# Spectacularly lame rant: Don't say "VIDEO" when you mean "VHS"! DVD IS VIDEO TOO **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031 "2002-11-16T15:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/1 "2002-11-16T15:54:15Z")
Pathetic, I know, but this drives me bugfuck for some reason. When they advertise a movie coming out on DVD/VHS, they always say “now on DVD and Video!” DVD is a goddamn VIDEO format too!!! I know it’s because for years they would just say “now on Video” and it meant VHS, but still, they should say “Now on DVD and VHS”!!! ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/2 "2002-11-16T16:09:29Z")
No damnit! I refuse to change my “video = VHS” rubric just because some new-fangled technology comes along to tear to shreads what little remnants remain of the past! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/3 "2002-11-16T16:49:16Z")
I always just assumed that “Now on video” was short for “Now on videotape.” I guess I’m part of the problem. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/4 "2002-11-16T20:22:55Z")
> [@](#): > > **Originally posted by KneadToKnow:** > I always just assumed that “Now on video” was short for “Now on videotape.” Maybe, but how will we determine whether it’s VHS or Betamax? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/5 "2002-11-16T20:34:37Z")
But it’s DVD!!! The magical format of DEE VEE DEE!!! It’s BETTER than mere VIDEO!!! A THOUSAND times better!!! Why, with DEE VEE DEE, you can see the picture with enough clarity to count the number of hairs on Tom Cruise’s nipple!!! DEE VEE DEE will cure cancer, aids, herpes, diarrhea, and calm your inflamed hemorrhoids!! But wait, there’s MORE… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/6 "2002-11-16T21:00:58Z")
> [@](#): > > But wait, there’s MORE… You mean there’s a special features disc too!? ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/7 "2002-11-16T21:15:08Z")
i’ll just hide in the corner, i call cd’s “albums” (and i always will) unclviny ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/8 "2002-11-16T21:38:29Z")
> [@](#): > > DEE VEE DEE will cure cancer, aids, herpes, diarrhea, and calm your inflamed hemorrhoids!! But will it de-VD me? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/9 "2002-11-16T21:46:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\* > But will it de-VD me? \*\* Yes, but you have to buy the “special edition”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/10 "2002-11-16T22:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > **you can see the picture with enough clarity to count the number of hairs on Tom Cruise’s nipple!!!** …6. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/11 "2002-11-16T22:40:27Z")
> [@](#): > > When they advertise […] they always say “now on DVD and Video!” They do? I’ve never heard that. Is it just an American thing? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/12 "2002-11-17T06:55:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*Pathetic, I know, but this drives me bugfuck for some reason. When they advertise a movie coming out on DVD/VHS, they always say “now on DVD and Video!” DVD is a goddamn VIDEO format too!!! > > I know it’s because for years they would just say “now on Video” and it meant VHS, but still, they should say “Now on DVD and VHS”!!! \*\* Holy cannoli. Is your real name Sean? Friend said the same thing, almost word for word, a few days ago. Hey, why aren’t you here? We were supposed to watch **South Park** , remember? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/13 "2002-11-17T09:20:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*Hey, why aren’t you here? We were supposed to watch **South Park** , remember? 😉 \*\* Doy you have it on DVD, or video? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/14 "2002-11-17T10:18:31Z")
DVD! I recorded it and burned it onto a disk, with Mr. Rilch’s and my new DVD recorder! ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/15 "2002-11-17T11:45:50Z")
If you’re going to get all nitpicky about DVD’s being video too, please keep in mind that video disks are actually a BINARY (1:0) rather than a DIGITAL technology. Binary-Video-Disk. The correct abbreviation is BVD, as in: “I’ve scratched my BVDs, and now they won’t play.” ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/16 "2002-11-17T11:48:04Z")
And why do people talk as though CDs aren’t records? CDs are a goddamn audio RECORDing format too!!! ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/17 "2002-11-17T12:02:51Z")
Call the President! The word “video” now refers chiefly to VHS tapes! Blockbuster is going to change us into a nation of gibbering monkeys incapable of speech! Dial 9-1-1! “PC” now refers chiefly to Windows based computers, even though an iMac is a personal computer! It’s fucking crazy talk! Oh god! We park on driveways and drive on parkways! I can’t live like this! Oh shit! Nice used to mean accurate! How will we cope? Holy Mary mother of god! Teenagers sometimes end declarative sentences with rising tones as if asking a question! It’s the Tower of Babel all over! Oh fuck! That gas station sign used an apostrophe incorrectly! I’m going to crash into a tree because my brain is so confused! PECAN PIE’S? BUT WHAT BELONGS TO THE PECAN PIE I MUST KNOW!?!?! Sweet prickly heckfire! Those freaks on TV use “like” instead of “said” when recounting conversations they had! Revive Elvis and have him shoot my television because I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY! Crap in a pink basket, the meanings of words are not forever carved in stone, and sometimes actually _change meaning_ during my lifetime? Get away with you Communist scum! Everybody knows only Shakespeare can change the meaning of words! What? Language change is inevitable and natural and English is not actually continuously decaying into odious word slime? Get me a paper bag to breathe in and make sure it covers my eyes and ears because I cannot accept these basic facts of life! -fh ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/18 "2002-11-17T12:43:12Z")
**hazel-rah** , if I took your post at face value, I would day you are aptly named. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/19 "2002-11-17T13:44:36Z")
> [@](#): > > i’ll just hide in the corner, i call cd’s “albums” (and i always will) That’s OK. They are albums. Album refers to the nature of the content (i.e length) rather than the format the recording exists on. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031/20 "2002-11-17T16:47:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hazel-rah \* > \*\*Call the President! The word “video” now refers chiefly to VHS tapes! Blockbuster is going to change us into a nation of gibbering monkeys incapable of speech! > > Dial 9-1-1! “PC” now refers chiefly to Windows based computers, even though an iMac is a personal computer! It’s fucking crazy talk! > > Oh god! We park on driveways and drive on parkways! I can’t live like this! > > Oh shit! Nice used to mean accurate! How will we cope? > > Holy Mary mother of god! Teenagers sometimes end declarative sentences with rising tones as if asking a question! It’s the Tower of Babel all over! > > Oh fuck! That gas station sign used an apostrophe incorrectly! I’m going to crash into a tree because my brain is so confused! PECAN PIE’S? BUT WHAT BELONGS TO THE PECAN PIE I MUST KNOW!?!?! > > Sweet prickly heckfire! Those freaks on TV use “like” instead of “said” when recounting conversations they had! Revive Elvis and have him shoot my television because I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY! > > Crap in a pink basket, the meanings of words are not forever carved in stone, and sometimes actually _change meaning_ during my lifetime? Get away with you Communist scum! Everybody knows only Shakespeare can change the meaning of words! > > What? Language change is inevitable and natural and English is not actually continuously decaying into odious word slime? Get me a paper bag to breathe in and make sure it covers my eyes and ears because I cannot accept these basic facts of life! > > -fh \*\* Funniest. Post. Ever. Thanks for the giggle, **hazel-rah**. And this coming from a self-proclaimed English nerd. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spectacularly-lame-rant-dont-say-video-when-you-mean-vhs-dvd-is-video-too/137031.md?page=2)