Technical misnomers, ambiguous or plain incorrect terms in general usage. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 01:01:14 pm
content: Do you have any pet peeve technology-related terms you hear or read often that make you cringe? Here's few of mine:Mechanical keyboard(when referring to a computer input peripheral). Mechanical vs. electrictypewriter- now, that's something I get. In the former, the mechanical force of the typist hitting a key is translated to the motion of the hammer by purely mechanical means while in the latter there is always some kind of electric actuator involved. But for computer keyboards? Come on, how is a rubber membrane providing some "springiness", resistance and returning force for the key being pressed any less "mechanical" than, say, a metal spring? Both kinds of keyboards involve a microcontroller scanning an array of electrical switches and translating key presses into digital codes. While I understand what the actual difference between "mechanical" and "non-mechanical" computer keyboards is, the classification itself doesn't make any kind of sense to me.Brushless DC motor.How exactly is a synchronous motor "DC" if it needs an ESC/driver/VFD/whatchagonnacallit to do anything other than being stuck in one position and heating up? Like, you know, actual spinning? Should I call all speakers "DC speakers" now as it's enough to hook them to a one-chip amplifier solution to make them sound?Digital copywhen referring to an asset (music file, game) provided over the network, not involving a physical media. Clunky as it is, I could kinda sorta almost accept the term as long as it means "digital vs. physical" even though it's messy and inaccurate. The problem is, people got (quite understandably so) confused to the point of now calling Blu-Ray discsanalogNot once have I seen a guy posting on a forum that he's got an "analog copy" of the game and by that he means he's got a frickin' Blu-Ray copy of a game.EDIT:yes, I understand that the actual signal as being picked up by the BD drive laser detector is analog in nature and requires further conditioning/interpretation to be considered digital but I think that's beside the point here.Mixing "inputs" with "outputs", "receivers" with "transmitters" and generally not giving a flying F about the difference. I'm not talking about general, non-tech-savvy users here (that I can understand and I'm not blaming them) but people who should know better, like tech salespeople or web tech reviewers. I think that, to some people, everything you stick a plug into automatically, by physical reference, becomes an input.Feel free to pile up yours or argue mine. I hope the thread fits the theme of the forum enough for it not to be moderated-out. No audiofoolery bullshit terms please as I feel that's a whole different can of worms and had been done here to death already.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 01:11:39 pm
content: Ah, yes,"digital marketing", all it means is putting product information on some stupid web site.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 01:22:01 pm
content: When something happens "organically"...

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 01:23:49 pm
content: Not so much technical words, but definitely related.http://www.weaselwords.com.au/home/index.php/more/

author: mathsquid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 08:46:18 pm
content: Quote from: Zbig on May 27, 2018, 01:01:14 pmAnd the closely related mixing ofuploadanddownload. I get that it can be subtle when both devices are sitting next to each other and one person is operating both, but it still hits me funny when someone uses what I consider the wrong word.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 09:14:19 pm
content: It seems like almost everyone who don't know cryptocurrency think altcoins and Bitcoin are the same thing. Several times, I have been asked how I mine Bitcoin with smartphones and I have to reply first explaining the difference between altcoins and Bitcoin."Sensorless" motor drives often have voltage and current sensing.Gasoline is referred to as "gas" when it's a liquid.DMA used to be defined as a peripheral accessing RAM without going through the CPU, but when basically all modern computers have the RAM directly attached to the CPU, it is now redefined as a peripheral accessing RAM without going through the CPU *cores*.The process of recording video is referred to as "filming" when actual film is rarely used for that purpose anymore. Same goes for "hanging up" a cell phone, "burning" an EEPROM, "taping out" a PCB or chip, etc....

author: oPossum
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 09:56:45 pm
content: DB-9. DB-15, DB-37 (should be DE-9, DA-15, DC-37)RJ11, RJ12, RJ45 (when not referring to the telco standard)Calling an outlet a plug.

author: rob.manderson
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 10:17:04 pm
content: Sometimes my step-daughter would say she was going to 'download the internet'. I'd always respond with 'what? All of it?'. It took her months to realise what I was getting at!

author: glarsson
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 10:28:55 pm
content: The meaning of the word "calibration".

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 11:13:33 pm
content: When I was a kid in the 60s, people used to carry around and listen to a “transistor”.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 12:29:09 am
content: "chemical" when used like this:"Don't buy that, it's full of chemicals."Of course it is otherwise it would be a vacuum."naturally-derived" - i.e., it was natural and now we've modified it. Ain't oil out of the ground natural?"plant-derived" - same idea

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 12:33:47 am
content: If you thought that was bad, the automotive world is far worse...

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 12:36:14 am
content: Just do not look at the terms visual arts use for stuff. I firmly believe they pick their terms based on how they feel about them, and completely ignore their actual meaning. You know, because art.This is especially horrible in Finnish, where they have "redefined" just about all physical quantities for their own use. With zero correlation to their actual meaning. In the late nineties I got my hands on a list of "definitions", and I laughed at it for years until I lost it in a move.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 01:03:43 am
content: Quote from: oPossum on May 27, 2018, 09:56:45 pmConnectors have so many misnomers around them. "Dupont connectors" (breadboards) and "Molex connectors" (disk drives), for instance.A recent discovery for me were"Amphenol connectors"(spoiler: almost never actually made by Amphenol).

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 01:09:57 am
content: I understand where you are coming from, but this....Quote from: Zbig on May 27, 2018, 01:01:14 pmmade me smile. (A wry smile).

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 04:11:09 am
content: Quote from: Zbig on May 27, 2018, 01:01:14 pmThat means that the driver providing electronic commutation is built into the motor so it may be treated as a DC motor.Quote from: NiHaoMike on May 27, 2018, 09:14:19 pmBut they are distinguished from motor drives which require separate sensors.QuoteI cannot really complain about this. It is still direct memory access in the sense that no CPU processing is necessary beyond what was required before.The external access goes through the integrated memory controller which may also invalidate cache lines. In the past when the memory controller was not integrated with the CPU, cache lines could still be invalidated by DMA. Did that make it any less DMA since the CPU was involved in some form?Quote from: helius on May 28, 2018, 01:03:43 amIt gets worse considering that Amphenol and Molex both produce Waldom connectors and Waldom no longer does but I still use my Waldom crimper. There used to be a much larger variety of these connectors. I remember we had problems with the Amphenol versions being out of specifications.I hate the confusion between differential, difference, and instrumentation amplifier. Thank Texas Instruments for immortalizing the confusion in their application notes.If you go back far enough, push-pull was synonymous with differential. This can be very confusing when reading very old documentation.There are a bunch more of these that I have thankfully forgotten.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 04:32:37 am
content: Quote from: Circlotron on May 27, 2018, 01:22:01 pmDon't forget when Organic Chemistry was the study of chemistry in living things. Now practically anything with any carbon molecules will do.Quote from: NiHaoMike on May 27, 2018, 09:14:19 pmThat's still right. You are buying just the gas - it takes an explosion inside the cylinder, after that, all you got is just gas. Then again, it could be an abbreviation.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 04:42:35 am
content: The origin of "gas" is worth a read:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline#Etymology

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 04:49:11 am
content: QuoteI've never seen a brushless motor being sold with an in-built controller -- where abouts have you seen these? They've always been separate in the markets I've seen (small hobby & in-hub car) and you have to find a controller that can match your motor's params and type.I agree with the whole AC/DC motor thing. All motors are AC. One type (brushed DC) makes its own AC out of DC to be convenient, but is still an AC requiring type. If you're lucky enough to find a single unit with motor driver or VFD as well as a motor, then again it's an AC motor that's been made a bit more convenient by turning it into a DC "module".

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 05:01:05 am
content: Quote from: Whales on May 28, 2018, 04:49:11 amMost common are DC fans and pumps.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 05:45:56 am
content: Quote from: Whales on May 28, 2018, 04:49:11 amI was thinking of the most common ones, DC brushless fans. Tektronix made their own DC brushless motor assemblies (1) for their fans for a long time (2) and I have one sitting on my desk.I have noticed another weird motor recently. The shaded pole AC induction motors used for refrigerator evaporators have been replaced with the same lamination stack without the shorted turns, the same rotor, a commutation sensor, and some kind of driver. They run on standard AC line power but I suspect it is just rectified to DC. I assume the advantage is greater efficiency placing less load on the refrigeration system however they are also much less reliable and more expensive. Confusingly they seem to be referred to as "electronically commutated motor".(1) I deliberately use the term assembly because the driver board and motor are not intended to be separated so they more closely fit "DC brushless motor" than PM AC motor and driver or whatever they would be called separately.(2) Tektronix might have been making their own DC brushless motors to have better control of leaking magnetic flux which would be important in instruments which use CRTs. They sometimes (or maybe always) added steel shields to the standard shaded pole AC motors they used previously which I had not seen done before.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 05:55:18 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on May 28, 2018, 05:45:56 amWhy would they go through the effort to engineer a small fan motor when there are loads of small DC fans on the market? The last time I worked on a residential refrigerator (preventative maintenance - i.e. clean the condenser), the condenser fan looks just like a common 120mm computer fan. I wouldn't be surprised if the evaporator fans are also off the shelf DC fans.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 08:22:17 am
content: mhz, mHz instead of MHz, hell even my bleeding Chrome spell checker gets this right.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 10:41:14 am
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on May 28, 2018, 05:55:18 amBecause these are *evaporator* fan motors which have to operate inside the freezer compartment presenting a heat load to the compressor. They designed them to operate on 120/240 volt AC and be a drop in replacement for the previously used shaded pole motors. The one I encountered which is very common uses the laminated stack from a shaded pole motor without the shorted turns. The condenser fan motors are off the shelf shaded pole motors.They call them "electronically commutated" which is just confusing. It is completely true but so are DC brushless motors and many others.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 11:01:29 am
content: Quote from: Whales on May 28, 2018, 04:49:11 amAll except the Faraday homopolar disc motor/generator.https://www.google.com.au/search?q=faraday%27s+homopolar+disc+generator&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSjvqToKjbAhXHfrwKHeeoC5gQ_AUICygC&biw=1457&bih=972

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 12:56:26 pm
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on May 28, 2018, 05:01:05 amGah, you're right.But that's not a motor. It's uh, uh, a spinny thing.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2018, 03:02:37 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on May 28, 2018, 11:01:29 amNo, only generator. There's no such thing as a "homopolar motor". A static field on a static disc would make a magnetized static disc.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2018, 04:00:30 am
content: Quote from: Whales on May 28, 2018, 04:49:11 amReally?A commutator type motor doesn't really "make its own AC".All the commutator does is switch in armature windings in succession, so that the motor continues to rotate.Yes, the current does have an "AC component", just as the "DC" output of a full wave rectifier does, but the current through each winding flows in the same direction throughout its connected time,(neglecting the effects of back EMF), & the field winding current is continuously flowing in the same direction.Put a DC ammeter in series with the motor, & it will show its operating current.Use it on AC as a "universal motor", & it will still work in the same way, except that the current in the selected rotor winding & the field winding will both change in step, still producing torque & spinning the motor.The term "DC motor" has been around for more than a century, & serves to distinguish between motors which can operate on DC, & those which can only operate on AC, ( induction motors, slip ring type wound motors, & so on.)Quote

author: SG-1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2018, 04:17:38 am
content: Here is one we all use:current flow.Current means flow so we are really saying flow flow, when we should be saying charge flow, or flow of electricity, or electric current.It is so pervasive in the language now, I doubt it will ever stop. I wonder when & how it started.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2018, 04:58:21 am
content: Quote from: SG-1 on May 30, 2018, 04:17:38 amAnd also conventional flow vs. electron flow. Although in semiconductors and liquids/gases, there often are positive charges in motion...

author: PointyOintment
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 11:54:25 am
content: NATO phonetic alphabet. It's aspelling alphabet(a set of words, one beginning with each letter of the alphabet, used for clearly conveying spellings in spoken communication), not aphonetic alphabet(a set of glyphs used for recording pronunciations in written form). Wikipedia does say (without a citation) that the official name is "International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet", but I've never heard anyone call it that in real life.Personal identification number(or, even worse,PIN number, with redundant "number"). It's not used for identification, but for authentication!

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 01:36:40 pm
content: I've never heard it called the NATO phonetic alphabetNor the any of the others.I'm also surprised that the first letter is alfa, not alpha.

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 02:53:43 pm
content: Giving batt capacities in Ah alone.

author: @rt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 04:34:33 pm
content: What tech reviewer mixes up transmitters and receivers, or inputs and outputs?

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 05:06:18 pm
content: My pet peeve - when people measure time in mS. Time is not conductive.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 05:18:59 pm
content: Quote from: Neilm on June 16, 2018, 05:06:18 pmJust so.Mind you, it can be used as an imperfect bozo filter

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 05:20:51 pm
content: Battery capacity measured in Watts.That's an excellent bozo filter.

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 05:56:21 pm
content: Battery capacity measured in "up to  hours [something something] use" units.

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 07:12:40 pm
content: To put the cat among the pidgins:Usage of the word "accuracy" where the word "inaccuracy" would be correct.Example:" ... an accuracy of +/- 0.01 V" should read "... an inaccuracy of +/- 0.01 V".Go figure... This accuracy nonsense has been going on for ages and simply can't be stopped,not even in this forum.This is not limited to the English speaking world. The Germans do the same.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 07:15:42 pm
content: So "accurately" is used inaccurately and "inaccurately" is used accurately. Precisely.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 07:22:06 pm
content: RAMAs in Random Access Memory(1)..Almost all (modern) memory and storage devices these days, arerandom access.(2)..Similarly, ROM=Read Only Memory, because most ROMs are really flash these days, whichare writable.(3)..Also, RAM is (originally) intended to mean SRAM (as in Static Ram). But mostRAMthese days (especially for PCs), is actually Dynamic Ram (DRam), which is something quite different. E.g. It can need regular refreshing.I guess it should really be called V### (### = something), where V = volatile.But we are probably going to have RAMs, in the coming future (now/10/20/30 etc years), whichdon'tlose their contents when power is switched off.I think there are already Ram like, flash devices and similar. E.g. FRAM. So in time, they may become commonplace and replace RAM.In the same way, flash has mostly replaced masked ROMs, these days.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 07:59:06 pm
content: Hard drive when it's actually a solid state drive......leading to...what exactly is being driven in an SSD other than electrons?

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 09:18:46 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 16, 2018, 07:59:06 pmIt is called a "drive" because it requires a driver's license from the state to legally operate."First thing you need is Social Security and driver's license." "Driver license? For what, mass driver? Disk drive?"- Fallen Angels

author: Ducttape
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 09:37:23 pm
content: Saying that something something difficult to learn has a 'steep learning curve'.The obvious way to chart the difficulty of learning something would be with time as the horizontal axis and proficiency as the vertical axis. This would result in a 'steep learning curve' being something easy to learn, not difficult.Apparently this illogical phrase comes from people confusing climbing a hill with charting data vs time.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2018, 11:49:05 pm
content: Quote from: Messtechniker on June 16, 2018, 07:12:40 pmMaybe uncertainty would be a better word.I’m not sure...

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 01:15:50 am
content: Quote from: Messtechniker on June 16, 2018, 07:12:40 pmThis feels an awful lot like objecting to the notion of 0V. There is no voltage after all, silly gooses. Maybe we should use unvoltage in those cases instead.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 01:24:59 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 16, 2018, 07:59:06 pmIt's hard when I throw it at your head and the system sees it as a logical disk.It seems a lot of people have trouble distinguishing linguistic and cultural conventions, or words, from their origins. In some cases the physical form is relevant, in others the function takes the lead. Here it's obviously the latter. Sometimes neither is very relevant any more.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 01:42:17 am
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 17, 2018, 01:15:50 amMaybe the ancient Romans had it right after all. II + II = IV but II - II = ??

author: @rt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 08:06:16 am
content: Interesting thread, and I’d like to read more, but I have some extra design work to do because I’ve run out of nand and or and xor, but neither and nor not gates.

author: PA4TIM
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 09:14:43 am
content: Computer guys always talk about CMOS as being an IC in the computer.hFE and hfe are different things, Hfe and HFE do not exist.Marketing bullshit: Watt RMS,but also TRMS, is that the opposite of FRMS ? AC volt is always RMS, if not, you state it as f.i. 12Vpp.Widespread: a return loss of -25dB if they mean 25dB, that many use it like this does not make it correct, just like the wrong written SWR = 1:1 statement, this should be SWR=1.But the biggest fault: Talking about a Voltage and Amperage when you talk about electric tension and electric current.(in Dutch we use spanning (tension) )QuoteThey do more wrong, They call the sea a meer and a lake is a see. In Dutch a sea is zee and a lake is meer. A seastar in Dutch is zeester. The Germans call it a seester instead of a meerster

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 09:19:22 am
content: Voltage is all right IMO. But amperage isn't.

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 09:48:26 am
content: I also love this one. Music power for nanoseconds:200 W power rating for some tiny active loudspeakers.And on the tiny wallwart it reads 5 W!One day I will catch one of those marketing guys and spank him a bit.Oh well, it's probably not worth it.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 10:03:19 am
content: Quote from: Messtechniker on June 17, 2018, 09:48:26 amYeah, PMPO

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 10:05:53 am
content: PMPO they call it :-)

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 11:12:35 am
content: Inflammable and flammable vs non-combustible."Next". It mystifies me why most people use 'next' to mean "the one after this one coming up soon."Misuse of "post" and "reply" words in buttons on forums. For example one private forum I frequent, in which a reply entry box is always present, and the button used to cause your text to be posted, is called "Reply".Where the sensible thing would be to have no text box till you click "Reply", you type a message, then click "Post".The person in charge of coding that forum cannot see anything wrong with how it is now. Like the damned words don't actually have specific meanings in English.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 01:15:27 pm
content: Quote from: TerraHertz on June 17, 2018, 11:12:35 amThe etymology of inflammable explains this. The common understanding is wrong but English education is not what it used to be.Latin is a dead language, as dead as it can be. First it killed the Romans, and now it's killing me.QuoteMomentarily is the one which bothers me. Why is the plane only going to land momentarily at its destination? Isn't that where the passengers were suppose to leave the aircraft?QuoteBlameEternal September. This forum configuration contributes to the problem.Eternal September means that those who do not understand threading are condemned to reinvent it.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 01:51:03 pm
content: When talking about the data transfer rate of serial interfaces most people use the term "baud" instead of "bps". And another commonly misused term for the throughput or data transfer rate of networks, lines and internet access is "bandwidth".

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 03:09:21 pm
content: Quote from: madires on June 17, 2018, 01:51:03 pmbaud is correct (named after Emile Baudot) and when applied in the digital domain is defined as 1 bit/second.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 03:16:02 pm
content: Quote from: TerraHertz on June 17, 2018, 11:12:35 amStrictly, inflammable is correct. In derives from the Latininflammaremeaning in (or into) flame.Flammable and non-flammable originated in the early 20th century within the fire fighting world due to concern that (quite clearly) people might think inflammable = non-flammable. A wise move, I'm sure.Consider inflate. It means to blow into. It doesn't mean cannot blow into!

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 03:24:32 pm
content: Deplane.No - alight!You don't decar, debike, debus, dehorsedrawn carriage, deskateboard, derollercoaster, dehovercraft, deship, deboat, dedogsledLiterally, alight means to relieve weight. i.e., "get your fat ass out of my car."

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 03:44:02 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 17, 2018, 03:09:21 pmI prefer to use baud for the symbol rate. For example: a QAM256 modulated signal with 1 Mbaud has a data transfer rate of 8 Mbps. I think the confusion stems from the early days of modems (POTS). A 300 bps modem was called a "300 baud modem". Back then one symbol represented one bit. The result was the same. But later on with improved modulation we had 9600 bps modems with 2400 baud, but people called them still 9600 baud modems.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 03:57:24 pm
content: Quote from: madires on June 17, 2018, 03:44:02 pmOh, that's a good point.Back when modems were that slow (I used to use one with big rubber cups for the handset), people would get bored because of the low baud[baud being pronounced incorrectly in true English style]

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 04:23:19 pm
content: Quote from: Cyberdragon on May 28, 2018, 03:02:37 pmYes, there is such thing as a homopolar motor.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_motorQuote from: PA4TIM on June 17, 2018, 09:14:43 amElectric tension sounds incorrect to me. When most people talk of voltage, they really mean potential difference.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 07:41:04 pm
content: Real-estate agents (oops, sorry, I mean Realtors ©) here in the US use +/- to mean “approximately,” as in“This house is +/- 1500 square feet.” And they have a stupid symbol for “square feet,” too.Many many audio “engineers” confuse phase and polarity. They’ll say, “can you flip the phase on the bottom snare drum mic,” when what they actually want to do is to flip the polarity. That’s not helped by mixing console designs that use a Φ symbol on the switch, or by calling it “phase” in the user manual.

author: glarsson
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 08:10:52 pm
content: Quote from: Hero999 on June 17, 2018, 04:23:19 pmWhat about the high tension lines transporting electric energy to your town?What about the high tension leads transporting electric energy to your spark plugs?

author: djacobow
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2018, 08:15:21 pm
content: I am in the energy industry and I hate HATEHATEwhen people talk about electrons, like "those are solar electrons" or "we can't track the electrons" or "those electrons came from another state.I tell them over and over that the electrons in the wire do not go anywhere, and they give me blank stares every time and think I'm nuts.Explaining that moving energy and moving electrons are not the same thing only makes it worse, because now I'm pedantic egghead, and also, that sounds like techno babble to them.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 01:07:39 pm
content: Couldof. Morethen. First AthanB. Missing commas, or other punctuation.I don't talk in English often, but I read a lot, especially technical stuff. The above errors throw me off, because I do not associate the words according to how theysound. Usually, I need to read the sentence several times and sound it out, to find the most likely interpretation. If I see them in documentation, I'd rather switch tools/sources/vendor than put up with it.

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 01:21:53 pm
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on June 18, 2018, 01:07:39 pmWhat amazes me is how many native speakers write it's when it's its.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 01:29:49 pm
content: I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned "engineer" being used in place of technician, installer or operator.If my cable TV box isn't working, I don't want the company to send an engineer. If they sent a real engineer, they'd be sitting in front of the box with a JTAG probe attached, probably spending days or weeks identifying the true root cause of whatever memory corruption causes the picture to freeze under very specific circumstances.What I want instead is for them to send a technician, who can follow a prescribed diagnostic procedure, and who will hopefully know from experience that adding a -6dB attenuator in the signal path has a good chance of making it work reliably. Total time taken, about 20 minutes, and my cable box becomes usable again.Back in the R&D lab, an engineer can (and should) replicate that empirical 'fix', determine exactly how and why it makes the symptoms of some underlying problem better, then fix the code and ensure the fix is rolled into to the next firmware update.Very different skills, very different job functions, and neither could do the job of the other - yet still the confusion over the title.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 01:31:01 pm
content: Quote from: GeorgeOfTheJungle on June 18, 2018, 01:21:53 pmIts like their totally confused, which means your confused as well.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 01:50:11 pm
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on June 18, 2018, 01:07:39 pmThat's a difficult one. American English uses commas far more often than British English (i.e., proper English)For example, I would never have put a comma in the snippet of your comment above. But, now that I live in the US, I use them more. However, I get confused because one half of my brain wants to put the comma there, the other doesn't. Using "but" at the start of a sentence riles many people.After so many years here, non-American English spellings look strange.Dates also jar my brain. For example, if I see 5/7/18 I have to ask myself "do they mean 7th May or 5th July?". Come on - write it unambiguously, e.g., 7 May 2018. This really irks me when people write dates on forms that are obviously going to be seen by an international audience.(Apologies for my inconsistent use or lack of commas. I'm grammatically tainted. Not wrong, just tainted.)

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 02:05:30 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 18, 2018, 01:50:11 pmLol, yes, that, happens all the time, then you start searching for the column with a number >12, don't you?

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 02:21:59 pm
content: It's only the US that does that, though apparently the international standard for date formatting is YYYY-MM-DD.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 02:23:44 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 18, 2018, 01:31:01 pmI hope all that incorrectness was intentional.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 02:28:16 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on June 18, 2018, 02:23:44 pmPoes Law is in full force.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 03:06:34 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 18, 2018, 02:21:59 pmIndeed. Isn't this the Japanese way?After years of using the format I mentioned, I've just realized that it uses English names for months which is a bit presumptuous.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 03:43:34 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 18, 2018, 02:21:59 pmThe nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.You might like to start by readinghttps://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-time.htmlhttps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3339https://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 04:08:25 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on June 18, 2018, 02:23:44 pmIts, his kidding.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 04:37:57 pm
content: Organic foods. As opposed to what ? synthetic foods ?

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 05:20:54 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on June 18, 2018, 03:43:34 pmDo note that although at first glance the ISO time standard appears sane, it contains two very different concepts both called "a year": one is the year you already know about, but the other one is "the year for the purposes of the ISO week", which is something different. Getting this wrong can make your software badly bugged and this has caused widespread outages.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 05:39:21 pm
content: When I hear a commentator talking about "the optics of the situation," I want to hit them with a Louisville Slugger.

author: duak
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 06:02:42 pm
content: Decimate used to mean removing one in ten. Something about a roman centurion ordering every tenth legionaire to walk off a cliff to impress the foe. Now it generally means wiped out. Technically in DSP it means resampling to reduce the data rate.Errant apostrophe's.Irregardless isn't really a word. Is disirregardlessy not one too?Misused optical terms like "Increase our visibility into the situation" perhaps using "laser focus" to improve the etendue?

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2018, 10:37:43 pm
content: Quote from: duak on June 18, 2018, 06:02:42 pmIt was a means of enforcing discipline. To handle infractions, the head of the legion would demand that one tenth of a cohort be killed -- and the members of the cohort themselves had to decide who died.But yeah, now it means basically "totally eradicate."

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 12:07:44 am
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 18, 2018, 01:31:01 pmMake that"Its like there totally confused witch means your confused as well", so we get to the levels of noise thatme.At least Chinglish manualstryto convey some concepts. With sloppy text like above, you cannot even tell if there is a signal there under the noise.Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 18, 2018, 01:50:11 pmI don't use commas (or apostrophes) correctly myself. I was talking about the specific case where they are completely omitted, making the text difficult to understand. It is particularly horrible when documentation lists something, and you are left wondering where the delimiters are. Especially if some of the text includes theserial commaand some does not.Something like "a, b; c; d, e, f" is pretty clearly an ordered set of three isubsets, with "a" and "b" in the first set, "c" in the second set; and "d", "e", and "f" in the third set. See what I did with the semicolon there? It may be wrong or annoying, but it sure makes the list clear!Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 18, 2018, 01:50:11 pmThe international standard,YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS(ISO 8601, if you replace the space with a T) is the one that sorts correctly when sorted alphabetically or numerically. (The largest units are on the left, smallest right, in decreasing order of significance.) That is what makes it useful, in my opinion.Quote from: duak on June 18, 2018, 06:02:42 pmApologies for mine. I'm severely irked by people omitting possessive suffixes in Finnish, and it seems to affect my grasp of the English possessive negatively.(Instead of writing "My Telia" as"Minun Teliani", people shorten it (even in official writing) to"Minun Telia", which sounds and reads like "Muh Telia" to me. I not like. Langage too many. Want simple, easy. Back to cave now.)

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 12:33:23 am
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on June 19, 2018, 12:07:44 amIndeed. Kind of a pain to write on a check/cheque. though!Of course, the 24-hour HH throws a good portion of the western hemisphere.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 02:47:40 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 18, 2018, 01:50:11 pmhttp://www.dictionary.com/browse/comma-fault

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 02:55:35 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on June 19, 2018, 02:47:40 amTherein lies part of the problem: an American English reference source. Some grammar rules in one variant of English are considered absolutely forbidden in others. A case in point is the Oxford comma. You will hardly ever see it in British English. Also the placement of full stops at the end of sentences relative to other trailing punctuation.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 04:01:41 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 19, 2018, 02:55:35 amIt is still a comma fault in British English although I do not know if they use a different term.If the comma was removed, then it would be a run-on sentence. Adding just a comma to separate two complete sentences is a comma fault. The British recommendation is to use a conjunction preceded by a comma and that works in American English as well.http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_06.htm

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 06:38:13 am
content: Quote from: duak on June 18, 2018, 06:02:42 pmNormally you do not use an apostrophe to form plurals.Or is that error intentional as Mr. Scram's post appears to be?QuoteWhich makes no sense at all unless rewritten:It's like they're totally confused, which means you're confused as well.I find it helpful when using contractions to substitute the actual two words to see if the statement still makes sense.It's paint was flaking off.It is paint was flaking off.This also helps with confusion between your and you're, their and they're, and so on.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2018, 08:22:47 am
content: Quote from: rdl on June 19, 2018, 06:38:13 amMentioning Poes law still wasn't enough?

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 12:37:34 pm
content: "I've run out of bandwidth." Often misused by the technically illiterate such as politicians and journalists to mean how much data they can download per month.

author: SG-1
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 01:03:18 pm
content: Power Flow is another one I hear frequently. At work we even have a mechanical drawing titled "Power Flow". In English that actually means flow of energy flow.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 01:51:51 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 19, 2018, 08:22:47 am'cause peeps that like talk like dis in dem dere weird tounges insomuch as text speak IRL are like totes off my books.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 02:55:07 pm
content: Kilobyte.*dons flame-proof suit and enters bunker*

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 03:15:35 pm
content: Quote from: Cyberdragon on June 20, 2018, 01:51:51 pmHey, nothing ambiguous or particularly hard to understand there. It is sentences that consist of words that seem correct, but are misspelled (so homonyms or homophones), that non-natives like me have the most trouble with.I did not intend to derail this discussion into peoples favourite grammar/syntax errors; I only brought it up because they make detailed descriptions or specifications hard to read, and also because I have not seen (I think any!) in this forum.In particular, those who help those-of-us-who-need-some-help, especially in the Beginner section, deserve some praise; for both their efforts, but also for their clarity of posting.Quote from: Monkeh on June 20, 2018, 02:55:07 pmWhy? SI says 1 kB = 1000 B, 1KiB= 210B = 1024 B.As a programmer, I do use the KiB/MiB/GiB/TiB prefixes, but in spoken languages, I use powers of two (210, 220, 230, and 240, respectively) instead of the muppet names. Kibi, mebi, gibi, etc. have always reminded of that orange-haired scientist muppet..

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 03:23:36 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on June 20, 2018, 02:55:07 pmWhat's wrong with that?

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 03:49:36 pm
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on June 20, 2018, 12:37:34 pmI have given up on that one. ISPs deliberately confuse the issue to maintain that their limited internet is unlimited and their transfer caps are not caps.Quote from: Monkeh on June 20, 2018, 02:55:07 pmNo suit is flame proof enough and no bunker is protected enough for that one.Memory is not measured in SI units. Get back to me when I can buy 524.288 kilobit RAM.

author: BillB
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 04:50:03 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on June 20, 2018, 03:49:36 pmAgreed!There are only 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 04:51:14 pm
content: Quote from: GeorgeOfTheJungle on June 20, 2018, 03:23:36 pmIt's ambiguous due to being used incorrectly.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 04:59:37 pm
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on June 20, 2018, 12:37:34 pmGenerally the speed of a connection is greatly reduced when you exceed your download limit. In that case, you quite literally run out of bandwidth. Though I doubt that's what these people mean.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 05:07:09 pm
content: That would be one. People seem to quite consistently confuse bits and bytes, even when the difference is pointed out. A computer with 8 Gb of RAM really isn't the same as one with 8 GB of it. In that case you might argue the intended meaning is obvious and it's being pedantic, but quite often it's quite unclear what the intent was. The resulting message could be off by an order of magnitude.We're not even taking about the gb crowd.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 05:30:04 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 20, 2018, 05:07:09 pmIt also doesn't help that every STEM discipline outside of computer science uses the kilo prefix to mean 1000, not 1024. Indeed, to indicate 1024 the prefix should be Ki (kibi) and not K. How many people do you ever come across distinguishing the two?I giggle judgingly to myself when I see people boasting about clock speeds of hundreds or thousands of mHz - wow, so fast - and data speeds of mbps.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 06:42:12 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 05:30:04 pmIt was not a problem until the marketing geniuses at the mass storage companies changed to the SI convention because it made their drives look bigger.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 06:45:31 pm
content: It has been a problem for a long time. Whence "1.44 MB" floppy disks?

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 07:02:56 pm
content: Quote from: helius on June 20, 2018, 06:45:31 pmOh, I agree it has been a problem for a long time. But I am old enough to remember when it was *not* a problem and when it first became an issue, complaints were immediate. This was before the World Wide Web existed but you can probably find something on Usenet about it.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pm
content: Data ARE, not data ISThe problem though is that you end up sounding like a pompous arse if you say it correctly. Same as for "whomever" and the correct pronunciation of "valet".

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 12:48:43 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pmI think that's an example where language has moved on and some people are left behind.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 12:59:40 am
content: A recent howler was a poster on another messageboard who was talking about the Windows scheduler. He kept saying oh the quantas are 15ms long and this and that, oblivious to "quanta" already being plural.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 01:09:59 am
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 21, 2018, 12:48:43 amHaving read this, I really hate the grammar police's insistence that dangling modifiers, split infinitives and prepositions at the end of a sentence are all sins against the language. I'd like to firmly ram a stick up the tubes they shit out of.I committed all three sins in the above....

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 02:46:04 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pmSame as when people talk about their Por-sha.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 02:48:41 am
content: Quote from: helius on June 21, 2018, 12:59:40 amCould be worse. 2.76523 quantas.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 03:20:57 am
content: Quote from: Circlotron on June 21, 2018, 02:46:04 amBut it's a German name.On the other hand, coupe' - 'coup-ay', not 'coup'. I'm not a damned chicken!

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 04:27:07 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pmLet's say I pull the results of some large simulation from a cluster to local external disks, and put them all into a box for the researcher to carry.Do I really have to say "The data are here."?Reminds me too much of Star Trek TNG.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 04:42:54 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 21, 2018, 03:20:57 amHow would it being a German name make a difference?

author: basinstreetdesign
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 05:43:56 am
content: It grinds me every time I see a post on some board about something that is based "off" something else. Since I was born the phrase has always been "based ON something". But ever since the 1980's, that particular bastardization has caught on in a big way.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 07:05:14 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pmEr, "datum" is the singular and "data" is the plural. So it isn't as simple as you would like to believe.QuoteOr tomato, or Leicester, or Himalaya, or...

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 08:16:11 am
content: Grinds my gears when people use the word “shall”.As in “you shall not do this”.Sounds like they are looking down their nose at you.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 01:26:09 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on June 21, 2018, 07:05:14 amEh? That's my point.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 03:23:46 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on June 21, 2018, 08:16:11 amThat's a bit like how some people loathe the term "boss" or anything similar. I feel it often coincides with a little man complex, though I'm not saying that's true in your case. People can call or address me however they like, it's not going to change anything anyway.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 03:56:52 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on June 21, 2018, 08:16:11 am"Shall" is a funny word. I don't use it, but the way I learned is that its meaning is flipped depending on whether the subject is the first person.I shallYou will(Indicative mood: statement of fact)I willYou shall(Imperative mood: statement of necessity)In the US hardly anybody uses it these days. Too confusing.

author: BillB
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 04:09:16 pm
content: Old time Requirements Specifications were full of Shalls. Now, it's very rare that I come across them anymore (heck, even formal requirements specifications themselves seem to be increasingly rare).On occasion, I do use "I shall".

author: bob225
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2018, 05:32:30 pm
content: 'Digital' aerials (antennas) - There is nothing digital about them its the signal that binary that's a rx or tx via a RF waveform

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2018, 03:11:03 pm
content: I hate hearing the phrases...... "AC Current", or "DC Current".....'AC' means 'Alternating Current', so 'AC Current' means "Alternating Current Current" Aarrgh....

author: bob225
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2018, 05:15:20 pm
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on June 23, 2018, 03:11:03 pmThat's like PAT testing -Portable Appliance Testingtesting

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2018, 08:38:07 am
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 21, 2018, 03:23:46 pmThe Finnish word for boss, "pomo", is derived from Russian помощник (pomóšnik): helper or assistant. Very apt, IMO!

author: Synthtech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2018, 08:43:26 am
content: I used to think that sugar diabetes was a Greek boxer.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2018, 09:21:32 am
content: It’s easier to say World Wide Web than www.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 10:46:42 am
content: Quote from: bob225 on June 21, 2018, 05:32:30 pmYea !!.... Reminds me of the days when 'Color' TV came in, and shops tried to sell you a 'special' Color 'Aerial'

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 10:51:43 am
content: Quote from: Synthtech on June 24, 2018, 08:43:26 amHA !!!...... No.... that's his brother, Con. Who likes jumping out of airplanes . . . . . ."Condescending"...... ('Con', descending )...... ok i'll shut up

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 12:59:08 pm
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on June 18, 2018, 01:29:49 pmWhen I first started with my company, we were called Field Service Engineers and that was in our email signatures. Then, we were told not to use engineer but technician, so we had to change our digital signature to reflect this. Now, we are back to being called engineers depending on which part of the company is sending the emails. My official job title, however, has always been Field Service Technician, starting with Technician I, then II and now III. It doesn't matter what anyone calls me as long as my paycheck is direct deposited every 2 weeks.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 12:59:46 pm
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on June 25, 2018, 10:46:42 amNot only were they "Color aerials", some of them were actually "coloured", with gold metalwork & red insulation!Another was the " Color Compatible" BW TV sets---they had a 4.433MHz notch filter in the video amp!

author: sibeen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 02:46:41 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on June 21, 2018, 08:16:11 amYou should probably avoid reading many of the Australian/New Zealand Standards then. In those "shall' has a defined term basically equivalent to mandatory.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 04:36:42 pm
content: The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt

author: Canis Dirus Leidy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 07:14:20 pm
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on June 23, 2018, 03:11:03 pm(smiling with all 42 teeth) Want some CD and DVD disks?P.S. Nobody mention kWt/hr (kilowatt divided by hour)? It's evenmentioned in classic filmhave own video on Youtube:P.P.S. And this lovely gem (google translated) from Russian sci-fi book: "The rapidity of the teenager could not fool a complex device, whose processor operates at aclock frequency of milliseconds"

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2018, 09:17:57 pm
content: kW/h, yes, that's a popular one. Looks very much like km/h, that's perhaps why.

author: Tepe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 08:30:19 am
content: calling kcal calories

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 12:29:08 pm
content: Calling a spade a shovel.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 01:28:16 pm
content: atomic weight and molecular weightShould be: relative atomic mass and relative molecular (or molar) massThe weight of a water molecule on Earth is about 5x10-21N whereas the relative molecular mass of water is 18.02g anywhere.

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 01:45:43 pm
content: Wow, you're right, it never occurred to me. But why relative?

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 03:07:16 pm
content: The same number of atoms (for elements) or molecules (for compounds) as in 12g of carbon-12. This number is Avogadro's constant (6.022x1023) and termed the mole.Sadly, this is so rampant that even the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry do it.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 04:43:01 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 26, 2018, 01:28:16 pmNot unless you also say "relative mass" when talking about kilograms.The reason is that1 u= 1 g/mol = 931.4940954 = MeV/c2= 1.660539040×10-27kg.The mass itself measured or described (in atomic mass units) is absolute, not relative to anything else. Only the units are -- but so is the kilogram, too: mass in kilograms is (as of this writing) still measured relative to the SI kilogram standard.Also, the name of the units are "unified atomic mass unit" and "molar mass". No "relative" there.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 05:58:32 pm
content: IUPAC definitions:unified atomic mass unitNon-SI unit of mass (equal to the atomic mass constant), defined as one twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 atom in its ground state and used to express masses of atomic particles.relative molecular massRatio of the mass of a molecule to the unified atomic mass unit. Sometimes called the molecular weight or relative molar mass.relative molar massMolar mass divided by 1g.mol-1(the latter is sometimes called the standard molar mass) (which in all my years of being a chemist I have never seen or heard)My original annoyance is that nowhere does weight come into it.I pride myself in trying to adhere to everything IUPAC but changing sulphur to sulfur - ouch, that hurt.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 06:05:07 pm
content: I'm guilty of this one informally but in scientific publications I am a stickler...Do not use plural forms of unitse.g., 10 kilogram, not 10 kilogramsWhy?Because different languages use different ways of indicating plurals.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 08:46:03 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 26, 2018, 05:58:32 pmBah, chemists and their weird ways.Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 26, 2018, 05:58:32 pmBut that's different to non-relative molecular or molar mass.The units for (absolute) molar mass is kg/mol, usually denoted by variableM. Relative molar masses are unitless, and are usually denoted by variableMr. I don't understand how one can confuse the two; but then, I do physics, not chemistry, and do not recall ever seeing the relative quantities being used.Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 26, 2018, 05:58:32 pmYeah; I'm justyou with the "relative" detail.Back to topic. A lot of physical phenomena are named after some physicist or other scientist, but I have always had difficulty associating the two. I much prefer descriptive names like "thermoelectric effect" over "Seebeck effect" or "Peltier effect". While the latter are not misnomers per se, I find them hard to remember and associate correctly.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2018, 09:25:10 pm
content: Which reminds me...Abbreviations for units. Uppercase initial letter if named after someone others lower case but lower case for the full name of the unit. Funny how ohm isn't O. It's the life sciences world that irks me with its insistence of using L for liter/litre. Yes, it may avoid confusion if you can't write for shit but it is lower case. As my physics (!) teacher used to remind us, "There was no Monsieur Litre"

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 03:36:54 am
content: Quote from: bob225 on June 21, 2018, 05:32:30 pmFor awhile after portable digital music players were gaining market traction, you would see "digital" headphones offered for sale. Never mind that they had the same ⅛" or ¼" TRS jack that plugged into an amplifier that was analog.The latest thing is the idiots talking about "digital music" and "digital delivery," as opposed to the compact disc. I have to remind these idiots that "hey, the compact disc is a digital format."

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 04:14:50 am
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on June 27, 2018, 03:36:54 amThere are truly digital headphones that use USB or Bluetooth. As well as analog headphones that have buttons to control a digital device it's plugged into.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 06:43:46 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 26, 2018, 09:25:10 pmOhms is spelled out because of the obvious homographs 0, O, and o.I usually try to use the full name for units just to avoid confusion.

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 07:55:47 am
content: Nobody uses Ω anymore?

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 08:01:49 am
content: Quote from: GeorgeOfTheJungle on June 27, 2018, 07:55:47 amWhen I am writing or producing documentation, sure. But computer systems and unicode are now so screwed up that the Ω symbol is increasingly unreliable. It used to work great back whencode page 437was ubiquitous.Firefox does not even allow me to enter it directly without issuing a page back command.

author: Tepe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 08:47:31 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on June 27, 2018, 08:01:49 amGet a real operating system

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2018, 10:06:02 pm
content: From Wikipedia:“an engine burning nitromethane can produce up to 2.3 times more power than an engine burning gasoline”So when they say “2.3 times more power” do they mean (as I suspect) 2.3 times as much, or the grammatically correct 3.3 times as much?—————-Could be worse though.‘Up to 2.3 times or more’

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 12:04:31 am
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on June 27, 2018, 04:14:50 amRe-read what I wrote. This is very early on that standard analog headphones were marketed as "digital," well before anyone even thought about Bluetooth, and USB headphones did not exist. Now that I think about it, I remember they were being sold when portable CD players were still a thing.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 12:47:49 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on June 28, 2018, 12:04:31 amI have seen portable CD players that had remote control on the headphones themselves. Pretty sure most of those worked by having the buttons connect a line to ground through specific resistances, so not even the buttons are technically digital.Headphones also come in different impedances, as high as 600 ohms for use on studio or other stationary equipment that uses +-15V opamps to as low as 16 ohms or less for modern portable electronics that use as little as 1V to run the headphone outputs. The description "designed for portable digital devices" would be technically accurate to describe low impedance headphones, but just calling them "digital" isn't.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 01:01:36 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on June 28, 2018, 12:04:31 amI can confirm that this happened as I am old enough to have watched it first hand. I started with the availability of portable CD players. Be sure to upgrade your headphones to digital for best performance! (1)Something similar happened with antennas when terrestrial digital TV started in the US.A more subtle recent example is how rectangular eyeglass styles became more popular with the advent of 9:16 consumer formats.(1) There actually might be something to this given how many early CDs were mastered improperly making them sound harsh. Contrast "east coast" versus "west coast" sound for speakers.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 02:03:00 pm
content: Quote from: bob225 on June 23, 2018, 05:15:20 pmI'll be right back, I need to get some money from the ATM machine.....

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 04:41:03 pm
content: kernal.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 04:51:41 pm
content: DOS prompt

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 05:06:33 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 28, 2018, 04:51:41 pmAs opposed to a command prompt?

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 05:29:58 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 28, 2018, 05:06:33 pmIn the days of PC-DOS or MS-DOS, the command line was the application COMMAND.COM, not the Disk Operating System itself; although in a world without process isolation such distinctions can appear blurred.In more recent times, the command line is not even a part of DOS, but a client of the NT kernel like everything else. Despite this, the icon for the command prompt on various versions of Windows has the letters "D O S" in it.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 05:35:23 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 28, 2018, 05:06:33 pmYup.

author: bob225
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 05:49:35 pm
content: Quote from: rrinker on June 28, 2018, 02:03:00 pmAh you mean a Automated Teller Machine, Machine

author: glarsson
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 05:58:24 pm
content: Calling anything in an EPROM, or Flash memory, a BIOS.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:03:23 pm
content: Quote from: helius on June 28, 2018, 05:29:58 pmThe latter makes the term "DOS prompt" quite reasonable, even if it's more of a descriptive convention than an official name.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:04:57 pm
content: True, but it is still a technical misnomer and plain incorrect

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:07:29 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 28, 2018, 06:04:57 pmWell, I would call it technically a misnomer but arguably correct. "Plain incorrect" suggests there's no conceivable way it could be correct, and having a logo with "DOS" in it eliminates that quite effectively.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:09:22 pm
content: AerosolIt isn't the metal thingy you shake up and down before pressing the plastic thing (actuator).It's not even the stuff inside.It's the stuff after it has come out and atomized. An aerosol is a dispersion of solid particles or liquid droplets in a continuous vapor or gas phase.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:15:15 pm
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 28, 2018, 06:07:29 pmI don't see that logo. My command prompt logo is C:\_ and, since the command line utility is a user-mode application, it has nothing to do with the operating system itself.I'll modify my claim of "plain incorrect" to "incorrect with a cherry on top".EDIT: And...the D in DOS stands for disk. Well, my laptop doesn't even have a disk. ergo, misnomer and incorrect with chocolate syrup all over.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:26:28 pm
content: Up through NT 4, CMD.EXE was given a "MS-DOS" icon:Which was the same icon used for the COMMAND.COM prompt in Windows 3.1 and 95. In the latter case it made more sense since the same application as in DOS was being used.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:36:06 pm
content: But that was 23 years ago.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:44:09 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 28, 2018, 06:15:15 pmWe did the disk thing a while back. Languages change, which means words can come to mean something they originally didn't while still being correct. "Disk" has become a concept, being a thing that semi-permanently stores data, normally within a computer system. You have solid state drives and even have virtual disks or hard drives. That's not wrong, it's just a continuation, expansion and abstraction of the original term.

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 06:44:47 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 28, 2018, 06:36:06 pmWords existed 23 years ago.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 28, 2018, 07:03:04 pm
content: Yea, wordeth doth existe. Ain't right, though, innit? I mean, my god, even MS saw the error of its ways.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 12:36:13 am
content: Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 28, 2018, 06:03:23 pmA bit like the way Engineers persist in calling a tuned LC circuit a "tank circuit", although that meaning has just about died out in the rest of the Technical community.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 12:40:37 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 28, 2018, 07:03:04 pmAye, & some wordeth doth be parfait, gentil knight!

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 12:56:11 am
content: Quite common in Brazil were the following:- Naming "CPU" the entire desktop box;- Using Hertz as the unit for inductance (opposed to Henries)- Calling inductors as "RF shock" (choque de RF)- Using lightbulbs' units as "candles" (velas) instead of WattsThere are others I don't recall.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 03:57:27 am
content: Quote from: bob225 on June 28, 2018, 05:49:35 pmAnd you only get money from it after you enter your Personal Identification Number Number.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 04:39:50 am
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on June 29, 2018, 03:57:27 amAnd it verifies that PIN number, by using an IC circuit (Integrated Circuit Circuit).The circuit is built on a PCB board (Printed Circuit Board board).The PCB was probably designed on a PC Computer (Personal Computer Computer), which was originally based on an IBM Machine (International Business Machine Machine).Anyway, Enough Enough Enough of This This, PUN PUN like thing.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 11:13:22 am
content: "second harmonic" and higher implies that there is a first harmonic which in reality is the fundamental

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2018, 02:06:22 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on June 29, 2018, 11:13:22 amIt is consistent with the use "a to the second power" for "a x a " where "a" is only multiplied by itself once, not twice.Ambiguous, but correct!

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2018, 05:31:02 am
content: Quote from: MK14 on June 29, 2018, 04:39:50 amYou forgot that the computer uses an LCD Display (Liquid Crystal Display Display)!

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2018, 12:16:06 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on June 30, 2018, 05:31:02 amYou forgot that the LCD Display, uses RAM memory to work.RAM memory = Random access memory memory!

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2018, 07:34:36 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on June 30, 2018, 12:16:06 pmPeople cover their food with tomato tomato sauce. (Tomato Ketchup)

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2018, 08:04:28 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on June 29, 2018, 12:36:13 amAhem...It's usually just "tank", "X tank, or "oscillator tuning circuit".If you dare say "tuned LC circuit", your ambiguity will get the response"A resonator or filter?"

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2018, 09:13:58 pm
content: I saw this on this forum (of all places) and the people rather then admit they were wrong doubled down since I had less posts (BTW post count is indirectly proportional to number of girl friends you have ever had) with the most bullshit naming convention worse then mixing sailing terms with SI.I saw a video where they called the anode the cathode. Cations: +, pos. charged species in solution flow to the cathode the negative end of the battery. Always. They tried to say "Nut ungh!!!! When you are charging the battery the anode and cathodes switch using color changing ink on paper data sheets and trough a script on web pages that some how knows what context you are using them in. Never in all my years of learning I paid for did the anode and cathode change flavor like a neutrino. Because you were talking about the device charging and then charging back. Do you have any idea how confusing that would be when talking about rapidly charging and discharging a battery?

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 12:13:25 am
content: Quote from: Neilm on July 01, 2018, 07:34:36 pmSo, that is why you can't put Tomato Ketchup on KFC Chicken pieces.Because it would mean..Tomato Tomato sauce on Kentucky Fried Chicken Chicken

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 01:15:13 am
content: I'll throw in a few:"Momentarily": I hear a flight attendant say, "Please raise your seat backs and tray tables; we'll be landing momentarily." This makes me wonder why the pilot chose my flight to try touch-and-go landing practice."Quantum": In science circles, it means the absolute tiniest possible change in the state of something. Those who never took a modern physics class often use it to mean "really big"."Exponential": This has a precise mathematical meaning, but the mathematically illiterate tend to use it as a synonym for "big". Perhaps they do this after they've grown tired of using the word "quantum".

author: Leiothrix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 02:09:40 am
content: Quote from: AG6QR on July 02, 2018, 01:15:13 amTo make it worse someone will state something about "exponential growth". If you reply with "no, geometric" you get a blank look.

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 02:53:03 am
content: To bring it back to electronics, why do we use the terms "AC" and "DC" when we're talking about voltage?. Instead of 240VAC, shouldn't we use the term 240AV (240 Alternating Volts)? If an ammeter has AC and DC settings, shouldn't a voltmeter have AV and DV settings?I am fully aware that this convention is so well-established that it will never change, and I'm not seriously advocating for a change. Just pointing out that even the technical community does not always use terms in the most logically consistent manner.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 04:55:15 am
content: That band should rename itself AV⚡️DV.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 10:33:27 am
content: Quote from: Neilm on July 01, 2018, 07:34:36 pmThat's a reasonable disambiguation, though. If you've not already discovered mushroom ketchup, your pies, stews and sauces are missing out. (No tomatoes included!)

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 12:55:26 pm
content: Ok... And this is a BIG one, that's 'pissed' me off since I was a 1st yearelect apprentice way back in the 1970's, that's never changed!!!......So called 'CONVENTIONAL' current flow, (+ve to -ve) from the 'very' old days of ignorance!!Even today, with the likes of DIODES & TRANSISTORS, they show an 'ARROW' pointing in thedirection of 'conventional' flow.... , even though today we UNDERSTAND about 'Electron' flow.So their confusing and silly 'explanation' to me back then, was that....."Yes, we know how Electrons travel, and their charge, but you need to think of 'current'flow as the MOVEMENT OF POSITIVE HOLES, IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION "....Even my young brain then, said, "Give me a break" !!!!! The biggest electrical lie ever told.Why can't we simply accept the failings of the past, and change ?? (So much confusion caused).

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 02:15:42 pm
content: Quote from: Cyberdragon on July 01, 2018, 08:04:28 pmSuch circuits are also used in amplifiers, so the last choice isn't always right.QuoteIf you want ambiguity, a "tank" can also be a thing you keep liquid in, a military vehicle, or a term describing a sporting team throwing a game.("tanking")

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 03:46:52 pm
content: Context is important.Because even if you say "tank circuit" it could mean the pipes that carry hydraulic fluid back to the reservoir.Even if you say "oscillator tuning circuit" you could mean the DC drive to a VCO.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2018, 09:52:55 pm
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on July 02, 2018, 12:55:26 pmIt’s like saying you don’t drive to work, your parking space goes to your home. Why it takes so much energy and expense simply to move an empty space, I will never know.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 01:17:24 am
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on July 02, 2018, 12:55:26 pmNo, that would be the Electric Sun stuff.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 01:41:02 am
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on July 02, 2018, 12:55:26 pmIf you look at the MOSFET symbol, the arrow does point in the direction of electron flow. (Albeit MOSFETs are frequently used to conduct current going in the other direction, as synchronous rectifiers.)And while not engineering, Native Americans are still often incorrectly called "Indians", thanks to history. They say the point of learning history is to avoid repeating mistakes...Quote from: Circlotron on July 02, 2018, 09:52:55 pmThat obviously would be moving the stuff that's making the space not empty.

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 02:17:52 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on July 03, 2018, 01:52:45 am"Panini" is the Italian word for "sandwiches". Plural. It's incorrect to say "I'd like to order a panini". If you only want one, you want a panino. Except that, in English, when we borrow a word from another language, we don't always take it to mean what it meant in the original language."Manufactured" comes from Latin that literally means "hand made". But somewhere along the line, as it was used in English over the centuries, it transformed to mean something closer to "mass produced by machine".Even an incorrect usage, if it persists long enough, can become a standard part of English.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 02:36:06 am
content: Quote from: AG6QR on July 03, 2018, 02:17:52 amTrue enough but in this case it's only US (and partly Canadian) English that uses it this way. I put this in the same bucket as blackbird, robin, titmouse and buzzard.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 02:46:48 am
content: Pronouncing Moog as Moo-g instead of Moh-g

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 03:10:21 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on July 03, 2018, 01:52:45 amWhat of "Pièce de résistance"? Many English speakers use it to mean "the cherry on the cake", but it actually means the main course, the thing that provides sustenance.Quote from: AG6QR on July 03, 2018, 02:17:52 amThere are many examples of words that mean the opposite in Latin. For example, "egregious" comes from a Latin word for praiseworthy.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 04:13:16 am
content: Quote from: AG6QR on July 03, 2018, 02:17:52 amSimilarly, “pierogi” is the plural of the Polish word for the yummy dumpling, even though people will order “a pierogi” instead of “a pierog.” And to make it worse, the yutzes will go into Veselka on 2nd Ave in NYC and say, “can i have a half-dozen pierogies?” The servers wisely say nothing.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 05:01:54 am
content: Quote from: helius on July 03, 2018, 03:10:21 amYou prove my point. The US uses it the way you say but it's not what the word means. Most, if not all, of the rest of the English-speaking world use it in the way that it actually means, i.e., the course that precedes the main one. BTW, I've never heard of it used as "the cherry on the cake".

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 11:40:10 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on July 03, 2018, 01:52:45 amWhatever you call them, they are still delicious!My late Mother in law made the best ones I've ever tasted.They are not quite my favourite, though, her cabbage rolls take that honour.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 08:09:05 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on July 03, 2018, 05:01:54 amAlong these lines ...The statement, "the proof is in the pudding," doesn't make any sense because it's mangled from the original, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2018, 10:57:58 pm
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on July 03, 2018, 01:41:02 amI have always considered the small arrow pointing into or out of the substrate on the power MOSFET symbol to be the emitter-base junction of the parasitic bipolar transistor. If it is forward biased unlike the body diode, then the MOSFET is destroyed. Then the body diode shown on some power MOSFET symbols is the collector-base junction.Consider the bipolar transistor symbol itself; there are two junctions but the arrow only shows the emitter. It pointed along the conventional current flow and the unseen one is pointed the opposite.

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2018, 05:33:36 am
content: Using the word "Professional" for all kinds ofcheap and cheerful - i.e. crappy - equipment.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2018, 06:28:51 am
content: Psychology is full of incorrectly used terms. Here are50collected in a recent journal article:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4522609/A few were also discussed in a recentpodcast.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2018, 08:00:42 am
content: Quote from: Messtechniker on July 04, 2018, 05:33:36 amWhen I worked in TV Broadcasting, we always recognised "Professional" as "second tier" stuff.The real stuff was always marketed as "Broadcast Standard".As time went by, the performance of the "Professional" crud became quite good, but their build quality was still second rate.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2018, 01:29:01 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on July 02, 2018, 09:52:55 pmMy response is due to the thought that most people do not grasp what you/I mean, regardingthe mentality of the 'reverse flow' (crap) mentality, so here goes !!!....Imagine a line, of say 10 beads layed out together. (Representing 'Electrons').Now we move the far right one to the right a bit, (an electron moved from the end!).Hmmm... there is a GAP (positive-hole) between the 9th & 10th bead now.Now move the 9th bead to the right, up against the 10th bead. (Ok, another electron)...NOW we have a GAP (positive-hole!!!) between the 8th & 9th bead!!!!... (moving left!)THIS was their 'explanation' about reverse movement of 'Positive-Holes'... do you see ??Luckily, over the next 35 years, I had the privilege of training hundreds of apprentices, the'basics' and more. Not one had ever failed.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2018, 02:17:58 pm
content: The direction of current flow is arbitrary. Not all current flow is due to movement of electrons.Consider a car battery connected to a load. Anions in solution migrate to the positive electrode and cations migrate to the negative electrode. You have to assign a direction for current and it is arbitrary. In this example, the cations are like the holes but they are real and carry charge. The idea of positive holes is more of a mental crutch to help you think about the conventional current vs electron direction when staring at a circuit.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 06, 2018, 01:42:54 am
content: Quote from: Messtechniker on July 04, 2018, 05:33:36 amYou’ve described Behringer’s audio gear. UltraPro!

author: bsfeechannel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 06, 2018, 05:22:38 am
content: Quote from: GlennSprigg on July 02, 2018, 12:55:26 pmYou're not alone. I taught myself electronics before I had any formal training. I knew the angry pixies like to march from negative to positive. So I built all my reasoning on that premise. It was difficult to adapt later. Luckily no one told me any bullshit. "It's a historical convention, period".Today I'm "ambidextrous". I can think either way.QuoteFret not. The symbol for the diode has nothing to do with flow of current. It was inspired in the old point-contact crystal detectors like this in the picture below:The "arrow" is the pointed rod, while the bar is the crystal disk.You can see the first use of this symbol in publications like this:www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Bookshelf/A.P.Morgan/Wireless-Telegraph-Construction-for-Amateurs-Morgan.pdfSee figure 108 on page 149 of the PDF document.Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_detectorThe same thing is valid for transistors (bipolar, J- or MOSFETs). The one invented by the Bell Labs was developed from a point-contact diode. So the arrow always points from P to N.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 06, 2018, 07:59:46 am
content: Quote from: bsfeechannel on July 06, 2018, 05:22:38 amMechanical construction origin ... for the win!Conveniently, the misjudged assignment to give us "conventional" current flow, allowed a logical view of circuit schematics.Nice.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2018, 12:31:48 am
content: When software/firmware screens say "We" as in "we are", when whatever it's doing is client side. There is no "we" in a machine...unless they mean the Tron people.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2018, 01:06:29 pm
content: Quote from: Messtechniker on July 04, 2018, 05:33:36 amYea.... or "Hospital Grade" disinfectant.... as opposed to the weak fake 'pathetic' disinfectant,normally on the market??..... Even the 'Hospital Grade' is only like 2% hydrogen peroxide (hypo).

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2018, 01:25:23 pm
content: Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on July 04, 2018, 02:17:58 pmA Mental 'Crutch' indeed.... and a mental limitation that has no place today.....and regarding the statement...."The direction of current flow is arbitrary. Not all current flow is due to movement of electrons."The ONLY thing 'ARBITRARY' is the (accepted) ignorance of our predecessors. But we know better now?If you are suggesting that 'Electron Flow' is but ONE IDEA... then "Never the Twain shall meet".... (Look it up).(I know we think differently mate... from the past. We are like 'Chalk & Cheese)

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2018, 09:49:52 pm
content: “As seen on TV” = totally amazing.“Never before seen on TV” = even more amazing!

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2018, 10:15:56 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on July 12, 2018, 09:49:52 pmA product that advertises "as seen on TV" rarely performs as well as advertised.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2018, 04:07:16 am
content: "Fully Imported" = much better than us local idiots could make."Export Quality" = much better than us local idiots deserve.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 12:52:00 am
content: A lot of the things people think are "wrong" are actually when shorthand (or other abbreviations) happens to collide with an existing word. Great example of this being "gas" for "gasoline". It's not because we think it's in the gaseous phase, it's simply shorthand for gasoline.Quote from: Zbig on May 27, 2018, 01:01:14 pmThis is, I think, similar to gasoline, in that I think it's shorthand for a keyboard that uses discrete mechanical keyswitches. That is, of course, what really distinguishes them.Quote from: Zbig on May 27, 2018, 01:01:14 pmIf someone called a blu-ray "analog" I'd call them an idiot. But "digital copy" and "physical copy" form a nice, logical contrasting pair. (Especially since a digital copy can be conveyed by any means: online, disk, etc.)Quote from: PA4TIM on June 17, 2018, 09:14:43 amNo, not "computer" guys. It's PC (as in, Wintel PC) guys only!Quote from: PA4TIM on June 17, 2018, 09:14:43 amEnglish uses "tension" in very limited contexts. Otherwise, "voltage" is established. ::shrug::Quote from: PA4TIM on June 17, 2018, 09:14:43 amBzzzzt. It's more subtle than that:Das Meer (I assume from the Latin "mare"), der Ozean = the oceanDer See = the lakeDie See = the seaMy guess is that it's Dutch that got the words "wrong", if anything, by using "meer" for a lake.Quote from: TerraHertz on June 17, 2018, 11:12:35 amIt can definitely be ambiguous!Quote from: TerraHertz on June 17, 2018, 11:12:35 amWell that's not misuse "in general usage" (the topic of this discussion), but rather a user interface cobbled together by someone who gave it no thought. Or by code sharing between segments of the system that shouldn't be shared…Quote from: David Hess on June 17, 2018, 01:15:27 pmTHIS!! This truly is a language pet peeve of mine. What's wrong with "shortly"The mental image of the plane basically doing a go-around, with pax doing Captain Kirk rolls out of the plane onto the tarmac…Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 17, 2018, 03:09:21 pmNo. Strictly speaking, baud refers to the symbol rate. But the symbol rate hasn't been 1:1 since the 2400bps modem days, as others have said. By using more complex modulation schemes, we encode more than one bit per symbol, hence a bitrate that's higher than the baud. (Since the actual baud isn't of particular importance to the end user, this hasn't been shown in specs for ages.)Quote from: Nominal Animal on June 19, 2018, 12:07:44 amAs someone who's worked as a professional technical writer, I hate most of the rules that people are taught in school, which areliteraryrules, as opposed to rules designed to rule out ambiguity and enhance clarity. As such, in comma-separated lists, yeah, I'm gonna use a comma for each item. And if there need to be commas inside a list item, then I'll use semicolons as you did. But if possible, it's even better to just avoid a comma/semicolon-separated list altogether, and instead use a bulleted list.Quote from: helius on June 20, 2018, 06:45:31 pmMegabits vs. megabytes is bad enough.But I swear to god, I was once in a Circuit City store and two corpulent sisters were looking at the "digical" cameras, and of course the spec they were comparing the most was the "megapickles". (Cucumbers being good for weight loss, I suppose.)Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pmSince the word "datum" is all but extinct, I see no issue with treating it as a noncountable group noun.Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on June 20, 2018, 11:08:59 pmHuh? The only pronunciation I've ever heard for that word is "val-ay", like the original French. Are you saying there are people who pronounce it "val-it"?!?Quote from: Mr. Scram on June 21, 2018, 04:42:54 amBecause the name of the company is pronounced Por-shuh, not porsh. It's not snooty, it's simply correct.Quote from: David Hess on June 27, 2018, 08:01:49 amSounds to me like a Firefox bug (probably a Firefox on Windows bug). At least on the Mac, using Unicode for things like Ω has worked fine for averylong time. Outside of online services involving outdated servers, I haven't run into encoding issues for probably over 15 years.Quote from: AndyC_772 on July 02, 2018, 10:33:27 amExactly!! If you know the history, you know that ketchup used to mean a savory sauce, which could be made from various things. For example, here's an 18th century recipe for the aforementioned mushroom ketchup:The word ketchup itself is believed to come from the Indonesianketjap manis.Quote from: helius on July 03, 2018, 03:10:21 amI think you're wrong on this. The original French phrase means exactly what it does in modern English: the masterpiece. The phrase literally meant "the piece with staying power". That could be the main course, but it also could be something else. If the memorable course (or work) is small, so be it. It's about being memorable, not about being large.Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on July 03, 2018, 05:01:54 amSo what do you think it means?!?Quote from: Messtechniker on July 04, 2018, 05:33:36 amUgh, yes, don't get me started… I think the German-speaking world is unusually bad about this: marketers will plant the word "Profi" on absolute junk. On the Swiss equivalent of ebay (ricardo.ch), seeing the word "profi" on a listing instantly signals to me that it's garbage being peddled by a greedy vendor who knows nothing about the field. (It's full of "profi" soldering stations that are absolute garbage.)Quote from: Cyberdragon on July 12, 2018, 12:31:48 amI suspect this comes from people who aren't technical writers doing the writing, and confusing the gerund ("Printing…") with the infinitive and the 1st person plural somehow ("We are printing…"). That and confounding the "we" used in marketing ("We are the world leaders in blah blah blah…").

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 03:18:37 am
content: Quote from: tooki on July 17, 2018, 12:52:00 amMakes me think of what people in some countries refer to as the "gas pedal" in their car. In a diesel powered vehicle this is half correct because the pedal position controls the quantity of diesel fuel (not gasoline) injected per combustion cycle. In a gasoline engine the "gas pedal" controls the amount of *air* entering the engine, and as a =consequence= the amount of gasoline, both for EFI and carburettor engines. I realise this definition is a bit blurred nowadays with some late model very hi-tech engines though.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 04:16:17 am
content: Quote from: Circlotron on July 17, 2018, 03:18:37 amI like your analysis - which is more accurate than the conventional "understanding".I think I'm going to find that a fun topic to raise if I come across the "right" person.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 08:42:47 am
content: Quote from: Circlotron on July 17, 2018, 03:18:37 amThanks for that info, I am not a car nut and I’d actually wondered how the accelerator pedal actually controlled the engine! (I guess I just never cared enough to bother looking it up!!!)As for the name, which countries were you thinking of? I’m American, and in USA, the proper term is the accelerator, but colloquially, everyone calls it the gas pedal. Of course, I think we should call it the “go pedal” or “mo’ faster”!And as far as I’m concerned we should rename the brake pedal, too, since apparently half of us can’t choose the correct spelling of “brake”, and it bugs me... (No, I don’t want my car to break when slowing down!!)As far as the high-tech engines, are you referring to Mazda’s newfangled “holy grail” engine with the fancy multistage fuel injection or something?

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 12:31:20 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on July 13, 2018, 04:07:16 amYea, but sometimes those choice of words suggests other nonsensical things too, like...."Fully Installed", for say an advertised home split-system air-con...?As opposed to.... "We installed most of it for ya... but here's the rest of the bolts to finish it yourself" !!

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 01:06:42 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on July 17, 2018, 08:42:47 amI believe some newer engines with gasoline direct injection have a particular operating regime where at part load the drive-by-wire throttle is actually fully opened for reduced pumping losses and therefor better fuel economy. The gasoline that is sprayed directly into the cylinder under these conditions is concentrated near the centre so that the fuel-air ratio in the centre is correct and uniform despite there being way too much air present if the fuel was mixed throughout the entire cylinder air volume. A further benefit of operating this way is the flame stops short of the cylinder walls and so there is less heat loss to the cooling system. Also, the residual oil film on the cylinder walls doesn't get burnt off.

author: McBryce
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 01:31:28 pm
content: Probably mentioned already, but I couldn't be bothered reading all ten pages of posts. My "pet peev" are people who repeat the last word of an acronym, such as:"LCD Display", "ATM Machine", "LAN Network", "ICE Engine" and so many more...McBryce.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 01:46:04 pm
content: Words mean whatever we generally agree to in the current era.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 02:18:07 pm
content: One of my pet peeves is "jack plug". In the UK it seems to refer to the 1/4 inch (retro-defied as 6.5mm) connector with either two circuits (TS = Tip, Sleeve) or three (TRS = Tip, Ring, Sleeve)I grew up understanding that "plug" refers to the male gender, while "jack" refers to the female of the species. Perhaps "jack plug" is some newfangled politically-correct term here in the era of LGBTQQI (probably more variations that I can't remember?)So I never know whether "jack plug" refers to a cord-end male connector, or a panel-mount female connector? One needs the context to be sure.Furthermore, the elegant and rugged Switchcraft 297 that I grew up with as a child now costs $4-5!And Switchcraft is selling cheap Chinese designs with goofy spiral spring "strain relief"./rant

author: bob225
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 04:34:54 pm
content: Quote1/4 and6.35mmare interchangeable, Jack is a male plug the receptacle is a jack socket or a just plain socketyou can get both male and female plugs and sockets, electronics is gender friendly/neutralover this side of the pond we use metric, imperial and whitworth (the latter used up to the 60's) just to confuse the rest of the world, BSP tends to throw a lot of people

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 04:39:07 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on July 17, 2018, 02:18:07 pmBack when I was working as house sound in a venue, we'd have English bands come in, and their crew would talk about "jack to jack" and "lead to lead" cables. It took me a little while to understand what they were talking about.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 05:48:31 pm
content: I think "jack plug" is appropriate. A plug plugs something such as the kitchen sink plug. In this case it plugs the jack socket.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2018, 07:03:08 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on July 17, 2018, 12:52:00 amIt has been resurfacing in Windows applications and Windows in various forms since unicode started being used. In some cases it can be traced to fonts which lack the character and in others to applications which do not support ALT character entry which makes sense for portable systems which lack a numeric keypad.The decrease in reliability means I ignore it now along with the degree symbol and some others. Want it fixed? Take it up with Microsoft. I am sure they will be happy to fix their mistake along with all of the others I notified them about 20 years ago which remain broken.