# Phrases or words in your field that make it obvious speaker has no idea **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530 "2005-04-15T19:11:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elmer\_MuD\_PhuD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@Elmer\_MuD\_PhuD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_MuD_PhuD)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/21 "2005-04-16T02:16:27Z")
Soon after I moved into my apartment, my roomate asked me what, exactly, I did for a living. I told her I worked in a genetics lab, and, before I could elaborate, she jumped in saying, “Oh, I remeber punnet squares from high school” with a self-satisfied shrug. I would have explained it to her, but I thought I could get a lot of comedic mileage out of her thinking I sat in the lab all day counting flies and drawing punnet squares. She also thought that fly work was sort of an entry level position, and that I would, eventually, get “promoted” to E.Coli type recombinant DNA tech, then mice, and then stem cells. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/22 "2005-04-16T03:18:24Z")
> [@TV time](#): > > Saying things like “I bet you’re looking for a scoop.” (the word scoop has not been used by newspaper people since the early 1930s). Or saying that a photographer will have to “soup” his film. (Even the smallest newspaper these days has gone digital and doesn’t use film). Actually, when I was a sports editor a few years ago, I remember getting a critical e-mail from the editor insisting that I produce more scoops. He might have been a petty tyrant, but I can’t say he was a poser. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/23 "2005-04-16T06:03:27Z")
When I was doing hardware support, I’d occasionally talk to someone who would refer to their computer’s “fixed disk”. This is how Microsoft would refer to hard drives in their documentation, but no one in the industry has ever used the term. I was never sure if I should use the term back or, in essence, correct them by using the correct term. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/24 "2005-04-16T07:13:10Z")
> [@Baraqiyal](#): > > When I was doing hardware support, I’d occasionally talk to someone who would refer to their computer’s “fixed disk”. This is how Microsoft would refer to hard drives in their documentation, but no one in the industry has ever used the term. I was never sure if I should use the term back or, in essence, correct them by using the correct term. Not true. I started working with IBM midrange systems 20 years ago, and the term was in use then, mostly by IBMers, but occasionally by others. And the guy who taught me the business had spent several years working on an IBM box (a System/3?) that had fixed disk packs and removable disk packs. I can guarantee he (and the people he worked with) used the term “fixed disk” on a regular basis. The terminology also hung on for several years in IBM CL/OCL languages even if it was the case that all hard disks were “fixed” instead of “removable”. Granted it’s not used much anymore (except occasionally by old farts like me) but it was definitely a real term, used by many people in the computer industry for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/25 "2005-04-16T07:29:52Z")
> [@TV time](#): > > Occassionally, people will try to show their knowledge of newspapering and do just the opposite. > > Saying things like “I bet you’re looking for a scoop.” (the word scoop has not been used by newspaper people since the early 1930s). Or saying that a photographer will have to “soup” his film. (Even the smallest newspaper these days has gone digital and doesn’t use film). > > Or commenting that, “I bet this will stop the presses.” (Nothing stops the presses these days). > > Having a complaint about an ad and demanding to speak to the editor to correct the problem. (Editors only have control over the news side - not the ads). > > What about in your field? What phrases give a person away as a poser. I have to disagree with almost everything you said here. Some small newspapers still use film. I worked for one. I have personally stopped a press. It was a headline that made a politician look very bad, and I called the press room and stopped the press. It happens. Editors have some control over ads. We had an advertiser who wanted to run an ad ON TOP OF copy. The editor fought it and won. Also, if someone calls after hours to complain about a mistake in an ad, often someone on the newsdesk (usually a copy editor) will fix it. But you’re right, I’ve never heard “scoop” in the news biz. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/26 "2005-04-16T08:12:38Z")
People who say \*\*tugboat \*\* instead of \*\*tug \*\* or \*\*high/low tide \*\* instead of **high/low water** ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/27 "2005-04-16T10:02:29Z")
I work for a national newspaper and know for a fact (although it was before my time there) that Princess Di’s death, for one, literally “stopped the presses”. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/28 "2005-04-16T10:06:30Z")
I spent 7 years in quality control in manufacturing and now almost any time someone throws some arbitrary statistic out, to prove a point, I accept that that person is probably lying or has no idea what they are talking about. People that cite percentages readily are usually the worst offenders. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/29 "2005-04-16T10:07:39Z")
About 75% or 80% of the time, that is. 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/30 "2005-04-16T14:12:07Z")
99.99% of all people who use the term ‘hacker’ to mean criminal have no clue what they’re talking about. One notable exception is Bruce Schneier, who damned well _does_ know what he’s talking about (on the subject of security and encryption, that is), but he’s a very, _very_ rare exception. **RJKUgly** , did any of the old farts refer to disks as DASDs (Direct-Access Storage Devices)? _There’s_ a bit of jargon you don’t hear too often these days. Anyone who thinks there’s a person named _Linux_ Torvalds should just as well stop talking and do a bit of reading instead. Same with people who think there’s such a thing as the GNU Public License. (And the people who think the GPL is viral should study copyright law.) People who refer to source code as ‘codes’ aren’t usually the most clueful, but this isn’t the _pons asinorum_ you’re probably looking for. People who call Linux ‘freeware’ are missing the point but are hopefully educable. People who state as a matter of faith that all OSes are equally secure are _terminally_ clueless and should probably simply be ignored for the good of everyone. On a slightly different tangent, don’t buy encryption software if the algorithm is ‘proprietary’ or ‘secret’. [Such software is inevitably snake oil.](http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0205.html#1) Anyone who doubts this isn’t worth listening to, at least when it comes to security. ---
**Author:** ![Shabadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Shabadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shabadu)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/31 "2005-04-16T14:40:21Z")
I work in the field of psychology. Nothing irritates me more than the ignorant use of the term schizophrenia. “The country has been schizophrenic.” “She was all schizophrenic” People generally use the term to mean someone or something with Dissociative Identity Disorder (more commonly known as multiple personality disorder). Schizophrenia and DID are not interchangable. I will generally ask people how they can tell that someone is having auditory or visual hallucinations. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/32 "2005-04-16T17:43:28Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > **RJKUgly** , did any of the old farts refer to disks as DASDs (Direct-Access Storage Devices)? _There’s_ a bit of jargon you don’t hear too often these days. Oh yeah, the IBMers use it all the time, and even the older VARs (Value Added Resellers) still sometimes call hard disk DASD (usually pronounced _dass-dee_ or _daz-dee_). And it may still appear on the IBM configuration specs for new machines as DASD as well, but I’m not sure, it’s been a while since I looked at one in detail. It seems to me it may be possible that because of new storage options (writable optical storage, solid state, etc.) that DASD could actually become a better generic term for fast access high availability storage than _disk_. Although I wouldn’t really expect to catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/33 "2005-04-16T21:33:47Z")
“Degrees Kelvin” instead of Kelvins. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/34 "2005-04-16T23:25:07Z")
“follicule” instead of follicle “squamish cell” rather than squamous cell “x-zeema” and not x-em-uh (eczema) “nevus fusoceruleus ophthalmomaxillaris” instead of nevus of Ota 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/35 "2005-04-17T00:54:42Z")
> [@Shabadu](#): > > I will generally ask people how they can tell that someone is having auditory or visual hallucinations. I’m not sure I understand this question. I know my husband suffers from occasional olfactory and auditory hallucinations when he’s in the throes of a cluster headache. How can I tell? He keeps asking me things like, “Are you making popcorn?” or “Is that the phone?” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/36 "2005-04-17T01:24:41Z")
> [@RJKUgly](#): > > It seems to me it may be possible that because of new storage options (writable optical storage, solid state, etc.) that DASD could actually become a better generic term for fast access high availability storage than _disk_. Although I wouldn’t really expect to catch on. You’re right, but I don’t think there is any new storage technology that _isn’t_ direct access these days. (Even magnetic tapes are more expensive per gig than disks.) For the abbreviation to make sense, you’d have to redefine the concept to exclude disks and only refer to solid-state storage (removable nonvolatile RAM, in other words). It would make more sense just to call it ‘removable storage’ if you want a very generic term. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/37 "2005-04-17T02:37:11Z")
Lawyer here. Mostly I get this from plaintiffs’ counsel, because mostly I represent defendants. Big, corporate defendants. Multinational, with lots of offices, lots of employees and lots of computers. “Well, we’re gonna need all the email addressing your contracts with anyone, going back three years. But just for the US offices.” When I explain what they’re asking for – and how much it will cost, and how long it will take, and how many employees we will have to reassign to do this, and couldn’t we perhaps narrow the scope of the request to, oh, I don’t know, maybe things that are relevant to the lawsuit? – I get: “oh, please. How hard can it be? I’ll take this to the judge if I have to!” Well. You’ve certainly told _me_. You’ve told me that you have no experience with large cases or e-discovery. Excellent. I foresee many early morning coffee klatches with our friendly neighborhood judge. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/38 "2005-04-17T02:47:39Z")
State of the art :wally ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/39 "2005-04-17T02:51:45Z")
“I wanna go on the internet and yet not let any other computer know I’m on!!” :wally ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530/40 "2005-04-17T02:53:48Z")
“I’m allergic to fiberglass.” I hear this one all the time. I really wonder if people think they are allergic to soda-lime glass and, if so, what do they drink out of? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-in-your-field-that-make-it-obvious-speaker-has-no-idea/299530.md?page=3)