# Real-world examples of 'Ummm, acktually, It's X, not Y' nitpicks, and discussion about them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-world-examples-of-ummm-acktually-its-x-not-y-nitpicks-and-discussion-about-them/1019326 "2025-06-08T12:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 118
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-world-examples-of-ummm-acktually-its-x-not-y-nitpicks-and-discussion-about-them/1019326/118 "2025-06-10T19:47:31Z")
> [@Xocomil](#): > > Maybe it’s because children’s science shows of my youth drilled the fact that whales are mammals into my soft millennial skull. Absolutely- whales are mammals. But the term “fish” no longer has any precise scientific meaning, as the various "fishy-like creatures’ have been divided up into several other classes, etc. Bony Fish, jawless fish, cartilaginous fish, and so forth. > [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t insist that they’re fish but I don’t insist that they’re _not_ fish, either. It just doesn’t seem right that sharks should be included and the closer relatives to other fish, the whales, should not. The whales etc are not very closely related at all. > [@Moriarty](#): > > (In California, you can become a firefighter) Sorta, they use them to clean up hot spots, do firebreaks and such. IIRC only non violent criminals are accepted. > [@colinfred](#): > > “Ummm acktually” is well poisoning. That spelling is generally used by people making fun of pedants making corrections. Oh, and one that come sup in film, etc “it is some unknown metal!”. Nope. We know all 92 naturally occurring elements, plus many of the unstable ones. An unknown alloy? perhaps but we’d know what elements are in it. Unless it is magic or some force field like thing. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-world-examples-of-ummm-acktually-its-x-not-y-nitpicks-and-discussion-about-them/1019326)._