Sometimes I feel like I’m constantly hearing little mistakes that are very common but if I correct people I feel like a jerk. Like if someone uses less instead of fewer, or if they think that soldier is a blanket term for all uniformed military members. It drives my little brain mad but nobody else seems to care about accuracy.
Personally I love it when I get corrected on something, it gives me a chance to learn as well as to look up and verify the correction.
saying buffalo when it is a bison
“Your other left!”
In that case, you are going to love me for correcting you. None of the definitions of “soldier” strictly limit the use to a particular branch of the armed forces:
1.a person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military service.
2.an enlisted man or woman, as distinguished from a commissioned officer:
3.a person of military skill or experience:
4.a person who contends or serves in any cause:
“Onward, Christian men and women serving in the armed forces” doesn’t have much of a ring to it.
Turtle when it’s a tortoise and vice versa. Different animals and only a turtle can survive underwater for long.
There was an absolutely charming example of this in an old Green Arrow comic book. GA is in South Africa, out on the veldt, looking at the Cape Buffalo…and the artist drew American Bison.
The subsequent letters column was utterly glorious.
Rectangle taillight e10s are as cool as round taillight e10s. Sorry, no.
Saying DEFCON-5 when they mean DEFCON-1.
“Seagull” is a misnomer. There are about 60 species of Gulls in the world, none are named “Seagull”. Although most gulls have an association with the seashore, they are found in nearly all inland locations, including 12 species that occur in Mongolia. They will not fly out of sight of land, and most small remote islands have not been populated by gulls.
Perhaps I should clarify, if a person says that they are a soldier they always mean they were in the Army rather than another branch of service.
So what? It’s a common name, not a scientific description. An Angelfish is not supernatural; A Bluebottle Fly is not made of glass; A Clownfish is not funny.
This one has gone full circle…
‘Da Vinci’ was in fact Leonardo Da Vinci’s surname. We proved it right here on the SDMB.
I am annoyed by the much bigger things so many people get wrong, don’t care about, or seem to be completely unaware of. It is those things that will likely cause more trouble for us.
Not these days, for sure.
mmm
This.
That’s not because others were not soldiers. It is because the other branches indoctrinated their recruits to call themselves something else, airmen or marines or sailors or whatever. They’re still soldiers, but refuse to admit it, because of some phony pride thing going on. It’s like a rock saying I’m not a rock, I’m a statue.
We learn little facts in school are modern inventions, e.g.:
This is not a generally accepted scientific distinction, and certainly not taxonomic. So it comes down to actual use. Turtle is the general term in American English (and also by at least some American herpetologists). Tortoise is used in Australia for native freshwater turtles. Neither is wrong.
Jibe: to be in accord or consistent with something.
Jive: to dance, talk, or mislead.
hypocritically, the confusion betwixt the two seemingly came from the British bastardizing American English.
People should care about accuracy only when it matters to them. I don’t care so much about my typos and malapropisms when I’m typing away on internet fora. But I do put extra care to keep them out in work-related reports and presentations
Saying ‘squash’ when ‘quash’ is meant.
My wife, who is one of the most well-read people I know, and who has an MBA, steadfastly says ‘wreck’ instead of ‘wreak’, even though she knows the correct spelling and usage. I’ve tried to quash it.