "2021-08-13T06:55:47Z")
Guitar related one: the arm on some guitars that allows you to wobble the pitch is a **vibrato**. “Tremolo” is the cycling of volume, not pitch. But Leo Fender did not know this and called his vibrato a “tremolo” and that’s what people have been calling it for 60+ years, leading to much befuddlement of people who actually know what the words _tremolo_ and _vibrato_ mean. ---
**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 13, 2021, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/46 "2021-08-13T07:08:42Z")
> [@superwombat](#): > > The area separating a multi-lane highway is a median, not me **R** idian Huh. I have never heard anyone call it the meridian. Is this really a common occurance? ---
**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 13, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/47 "2021-08-13T07:09:55Z")
That’s pretty interesting. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/48 "2021-08-13T07:37:00Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Guitar related one: the arm on some guitars that allows you to wobble the pitch is a **vibrato**. > > “Tremolo” is the cycling of volume, not pitch. But Leo Fender did not know this and called his vibrato a “tremolo” and that’s what people have been calling it for 60+ years I’ve been calling it a “whammy bar” this whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/49 "2021-08-13T08:39:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’ve been calling it a “whammy bar” this whole time. That’s a perfectly valid synonym. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/50 "2021-08-13T11:11:01Z")
Seems like the newspapers call every piece of construction equipment that moves earth a ‘bulldozer’. Track Hoe, Back Hoe, Articulated Loader, doesn’t matter, it’s a Bulldozer. Drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/51 "2021-08-13T11:43:58Z")
That parcel you received the other day was not packed in a [cardboard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardboard) box. It was packed in a [corrugated fiberboard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrugated_fiberboard) box. The walls of your room are probably made of drywall. They may or may not be made of Sheetrock manufactured by the United States Gypsum Corporation. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/52 "2021-08-13T11:45:20Z")
Koalas aren’t bears, but giant pandas are. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/53 "2021-08-13T13:07:14Z")
But the Wikipedia page you linked to says that cardboard is a generic term that includes corrugated fiberboard - so cardboard isn’t incorrect, it’s just not specific. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/54 "2021-08-13T13:16:55Z")
It’s also a road, apron, or runway made with that material. > **[Definition of TARMAC](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tarmac)** > > a tarmacadam road, apron, or runway… See the full definition ---
**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, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/55 "2021-08-13T13:21:28Z")
Due to this morning’s news, I’m reminded of one that burns my toast: the use of “troops” as a generic description of US military servicemembers. There are “Airmen,” “Soldiers,” “Sailors,” “Marines,” “Guardsmen,” or “Guardians.” “Troops” is a quasi-term for Army Cavalry (who are, IIRC ‘Troopers.’) I’ll take “military members,” or “service members,” but “_Troops_” is just plain lazy and too ubiquitous nowadays. Tripler Crankypants, this AM. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/56 "2021-08-13T13:42:43Z")
The money you get back after filing your taxes is your **refund**. The paper you filled out to get it is your **tax return**. I see people every year asking online “is anyone still waiting for their tax return?” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/57 "2021-08-13T14:01:25Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > RAID (Redundant Array of Independent/Individual/Inexpensive Drives) Related: RAID does not equal backup. We’ve asked people if they have backup and they answer “Yeah, I have a RAID storage unit”. > [@Shakester](#): > > That’s a perfectly valid synonym. Wiggle stick? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/58 "2021-08-13T14:29:08Z")
Perhaps also called “the Hardstand?” Dan > [@WildaBeast](#): > > paved area where airplanes park is not called the “tarmac”. It’s called the “ramp” or “apron”. Tarmac is a paving material. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/59 "2021-08-13T14:35:28Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Wiggle stick? 🙂 Still a more accurate name than “tremolo”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466/60 "2021-08-13T14:44:53Z")
Hey, I use whatever I can get. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-but-incorrect-names-of-things/948466.md?page=4)