• Welcome to the new Internet Infidels Discussion Board, formerly Talk Freethought.

Habitually misused scientific terms

A couple I have heard recently that show up in politics but mean something very different to me are "calculus" (instead of 'calculation') and "optics" (instead of 'appearance'). I think it's just people trying to sound fancy and not using their more mundane sounding alternatives.
 
"Gender" is a linguistics term for a type of noun class. In the past 20 or 30 years people have begun using it as a euphemism for sex.
Why, in this day and age, do people feel the need to avoid the word sex? Back in the repressive '50s people said sex when they meant sex.
 
seyorni said:
"Gender" is a linguistics term for a type of noun class. In the past 20 or 30 years people have begun using it as a euphemism for sex.
Why, in this day and age, do people feel the need to avoid the word sex? Back in the repressive '50s people said sex when they meant sex.
Click to expand...
Actually they said sex when they meant 'copulation' or the good old Anglo-Saxon term 'fuck'.
 
seyorni said:
"Gender" is a linguistics term for a type of noun class. In the past 20 or 30 years people have begun using it as a euphemism for sex.
Why, in this day and age, do people feel the need to avoid the word sex? Back in the repressive '50s people said sex when they meant sex.
Click to expand...
Maybe because people now know there can be a difference between perceived/social sex (aka gender) and biological/birth sex?
 
How about the word science used to mean just about anything in different contexts.
 
I'm divided. It depends entirely on context. Words like theory or proof used in the context of casual discussion don't bother me at all. But used in the context of a scientific or even marginally exacting discussion (eg statistics applied to something not specifically scientific like marketing :)) does make my hackles rise. I try to be consistent whenever I can, and refer to hypotheses rather than theories when I'm referring to an untested rough idea. But even I slip up because language is a bitch sometimes, and colloquial usage wins out in the long run.

One of my pet peeves is when people in a business setting want to put together a rough framework for a process or a project so they can get preliminary approval from management... so they say they're going to put together a "straw man" :rolleyes: A little piece of my colloquial soul dies every time they do that.
 
Emily Lake said:
One of my pet peeves is when people in a business setting want to put together a rough framework for a process or a project so they can get preliminary approval from management... so they say they're going to put together a "straw man" :rolleyes: A little piece of my colloquial soul dies every time they do that.
Click to expand...

Now that's a whole nuther discussion... never heard that misuse of strawman.. but I would cringe at that one too.
people who use "Irregardless" must die! People who argue that it is a word ARE the problem.
People who say "Mute" instead of "Moot" should remain Mute.

I say "gonna" alot... drives a colegue of mine insane. I just say that I wish he was gonna do something some day too and catch up. I also say "Ain't" from time to time... my wife says I am just looking for attention... I just say it is an undocumented contraction of "Not Gonna".
 
Malintent said:
Now that's a whole nuther discussion... never heard that misuse of strawman.. but I would cringe at that one too.
people who use "Irregardless" must die! People who argue that it is a word ARE the problem.
People who say "Mute" instead of "Moot" should remain Mute.

I say "gonna" alot... drives a colegue of mine insane. I just say that I wish he was gonna do something some day too and catch up. I also say "Ain't" from time to time... my wife says I am just looking for attention... I just say it is an undocumented contraction of "Not Gonna".
Click to expand...
*giggles abound*
I give props when "irregardless", "mute", and "nuculer" are used sarcastically. I have no objection to gonna or dunno or wanna or any of those lazy contractions. Although I've always thought that ain't was a contraction of "am not". Everything else gets two variants:

You're not --> You aren't
He's not --> He isn't
I'm not --> I ain't

That's my take on it anyway.
 
A Bison is not a Buffalo.
A Pronghorn is not an antelope.
A Rocky Mountain Goat is not a goat, though, in this case, there's no other common name for it.
 
Malintent said:
Emily Lake said:
One of my pet peeves is when people in a business setting want to put together a rough framework for a process or a project so they can get preliminary approval from management... so they say they're going to put together a "straw man" :rolleyes: A little piece of my colloquial soul dies every time they do that.
Click to expand...

Now that's a whole nuther discussion... never heard that misuse of strawman.. but I would cringe at that one too.
people who use "Irregardless" must die! People who argue that it is a word ARE the problem.
Click to expand...
Irregardless if it is a word or not, I think death is a bit extreme. But I think that is a mute point.
 
Metaphor is the spice of life. If youhave a problem with using the word optics then you have a problemwith how language works, adapts, and forms new communication.

There is inertia from physics, and there is 'human inertia' like our federal govt.


A calculus is any form of analysis. Forexample Hamas is adhering to a failed political calculus.


'The Calculus' generally refers to theNewton-Leibnitz notation.


http://www.thefreedictionary.com/calculus


n. pl. cal·cu·li (-l) orcal·cu·lus·es
1. Pathology An abnormal concretion inthe body, usually formed of mineral salts and found in thegallbladder, kidney, or urinary bladder, for example.


2. Dentistry See tartar.


3. Mathematics
a. The branch of mathematics thatdeals with limits and the differentiation and integration offunctions of one or more variables.


b. A method of analysis or calculationusing a special symbolic notation.


c. The combined mathematics ofdifferential calculus and integral calculus.


4. A system or method of calculation:"[a] dazzling grasp of the nation's byzantine budget calculus"(David M. Alpern).
 
Modern science metaphors off the top ofmy head.


'a black hole', a human situation orevent hat sucks up resources.


'radioactive', a person or situationwith whom association is politically, legally, or socially damaging.


'in a nanosecond', very fast.


'fast as light', very fast.


'making it a science project', overcomplicating a situation.


'an electrifying experience'


'going ballistic'


'critical mass', when a group of peopleworking together begin to work smoothly and effectively.


'meltdown', a catastrophic humanfailure.


'rocket science', a task that requiresrelatively sophisticated and above average knowledge.
 
steve_bnk said:
Metaphor is the spice of life. If youhave a problem with using the word optics then you have a problemwith how language works, adapts, and forms new communication.
Click to expand...

I didn't say I had a problem with it per se. It's just that the word "optics" has a very specific and different meaning to me, because I hear it all the time in the context of astronomical instrumentation. The reason that I feel that the people who use it are just trying to sound fancy is that "optics" does not have a different meaning than "appearance" in the contexts in which the word is used politically. But I generally don't have a problem with scientific-based words used in a casual meaning, as long as everyone knows they're being casual.
 
Shadowy Man said:
steve_bnk said:
Metaphor is the spice of life. If youhave a problem with using the word optics then you have a problemwith how language works, adapts, and forms new communication.
Click to expand...

I didn't say I had a problem with it per se. It's just that the word "optics" has a very specific and different meaning to me, because I hear it all the time in the context of astronomical instrumentation. The reason that I feel that the people who use it are just trying to sound fancy is that "optics" does not have a different meaning than "appearance" in the contexts in which the word is used politically. But I generally don't have a problem with scientific-based words used in a casual meaning, as long as everyone knows they're being casual.
Click to expand...

We must not debase the sacred science words?

Sounds akin to the Muslim conservatives who get really pissed when some words are used casually or without an expectation of respect.

In engineering the word light is often used to refer to all of the electromagnetic spectrum.
 
A "black box" is not a flight recorder.
Black box is an engineering term for a device of specified function but irrelevant mechanism.

An anticoagulant, like coumarin or heparin, is not a "blood thinner." It does not thin the blood.
A real blood thinner would be a drug like pentoxifylline, which actually decreases blood viscosity.
 
seyorni said:
A "black box" is not a flight recorder.
Black box is an engineering term for a device of specified function but irrelevant mechanism.
Click to expand...
but flight recorder function is specified - flight recorder, and mechanism is irrelevant, therefore it's a black box.
 
barbos said:
seyorni said:
A "black box" is not a flight recorder.
Black box is an engineering term for a device of specified function but irrelevant mechanism.
Click to expand...
but flight recorder function is specified - flight recorder, and mechanism is irrelevant, therefore it's a black box.
Click to expand...
...but its color is bright red. :devil:
 
seyorni said:
A "black box" is not a flight recorder.
Black box is an engineering term for a device of specified function but irrelevant mechanism.

An anticoagulant, like coumarin or heparin, is not a "blood thinner." It does not thin the blood.
A real blood thinner would be a drug like pentoxifylline, which actually decreases blood viscosity.
Click to expand...

Times have changed.

Now we have pink, purple, and yellow boxes too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom