# Tiny errors that drive you insane **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557 "2016-02-29T19:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/361 "2016-03-23T15:37:49Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > One of my fiercest gripes is really bad Elizabethan/Jacobean. There was a recent Donald Duck comic book where the writers just glued “eth” on the end of any old verb (and not a few nouns!) Absolutely illiterate! > > Um… Huh? How do you figure? The standard viewpoint is exactly the opposite of this. (“Exactly” is like “unique” in that it makes no sense to modify it.) > > (Exception: is “almost” a modifier? Lots of things are “almost unique.”) Remember, you are unique. Just like everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/362 "2016-03-23T16:42:29Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (Exception: is “almost” a modifier? Lots of things are “almost unique.”) Or “rare”. Even “unusual”, perhaps “atypical”, for those for whom one syllable is never enough (see: “use” versus “utilize”). ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/363 "2016-03-23T18:06:00Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > Remember, you are unique. Just like everyone else. Actually, I’m the only person in the world who’s _not_ unique. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/364 "2016-03-23T23:57:07Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > Another data point: In arithmetic, the symbol “\<” is regarded as “less than”, so we would interpret “3 \< 4” as “three is less than four”, in a situation where we are speaking of numbers. So, it becomes natural to say, “Three apples are less than four apples.” > > I think this usage may also relate to units of measure. Would we say that a person’s height is “fewer” than six feet? (Now that I think about it, though, in this usage, we are really talking about an amount rather than a distinct quantity.) Funny, I addressed this before, but somehow I didn’t put the link. > **[Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](https://languages.oup.com/)** > > Explore Oxford Languages, the home of world-renowned language data. In those uses, we are treating “three apples” and “four apples” as total amounts, not groups of individual items. They are functioning as collective nouns. Same thing with “six feet” - we are emphasizing a single total item, not six separate feet. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/365 "2016-03-24T00:13:54Z")
> [@](#): > > In those uses, we are treating “three apples” and “four apples” as total amounts, not groups of individual items. But you can do that with anything. The express line at the store, that requires ten items or less? It’s treating ten items as a total amount. ---
**Author:** ![heckofva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ab992/32.png) [@heckofva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heckofva)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/366 "2016-03-24T06:06:15Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I know it’s not quite the same thing, but I was taught to keep the hammer down on an empty cylinder on a revolver (even though there are built-in protections against discharging from dropping the gun.) > > If I were a gun-carrying security guard with an auto at my hip, I’d carry it on an empty chamber, just because it’s how I was brought up. (Doubly so if I’d been on the job for a couple years and never once had to draw my weapon…) > > Don’t be too derisive of the force of tradition! Yes but with most revolvers as the hammer is pulled back (or double action as the the trigger) is pulled the cylinder rotates so the hammer will fall on the loaded cylinder so no extra action is required to make the gun function. with a semi you would have to rack the slide costing valuable time in a shooting save my life situation. I’m sure the concept comes from the fact that with most squibs they don’t have the power to charge the weapon, hence with the fake ammo you would have to charge the weapon to reset the trigger and feed the round. So those without knowledge assume that’s how guns work. Plus I guess it makes for “Good Hollywood” to show the racking of the slide. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/367 "2016-03-24T07:34:20Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Actually, I’m the only person in the world who’s _not_ unique. There’d have to be at least two, wouldn’t there? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/368 "2016-03-24T10:02:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’d have to be at least two, wouldn’t there? Whooosh! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/369 "2016-03-24T14:19:59Z")
I dunno, I can picture “the only one that’s not unique” as having some meaning. Imagine we have a set of five items: A large red wooden square, a small red wooden square, a large green wooden square, a large red metal square, and a large red wooden triangle. The second one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different size. The third one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different color. The fourth one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different material. And the fifth one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different shape. But the first one isn’t unique, since it has the most common version of each trait. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/370 "2016-03-24T15:37:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I dunno, I can picture “the only one that’s not unique” as having some meaning. Imagine we have a set of five items: A large red wooden square, a small red wooden square, a large green wooden square, a large red metal square, and a large red wooden triangle. The second one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different size. The third one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different color. The fourth one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different material. And the fifth one is unique, in that it’s the only one that’s a different shape. But the first one isn’t unique, since it has the most common version of each trait. Yeah, “unique” is just one of those words people like being pedantic about for whatever reason. I’m fine with degrees of uniqueness, especially since things can be unique in multiple ways. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/371 "2016-03-26T15:39:33Z")
Here’s one I saw just the other day: Referring to a particular act as “a crime punishable by prosecution”. So, if I go to court and get found guilty, I’ll have to go back to court? Similar is treating “court-martial” as a punishment, though that at least can maybe be justified by civilian ignorance of how the military works. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/372 "2016-03-26T19:26:43Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Well, for you Latin geeks, [_O Caritas_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlzRFHVs9Zo) by Yusuf Stevens is an interesting study. He pronounces “_concipitur_” as “consipitur”, which is maybe not all that odd; “_homines_” sounds a lot like “hominis”; I think “_magnus_” is supposed to be like “manyoos”, not “mag-noos”; but at the last line, “_resurgit_” completely loses any “g” sound, which to me sounds kind of wrong. Perhaps it is just down to poetic license (or licence). Well, first off there’s a straight-up grammatical error: _omnia rēs_ should be _omnēs rēs_. Omnia is neuter plural, and rēs is feminine plural. The translations provided in that video are not what I would give, but bit that bugs me is that _nunc concipitur/malī hominis crīmen_ is translated as now does the blame fall upon bad men. I’d render it more like “Now the sin of the man is understood”. But what he wants here is for ‘the man’ to actually be ‘mankind’ and I don’t recall ever seeing _homō_ ever used in the abstract sense of ‘humankind’. Someone else may recall a case, but I don’t see this usage listed in my dictionaries either. ---
**Author:** ![Lorne\_Armstrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@Lorne\_Armstrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorne_Armstrong)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/373 "2016-03-27T09:46:34Z")
In the film Stir Crazy, the two main characters are convicted of committing a federal crime yet they are sent to a state prison. Whenever somebody quotes Nixon saying “I am not a cook” when it’s “I’m not a crook.” 1970’s hairstyles on M_A_S\*H and Happy Days. People claiming that Hogan’s Heroes took place in a Nazi concentration camp when in fact it took place in a POW camp. (Huge difference.) All In The Family did not change its title to Archie Bunker’s Place. All In The Family left the air in 1979 and Archie Bunker’s Place was a spinoff. And speaking of All In The Family, Meathead was suppose to have been born and raised in Chicago yet his accent was clearly NYC. Why does Fonzie have a northeastern accent? And why if Fonzie is an auto mechanic did he never own a car during the show’s entire run? Claiming that early MTV didn’t show videos by black artists because of racism. In actuality, there were few black artists shown because they were a rock and roll station and most black musicians at that time were more R&B. Referring to mass murderers and spree killers as serial killers. “That last song was by Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/374 "2016-03-27T22:17:20Z")
> [@Lorne\_Armstrong](#): > > . . . Referring to mass murderers and spree killers as serial killers. . . . ??? Why is this wrong? They’re doing the same thing serially, i.e., once, twice, three times, four times… That’s a series, innit? I don’t get the formal distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/375 "2016-03-27T23:03:19Z")
Mass murder is killing a bunch all at once. Spree killing is running around from location to location, essentially a mass killing across multiple locales. Serial killing is taking one person and killing them. Then later, taking another person and killing them. Then later, taking another person and killing them. Mass murder and spree killing don’t really have patterns associated with their targets, they are primarily targets of opportunity. The defining characteristic of serial killers is that they do have a pattern in selecting victims, whether it’s in the victims or in the means of selecting them. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/376 "2016-03-28T01:05:02Z")
> [@Lorne\_Armstrong](#): > > Whenever somebody quotes Nixon saying “I am not a cook” when it’s “I’m not a crook.” That first showed up (TMBK) in a SNL sketch where someone was interviewing the former president (Aykroyd). > [@](#): > > Why does Fonzie have a northeastern accent? And why if Fonzie is an auto mechanic did he never own a car during the show’s entire run? Well, that is not the worst sin of that show. It supposedly takes place in Wisconsin, but you see only a light dusting of snow in two or three episodes. In that time period, there should have been at least a foot of snow on the ground in half or more of the episodes, and you should have been able to see the characters’ breath outside in two-thirds of them. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/377 "2016-03-28T03:44:42Z")
> [@Lorne\_Armstrong](#): > > Whenever somebody quotes Nixon saying “I am not a cook” when it’s “I’m not a crook.” 😕 Cook? In which situations has this come up, I have never, ever heard this, and if I have it was an obvious joke. Or did you mean “I am” vs. “I’m”? In which case, play it again, Sam. > [@](#): > > All In The Family did not change its title to Archie Bunker’s Place. All In The Family left the air in 1979 and Archie Bunker’s Place was a spinoff. Not really an error like your example, but the show “Little Rascals” was really “Our Gang,” and acquired the former title decades later in syndication. Nowadays the original title is much less known. > [@eschereal](#): > > Well, that is not the worst sin of that show. It supposedly takes place in Wisconsin, but you see only a light dusting of snow in two or three episodes. In that time period, there should have been at least a foot of snow on the ground in half or more of the episodes, and you should have been able to see the characters’ breath outside in two-thirds of them. Reno 911 is obviously filmed in Los Angeles as it never snows and palm trees are everywhere instead of sagebrush. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/378 "2016-03-28T03:54:05Z")
References to witches being burned at the stake in Salem or anywhere else in America. Can’t think of an example off-hand, but trust me: it’s more common than you might think. On other historical notes, comments about people thinking the Earth was flat 500 years ago or how 40 was old in the 19th century. Thick stock southern accents in shows about New Orleans; New Orleans has several accents of its own, none of which are of the “Ah’m sippin’ mah julep on the verander” variety and some of which sound a lot more like various parts of NYC than the surrounding southern states. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/379 "2016-03-29T04:49:48Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Actually, I’m the only person in the world who’s _not_ unique. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’d have to be at least two, wouldn’t there? There can only be one. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Benson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Commander\_Benson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Benson)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/380 "2016-05-19T16:05:25Z")
Complete this famous opening phrase . . . . _Faster than a speeding bullet; more powerful than a locomotive; \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\__ I would wager 97% of you answered: _Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!_ . . . and you’d be wrong. The bullet/locomotive/tall building triad was used in the opening narratives to the _Adventures of Superman_ radio programme, the seventeen Superman cartoons put out by Fleischer/Famous studios in the 1940’s, and the _Adventures of Superman_ television series. And the lines were identical in all three media. As reported, Superman was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and . . . . . . _able to leap tall buildings **at** a single bound!_ That’s right. Not “in”—“at”. Yet, for all of its prevalence, one almost never hears the phrase repeated accurately. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557.md?page=20)