# Words that have a different meaning in your profession than generally **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865 "2021-02-13T23:39:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/1 "2021-02-13T23:39:27Z")
When my province started opening up again in the summer, there was one sign that kept catching my attention. It was from a local beauty salon announcing they were open and the services they were providing. The phrase that kept catching me by surpise: “Pedis are back and available!” If you’re a lawyer, who’s been involved in the criminal courts, “pedis” have a meaning that I don’t think the hair salon meant… ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/2 "2021-02-14T01:25:42Z")
Pad, or sometimes moving pad. Most people not movers by trade call them blankets or quilts. Understandable as they closely resemble a blanket or quilt, but we call them pads. Heck there are even large pieces of brown, multilayer paper we call paper pad or brown pad. Burlap pads are skins and some skins are felted(have a less abrasive cloth pad attached on one side) and some skins are straight burlap. But they are not for providing warmth and snuggles, they are for padding items to help prevent damage during moving ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/3 "2021-02-14T02:00:15Z")
Naked options. Nothing do with with clothing optional, just derivatives trading. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/4 "2021-02-14T03:55:34Z")
Detour and frolic? ---
**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:** [February 14, 2021, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/5 "2021-02-14T04:15:32Z")
With photography, there’s a lot of crossover with weaponry words like “shoot/shooter,” but most people are aware of that, I think. But it can get a little odd-sounding when you ask someone if you shot so-and-so, or saying something like “dude, hurry up, you gotta go shoot 'em!” to your second photographer. Perhaps not as well-known is using phrases like “run and gun” and “spray and pray” (which are used with weaponry, as well) to mean a type of rapid-fire on-the-go photography technique, but understandable from context. “Glass” means lenses to us. Back in the film days “dunking” meant developing your film by hand (like I might say, “I used to shoot and dunk film for a wire agency.”) “Soft” is a nicer word for “blurry” or “out of focus.” I’m sure there must be more, but that’s all that’s coming to mind. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/6 "2021-02-14T04:29:49Z")
In the Phlippines, a two-for-one sale is pitched as “Buy one, take one”. Which begs the question “If you buy one, how many do you expect to take?” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/7 "2021-02-14T04:41:34Z")
If you’re a guitarist, **capo** does not mean Tony Soprano’s boys are coming to whack you. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/8 "2021-02-14T04:48:08Z")
Until a couple of years ago, I was considered “tech support staff”. I still get spam intended for an IT help desk. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/9 "2021-02-14T05:02:58Z")
Not specifically _my_ profession, but I was reminded of reading about the “entitlement” of some land in the process of getting something built on it. I bet those builders felt entitled to get their property entitled by the city. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/10 "2021-02-14T05:23:04Z")
Back when I was a typographer, I pointed out that a particular headline looked “a little horsy.” The client responded with “A little horsy? Is that like a little doggy?” “Horsy” means too large, too bold, heavy and clumsy-looking. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/11 "2021-02-14T05:36:26Z")
I should have mentioned widows, orphans and rivers, but most people are familiar with those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/12 "2021-02-14T05:46:48Z")
On rare occasion I’ll get an employee tell me they’d like to file a grievance against their supervisor or manager. In HR terms, a grievance is a complaint filed when the employer isn’t living up to their end of the collective agreement they made with the union. We don’t have a union at my company. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/13 "2021-02-14T06:07:46Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > “pedis” have a meaning Is that a Canadian thing? In the US, I think the slang term would be “pedo” rather than pedi. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/14 "2021-02-14T06:43:17Z")
66 feet in a chain, 80 chains to a mile. 10 square chains per acre. The root word is the same, but the meaning is different. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/15 "2021-02-14T09:45:28Z")
I’ve been in the aviation business since 1984. Aircraft maintenance. With respects to the board game ‘Trivial Pursuit’, I’ve never ever EVER _EVER_ heard of the Boeing 737 referred to as ‘Fat Albert’, except in said game. Most often it’s “737’s”, “thirty sevens” or “three sevens”. With all due disrespect for the media: Nobody, but nobody but N-O-B-O-D-Y on the inside ever ever refers, or has referred to any part of the parking/taxiing part of an airport as “the tarmac”. For whatever reason, it’s the media’s go-to term. It’s almost a like “a thing” with them. I’ve seen humorous videos pointing out the same. And then there’s the media’s “reverse thrusters” trope. No doubt space/science fiction fed. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/16 "2021-02-14T12:38:23Z")
As soon as I say “I work at a university”, I get questions like “Do you have tenure?” or “Where did you get your doctorate?” - before I tell them that I worked behind the scenes in the IT department. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/17 "2021-02-14T13:40:18Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > With all due disrespect for the media: Nobody, but nobody but N-O-B-O-D-Y on the inside ever ever refers, or has referred to any part of the parking/taxiing part of an airport as “the tarmac”. What do you call it? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/18 "2021-02-14T13:55:10Z")
While bird-watching is a hobby (called “birding” by those who actually do it), it is a profession for guides (which I have sometimes been). There are a lot of slang terms that would be incomprehensible to an outsider. bins = binoculars crippling view = a perfect view of a sought-after bird at close range, so great that you are doubled over with emotion dip = to not see a rare bird that others have seen jizz = the combination of all the characteristics of a bird, including shape, size, color, behavior, and calls, that allow it to be identified; gestalt lifer = a species that you have never seen before, that you can add to your “life list” of all the species you have seen in your life. lister = someone who keeps a life list, country list, year list, etc. LBJ = Little brown job. A small, brown, non-descript species that is difficult to identify tick = a new species for your list. twitcher = a fanatical lister who “twitches” when they see a sought for bird scope = to scan for birds using a spotting scope stringer = a birder who regularly misidentifies and reports common birds as rare ones ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/19 "2021-02-14T16:49:34Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > jizz = the combination of all the characteristics of a bird, including shape, size, color, behavior, and calls, that allow it to be identified; gestalt That just seems… ill-advised. Can anyone say this with a straight face? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865/20 "2021-02-14T16:50:20Z")
Birders use it all the time without a second thought. [It was apparently used as early as 1922.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizz_(birding)) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-a-different-meaning-in-your-profession-than-generally/932865.md?page=2)