# Those things that stop your car are not BREAKS, you moron! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719 "2009-06-23T14:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/101 "2009-06-25T08:35:53Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > fnoard? > > The problem is, in a textual environment that has few extra-linguistic cues that face-to-face speech can take advantage of, spelling becomes one of those cues. There is a distinguishable difference, at least to me, between the following: > > What? > What > what > wut > > snip watt? Anyway - for all intensive purposes and without further adieu, it’s not a misspelling, but “in and of itself” can dig a big hole and bury itself. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/102 "2009-06-25T10:44:20Z")
Once, we had a guy I worked with who did a transcript on a show about famous serial killers. Each fucking time, he spelled it “cereal killers”. We had quite a laughfest that day, thinking of all of the dead and mutilated corn flakes and lucky charms around the globe. I guess Cocoa Puffs would be the toughest kills, since they’re so damn round! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/103 "2009-06-25T11:55:40Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > What did Kurtis Blow say to his son when he was teaching him how to drive? > These are the BRAKES. Wow. Kurtis Blow?! Man, you’re going real old school on us! Or in keeping with the thread “Old Skool”. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/104 "2009-06-25T12:06:25Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Sure it is. If you’re the Time-Keeper By Royal Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I and you need to inform other members of the Royal Court (or both members of the public that can read) that a particular event will take place at mid-day. 😉 > > Everyone makes spelling mistakes and typos from time to time. No-one is criticising that. But the whole breaks/brakes and lose/loose and you’re/your thing drives me mad. Having said that, I work with words so it’s rather important I know the difference between them and how/when to use them. > > And to all those people who whinge “It’s just spelling and u no wut I meen!” when called out on spelling like a 13 year old with a txt addiction: Yes, you’re right. I do know what you mean. And I have disregarded it as unimportant because you’re either not smart enough or considerate enough\* to have attempted to communicate in the proper, recognised form currently applicable to the English Language. > > \*With the obvious exemptions for people who don’t speak English as a first language and people with _genuine_ dyslexia/learning disabilities. A few years ago I became so frustrated with the lose/loose, chose/choose, “rediculous” stuff I cpmplained about it in the CoX forums. I was instantly attacked by several other posters for being a spelling nazi. Several people claimed that the people making these mistakes may have dyslexia or that english wasn’t their first language. Maybe one or 2 of them had legit reasons, but theres no way that all of them did. So I was labelled a jerk because I pretty much said what you have here…if you’re not going to bother to spell a common word correctly I’m going to assume you’re a moron or just plain lazy. Everyone makes typos. I understand that. I’ve made a lot of my own mistakes in grammar. I’ve probably made some here, now. But people spelling “ridiculous” with an “e” get under my skin for some reason. Maybe I _ **am** _ a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/105 "2009-06-25T14:23:30Z")
deleted ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/106 "2009-06-25T14:35:47Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I guess Cocoa Puffs would be the toughest kills, since they’re so damn round! 😃 Psh, you stomp 'em, obviously! > [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > But people spelling “ridiculous” with an “e” get under my skin for some reason. But what if something is \*so diculous \*that it is diculous _all over again?!_ ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/107 "2009-06-25T16:05:26Z")
Maybe “Bidiculous”? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/108 "2009-06-25T16:26:59Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Maybe “Bidiculous”? No, that’s something that’d diculous in two ways. Completely different concept. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/109 "2009-06-25T16:36:53Z")
What if its diculous three times over? Tridiculous? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/110 "2009-06-25T16:41:18Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > What if its diculous three times over? Tridiculous? Close, but it’s actually tripiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/111 "2009-06-25T16:41:51Z")
No, that’s an adjective describing a man with three penises. ETA: Tridiculous, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/112 "2009-06-25T16:42:56Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Maybe “Bidiculous”? That would be Peter O’Toole. No, wait, that’s “bidic **k** ulous”… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/113 "2009-06-25T16:43:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > No, that’s an adjective describing a man with three penises. > > ETA: Tridiculous, that is. I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of tricockulated. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/114 "2009-06-25T16:48:50Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of tricockulated. I thought that was when they put three vaccines in one shot. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/115 "2009-06-25T17:19:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I thought that was when they put three vaccines in one shot. No, that’s tri **noc** ulated. Jeeze, remind me to ask you where you went to school so that I can not send my kids there if I ever have any. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/116 "2009-06-25T18:13:38Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > (reads thread) > > Can anyone out there clarify for me whether or not “rate of speed” is redundant? It’s always driven me nuts when you have someone who is (I think) desperate to make themselves feel smarter by needlessly extending their sentences, and so they say, “I done seened that vehicle moving at a high rate of speed through the crosswalk.” > > Really? Because I’m pretty sure “speed” is dx/dt or distance/time or to put it in a way that’s right on your speed-o-meter, miles/hour. > > Speed is already a rate, right? So “high rate of speed” is completely redundant, right? > > -Joe Professional editor checking in. I would consider “high rate of speed” redundant because “high speed” is perfectly clear. IMO, you are correct, _speed_ denotes a rate. My general rule of thumb is that, frequently, prepositional phrases are superfluous and do not add clarity. “High rate of speed” sounds to me like cop-talk. Often, police types use too many words and string too many prepositional phrases together. I think they think they sound more intelligent or formal or something. For me, that verbal habit tends to set off my Bullshit Detector. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/117 "2009-06-25T18:25:15Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I would consider “high rate of speed” redundant because “high speed” is perfectly clear. IMO, you are correct, _speed_ denotes a rate. My general rule of thumb is that, frequently, prepositional phrases are superfluous and do not add clarity. In this example, “of speed” is the prepositional phrase, which would indeed add clarity to “high rate.” It could, for example, be used to distinguish a high rate \*of speed \*from a high rate _of accelleration_. So the redundancy isn’t in the inclusion of the prepositional phrase–it’s in the substitution of “rate of speed” for the simple “speed.” ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/118 "2009-06-25T18:55:18Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > In this example, “of speed” is the prepositional phrase, which would indeed add clarity to “high rate.” It could, for example, be used to distinguish a high rate \*of speed \*from a high rate _of accelleration_. So the redundancy isn’t in the inclusion of the prepositional phrase–it’s in the substitution of “rate of speed” for the simple “speed.” Actually, I don’t think we need to distinguish between a high rate of speed and a high rate of acceleration if, in fact, the distinction can be inferred from the context of the rest of the text. And that, my friends, is why editors hate each other. You’ll never get two editors to agree on what is correct, because pedantry is its own reward. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/119 "2009-06-25T19:00:28Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Actually, I don’t think we need to distinguish between a high rate of speed and a high rate of acceleration if, in fact, the distinction can be inferred from the context of the rest of the text. > > And that, my friends, is why editors hate each other. You’ll never get two editors to agree on what is correct, because pedantry is its own reward. 😃 You mean it’s own _reword_ - in the context of editors. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719/120 "2009-06-25T19:19:20Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Actually, I don’t think we need to distinguish between a high rate of speed and a high rate of acceleration if, in fact, the distinction can be inferred from the context of the rest of the text. I’ll admit, I \*was \*considering the phrase “high rate of speed” in a vacuum. Of course, while I can certainly think of many contexts where “of speed” or “of accelleration” would be redundant, without the surrounding text or conversation, how can we comment definitively? > [@](#): > > And that, my friends, is why editors hate each other. You’ll never get two editors to agree on what is correct, because pedantry is its own reward. 😃 Yeah, but at least we can discuss it like civilized people, instead of the “Well, 'cause!” of the hoi polloi. … What are your feelings on the Oxford comma? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-things-that-stop-your-car-are-not-breaks-you-moron/500719.md?page=7)