Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[TattleTeeny]

I don't think I know any fellow editors who stick with those rules unless house style calls for it. The goal is usually to provide concise clarity anyway, and avoid twisty, wordy, messy sentences--and language evolves, blah-blah-blah (admittedly a double-edged sword, that), plus you make room for colloquialisms and style and tone and direct quotes and all that shit (haha, I just called aspects of my job "shit"!)...then there's the time allowance and the "proofread" vs. "substantive edit" and even the "if it's not definitively flat-out wrong and is understandable to the readership, then let it pass" thing (happens in niche areas a lot). And English probably has more exceptions than it has rules, to be honest. It's a tough language.

I see my typos/mistakes; I just don't always bother to update, especially if people have already quoted or we get on a good conversation roll. Or my phone/laptop/internet is pissing me the hell off! Obviously for more important stuff, I would see and fix errors more vigilantly.

I do laugh at errors in the CMS though! 

My big peeve about this kind of stuff is a dollar sign, the amount, and the word "dollars" or "bucks." My old boss (the previously mentioned one for whom I'd purposely leave mistakes in the copy) loved that and refused to allow it to be changed! And now I see more and more ads and even commercials with that! Terrible!

Edited June 16, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[BookWoman56]

2 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I don't think I know any fellow editors who stick with those rules unless house style calls for it. The goal is usually to provide concise clarity anyway, and avoid twisty, wordy, messy sentences--and language evolves, blah-blah-blah (admittedly a double-edged sword, that), plus you make room for colloquialisms and style and tone and direct quotes and all that shit (haha, I just called aspects of my job "shit"!)...then there's the time allowance and the "proofread" vs. "substantive edit" and even the "if it's not definitively flat-out wrong and is understandable to the readership, then let it pass" thing (happens in niche areas a lot). And English probably has more exceptions than it has rules, to be honest. It's a tough language.

The first grammar rule I learned in grad school for a degree in English lit was that if the end result is a better, clearer sentence, then you can break any damn grammar rule you want. 

My pet peeve when it comes to grammar is people who are convinced that grammar is always a right/wrong choice. Yes, there are some grammar issues where something is flat-out wrong. But there are also many gray areas, and the choice ends up usually being personal preference. There are grammar mistakes and then there are stylistic choices. For example, as both a tech writer and a writing professor, I encourage people to use active voice over passive voice. But FFS, that doesn't mean that a single passive voice sentence on one page is wrong.  What's driving me nuts right now, though, are two mistakes I am seeing more and more often: (1) Whoa is me; and (2) Person A needs to reign in his/her tendency to do XYZ.  

Edited June 17, 2017 by BookWoman56

[TattleTeeny]

I'm a rambler! (And I hope you don't think I was calling you out or anything; just adding the two cents of someone who has to decide between sometimes conflicting info sources--and people! Can't forget those, as much as I'd like to.)

Edited June 17, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[ennui]

On 6/12/2017 at 6:58 PM, AgentRXS said:

So yesterday, I went to run errands and my car wouldn't start. Got it towed to a mechanic and and it turn out to be the starter. The guy gives me a quote, I agree to it (its sounds reasonable) and then he starts work. Then here comes "I didn't realize your car was a 6 cylinder and not 4 cylinder, that ups the price to 200 dollars more than the previous estimate. "

I know we've moved on from auto repairs, but I had a thought. AgentRXS didn't say if this was a dealership service department. I don't think people are aware that almost everyone at a car dealership gets a commission, which is why you always get hit with the upsell. For example, if you go in for an oil change and they check your mileage and recommend the 30,000 mile service package -- which costs more than a simple oil change. I think the only people at a car dealership who don't get a commission are the receptionists and cashiers.

Just fyi.

[Mountainair]

I'm peeved at myself today. Last night I was trying to be super mom. My hands were full, it was midnight, I was tired and the baby neededa bottle. Instead of emptying my hands I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and microwaved it for 30 seconds like I usually do. Only this time I put my damn tablet in the microwave instead of the bottle. Its ruined and I can't afford a new one so I'm stuck using an ancient piece of crap now. I really hate my self right now.

[bilgistic]

Oh, no. I do stuff like that all the time and I just have a cat, not a baby. I look all around the apartment for my glasses that are on my head or in my left hand.

I'm glad it was only 30 seconds, though. It could've been very bad. Not to compound the issue, but the microwave might not be safe to use anymore. There's lead in all computer-ish devices, as far as I know. Anyone more knowledgeable here?

[TattleTeeny]

6 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

No I didn't think that at all. I think we have come full circle since my original post and actually agree about grammar (grammar was just the chance topic of the bigger point). What you said in your posts are what I was thinking in the first post, that the reality of goofing up can be funny. Fellow rambler here (I try hard to rein it in so there aren't too many eyes rolling and There she goes again type thoughts, haha).  Your humor and lack of defensiveness when responding to posts is part of your appeal as a poster. 

Awww, you! Thanks!

 

Quote

I'm peeved at myself today. Last night I was trying to be super mom. My hands were full, it was midnight, I was tired and the baby neededa bottle. Instead of emptying my hands I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and microwaved it for 30 seconds like I usually do. Only this time I put my damn tablet in the microwave instead of the bottle. Its ruined and I can't afford a new one so I'm stuck using an ancient piece of crap now. I really hate my self right now.

YIKES! After a bad breakup a long time ago, I was so out of it that I put beer in the cabinet and clean dishes in the refrigerator. Also went to work with the TV remote in my purse. And last night, I got up from the couch to get lip balm from my bag, started rooting around in it, couldn't find my glasses, yelled and cursed, and then realized that they were over on the couch...and that they hadn't even been the reason I'd gotten up in the first place.

Edited June 17, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[auntlada]

We no longer have a full set of sharp knives, and I think it is because I threw them away after supper.

Every night, I put one can of Coke in the refrigerator for the morning. I often catch myself trying to put it in the cats' food cabinet.

[TattleTeeny]

Maybe cats love Coke (or lowercase-c coke, judging by my cats' behavior)! 

Just kidding; I would not give Coke to a cat! Or coke.

Edited June 17, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, auntlada said:

Every night, I put one can of Coke in the refrigerator for the morning. I often catch myself trying to put it in the cats' food cabinet.

You have one of those, too? Well, technically, Bilgisticat has an entire pantry shelf. I left an opened tub of cream cheese on it once instead of putting it in the fridge, I realized much later.

[Mountainair]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

Oh, no. I do stuff like that all the time and I just have a cat, not a baby. I look all around the apartment for my glasses that are on my head or in my left hand.

I'm glad it was only 30 seconds, though. It could've been very bad. Not to compound the issue, but the microwave might not be safe to use anymore. There's lead in all computer-ish devices, as far as I know. Anyone more knowledgeable here?

Yea I was kind of wondering if I may have screwed up the microwave in the process. It didn't take 30 seconds before I realized what had happened but long enough that my iPad does not work, has burn marks on it and the screen is cracked. 

My brain was evidently on hiatus yesterday. Earlier in the day I spent over an hour looking for the baby monitor. I tore the house apart, even woke the baby by looking for it on her room. Finally I found it in my room. When I made the bed that morning the monitor got made into the bed so it was tucked in nicely under the sheets. 

Both of those scenarios are just so out of character for me so I'm mad at myself. Proves I'm only human I guess but I never lose the monitor and I've never microwaved electronics before!

[auntlada]

It's above the primary litterbox, @bilgistic. One side has canned food, and the other side has dry food. I don't know what the space below was originally cut out for. Trash maybe. Portable dishwasher maybe. It used to be part of the cabinet, though, because the outside edge of the doors go all the way down, with hinges at the bottom.

Edited June 17, 2017 by auntlada

[TattleTeeny]

We have one too. And I spend more time than one should trying to arrange the cans in such a way that there are no "repeat foods" over the course of a few days! People also laugh at me because I have the litter box in a kitchen corner (also right below the cat-food cabinet) with the opening facing the wall. Laugh all you want; that small trick has cut way down on litter crumbs being strewn across the bare floor, as my cats can no longer charge out of the thing as if they're being chased!

Edited June 17, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[bilgistic]

32 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

Yea I was kind of wondering if I may have screwed up the microwave in the process. It didn't take 30 seconds before I realized what had happened but long enough that my iPad does not work, has burn marks on it and the screen is cracked. 

My brain was evidently on hiatus yesterday. Earlier in the day I spent over an hour looking for the baby monitor. I tore the house apart, even woke the baby by looking for it on her room. Finally I found it in my room. When I made the bed that morning the monitor got made into the bed so it was tucked in nicely under the sheets. 

Both of those scenarios are just so out of character for me so I'm mad at myself. Proves I'm only human I guess but I never lose the monitor and I've never microwaved electronics before!

This whole week sucked, but yesterday was extra suck with a turd on top. I either turned off my alarm or slept through it yesterday morning. I missed my early doctor appointment and was 2.5 hours late to work(!!). It's not Mercury retrograde right now (I blame anything screwy on that), so I don't know what's happening.

25 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

People also laugh at me because I have the litter box in a kitchen corner (also right below the cat-food cabinet) with the opening facing the wall. Laugh all you want; that small trick has cut way down on litter crumbs being strewn across the bare floor, as my cats can no longer charge out of the thing as if they're being chased!

The mad dash out of the litter box--every cat I've known does that! My mother muses that they feel lighter after a trip to the potty. It's probably some evolutionary thing--getting away from the area where prey will now know they are--but it's still hilarious.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 6/13/2017 at 0:04 AM, backformore said:

College - I had a college professor - he taught biology - who bragged that he never had, and never would, give a female student an A.  His reasoning is that medical schools were now accepting women! Women were taking up spots in medical school that rightfully belonged to men,  and female doctors would only work a short time before quitting to have babies, so it was a waste of education.  This professor was dong his part to advance the careers of men,  by holding women back.  women who got less than an A in biology would not get into med school.  This was the teacher's policy, and it was unchallenged.

Law school - The drill in law school is that the professors call on people to discuss the cases.  You could raise your hand and volunteer, but the professor could ignore those people and call on people who hadn't raised their hands.  You basically lived in fear if you showed up but hadn't read the case that you'd be called on.

I had the vaunted Charles Alan Wright for Constitutional Law in the early 1980s.  He represented Nixon during Watergate in the skirmish over the tapes.  [And lost--ha ha ha.]

Wright never called on people and the story was that he did call on people for years, but only men, and a few years before I got there, a woman in his class complained that he never called on women, and after that, he never called on anyone, period.  

On the one hand, the whole thing pissed me off.  But on the other, it meant I would never be called on, so I was okay with it and I could go to class unprepared.

But it made for an interesting first day of class.  He walks in and says, "I need the facts for Marbury v. Madison," and all 100 of us just sat there.  Long pause.  He said again that he needed the facts for Marbury v. Madison, and nobody moved.  This went on for a little bit, and he finally said we can't discuss a case if we don't know the facts, so we'll pick up with Martin v. Hunter's Lessee tomorrow, and walked out.  Never did cover Marbury v. Madison.

I didn't go to class the next day because I didn't want to know which of us was going to be the ultimate pussy and cave in to this asshole.  I never read a single one of the assigned cases, but I did go to class regularly...and did the New York Times crossword puzzle, figuring something he was saying might soak in inadvertently.  I bought a student-written outline right before the final, took the test, and made the second highest grade in the class--something that was completely out of character for me. 

However, I typed my exam, and I just can't help but wonder how I would have done if he'd been grading a test he could identify as having been written by a woman. 

[bilgistic]

I was just looking in my nightstand for something and wondered how things in a drawer get dusty. Then I saw the small box of condoms I bought when I was seeing a guy right before I got my current job. Because he was still in love (or whatever) with his ex-girlfriend, he dumped me after a month, which was a week after I started my job (three years ago in May). The condoms expired in August. Anyone want a full box of expired condoms? What a life.

[Quof]

"Small" box?  Or "small" condoms?

[bilgistic]

Small box of 12 regular-sized condoms. Free to good or bad home. You must pick up or send SASE.

Remember SASEs?

[Quof]

Quote

The condoms expired in August. 

August of what year?

[bilgistic]

2016

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

Remember SASEs?

I remember when I found out you could fold the SASE and put it in the other one.  It had never occurred to me; I always used a bigger envelope to send the smaller one.  What a doof.

[Quof]

Oh, bilgistic, I'll pass.

One should never go cheap on brakes or condoms.  Equal potential for horrific consequences. 

[TattleTeeny]

5 hours ago, bilgistic said:

The mad dash out of the litter box--every cat I've known does that! My mother muses that they feel lighter after a trip to the potty. It's probably some evolutionary thing--getting away from the area where prey will now know they are--but it's still hilarious.

That's my theory--they're all light on their feet and ready to frolic after unloading! But the litter shrapnel somehow takes on a forward trajectory. Hence the "bathroom door" being arranged a foot from the wall; now they have to exit with some decorum.

[AgentRXS]

Quote

I know we've moved on from auto repairs, but I had a thought. AgentRXS didn't say if this was a dealership service department

It was a regular mechanic shop--not a Goodyear/Pep Boys type place.

 

Quote

Laugh all you want; that small trick has cut way down on litter crumbs being strewn across the bare floor, as my cats can no longer charge out of the thing as if they're being chased!

I wish the litter crumbs were all I had to worry about---no matter how much litter is in the box, Diamond feels it is her mission to dump half of it out on to the floor after each potty break.  I hate having to sweep huge mounds of fresh litter and dump it back into the box, only for her to do it again on her next visit.

[TattleTeeny]

Ah, life with cats. Anyone who has that "cats are all the same" idea must not know cats. I wish for one day that it is possible to get answers from them to all my "but why do you do this?" questions.

Edited June 18, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[PRgal]

So I can't handle super-spicy food and always ask whether something is "Anglo-spicy" or "international spicy" (as racist as it may sound).  Usually, people who are "from" this country (Canada), don't sound/look surprised when I ask (they just laugh it off), but anyone who isn't (i.e. they have a foreign accent), will.  It isn't like most parts of China have spicy foods (and definitely not Cantonese food).  I think Szechuan is one of the few parts of the country known for hot/spice.

[backformore]

My pet peeve -

  My sister has grandkids, the rest of us don't.  She is also retired.   A few days ago, she and her grandkids went out to lunch with my dad.

So - Fathers day, the whole family got together.   But not her grandkids, who were with their parents and the other side of their family.      Sis decided that the way my dad needed to spend father's day -  in a gathering with his OTHER kids and Grandkids, was to a) look at photos and videos on her phone  of the great grandkids (her kids, whom he just saw), and then SKYPING with those great grandkids. 

Doesn't seem like a big deal, except  that it happens all the time.   Family members drive to be together, we all bring food, we plan to celebrate, and suddenly she turns it into "let's skype/facetime with the people who are NOT here."  Yes, dad is elderly, and there are family members he doesn't get to see very often - they came to see him.  Rather than letting him have a conversation with those folks who are present in the room, she interrupts the flow of the event  by getting her phone out, shoving it in front of Dad, so he can spend the majority of the time we all have together talking to the people who are NOT present, and then looking at photos and videos of the great grandkids.   She doesn't ask, doesn't wait until there's a lull, doesn't take into consideration that some people have other things scheduled and have a couple of hours to spend with the family.  Just pulls out her phone, makes the call,  interrupts the conversation and decides that Dad needs to Skype,  NOW.  And it's not just a few minutes - mostly because it's a PHONE, not a computer, and dad's eyes aren't that good, so there's a lot of "who's that? what's he saying?"  

And it's kids he just saw the other day, as opposed to the people sitting in the room with him, whom he hasn't spent time with lately, who all have to WAIT until he's done.  And the rest of us sit around looking at each other wondering "Why are we here?"  

[AgentRXS]

Quote

Ah, life with cats. Anyone who has that "cats are all the same" idea must not know cats. I wish for one day that it is possible to get answers from them to all my "but why do you do this?" questions.

LOL Try viewing human life from the eyes of cat. They watch us as well willingly enter a room and "torture" ourselves by showering/bathing in water , they watch as we stare into various screens that sometimes make noise, and they hear us as we talk (I'm sure the cats think that we are talking  to ourselves) while holding a weird object in our hands. They stare out the window as we come and go from god-knows-where in our noisy spaceship. And we do it all on severe sleep deprivation (compared to them). I'm sure they have many, many questions about human behavior as well.

[Quof]

Hmmm, a discussion of litter boxes and their contents (in the kitchen, no less!). If I guess I should be grateful it's not in the What's For Dinner forum.

If only there were a place dedicated to talking about pets.....

[auntlada]

32 minutes ago, AgentRXS said:

LOL Try viewing human life from the eyes of cat. They watch us as well willingly enter a room and "torture" ourselves by showering/bathing in water , they watch as we stare into various screens that sometimes make noise, and they hear us as we talk (I'm sure the cats think that we are talking  to ourselves) while holding a weird object in our hands. They stare out the window as we come and go from god-knows-where in our noisy spaceship. And we do it all on severe sleep deprivation (compared to them). I'm sure they have many, many questions about human behavior as well.

I'd do it with a lot less sleep deprivation if one of them didn't need attention in the middle of the night. And that is a pet peeve (in more ways than one).

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

LOL Try viewing human life from the eyes of cat. They watch us as well willingly enter a room and "torture" ourselves by showering/bathing in water , they watch as we stare into various screens that sometimes make noise, and they hear us as we talk (I'm sure the cats think that we are talking  to ourselves) while holding a weird object in our hands. They stare out the window as we come and go from god-knows-where in our noisy spaceship. And we do it all on severe sleep deprivation (compared to them). I'm sure they have many, many questions about human behavior as well.

Points taken--though my cats are obsessed with the tub. They don't get in when I take a shower but the sit on the edge between the curtain and the liner. One did fall in once while I was washing my hair--same one that loves for me to use the removable sprayer and shoot the liner with it at his face level; he swats and bites at it. The other cries at us to turn on the sink for him.

That said, the shower-water-biter constantly looks at me with wide, scandalized eyes when I am doing nothing out of the ordinary; he's a real nervous Nellie.

 

1 hour ago, Quof said:

Hmmm, a discussion of litter boxes and their contents (in the kitchen, no less!). If I guess I should be grateful it's not in the What's For Dinner forum.

If only there were a place dedicated to talking about pets.....

Yup, the kitchen. It's just fine there. 

Edited June 19, 2017 by TattleTeeny
Because never mind; why bother?

[Qoass]

It's Monday morning at the day job and I just went to the water cooler to find a cluster of people talking about spending their weekend at the beach.  I spent the weekend working my other job.  Don't get me wrong:  I like my second job (way more than my primary one) but ugh, when's it my turn to go to the beach?

[Sun-Bun]

19 hours ago, PRgal said:

So I can't handle super-spicy food and always ask whether something is "Anglo-spicy" or "international spicy" (as racist as it may sound).  Usually, people who are "from" this country (Canada), don't sound/look surprised when I ask (they just laugh it off), but anyone who isn't (i.e. they have a foreign accent), will.  It isn't like most parts of China have spicy foods (and definitely not Cantonese food).  I think Szechuan is one of the few parts of the country known for hot/spice.

As we here in some parts of the US joke, there's regular hot, and then there's "white people hot." It's kinda embarrassing to witness how scared white folks get over a little natural heat, actually; gives those of us who are more adventurous with our flavor profiles a bad rap.

I'm a Nashville, TN native, home of legendary hot chicken. Actually, it's been around since the 30's but it only gained international fame a few years ago. But those of us who grew up around here eating it over the past few decades usually like it so hot that we're crying/sweating. 

Mind you, with the notoriety that hot chicken has recently gained, we're getting the cheap hot chicken competitors coming around. Or as some of us here joke, "tourist/white people/gentrified" hot chicken---yes, hot chicken was mostly considered food for black people back in the day.

As a white woman I sometimes have had to just roll my eyes and chuckle when I go into the old school hot chicken joints and they automatically assume that I can only handle mild or medium; nope, I came for hot chicken, not mild chicken. Anyways, racially off as it may sound, it's oddly satisfying when the staff at these places sees me eating hot or even extra hot chicken and remains shocked that a white person can gladly handle extra hot/spicy flavors. Yes, not all of us white folks only want the bland stuff---this food masochist wants her food to hurt her and hurt her good!

[PRgal]

Just now, Sun-Bun said:

As we here in some parts of the US joke, there's regular hot, and then there's "white people hot." It's kinda embarrassing to witness how scared white folks get over a little natural heat, actually; gives those of us who are more adventurous with our flavor profiles a bad rap.

I'm a Nashville, TN native, home of legendary hot chicken. Actually, it's been around since the 30's but it only gained international fame a few years ago. But those of us who grew up around here eating it over the past few decades usually like it so hot that we're crying/sweating. 

Mind you, with the notoriety that hot chicken has recently gained, we're getting the cheap hot chicken competitors coming around. Or as some of us here joke, "tourist/white people/gentrified" hot chicken---yes, hot chicken was mostly considered food for black people back in the day.

As a white woman I sometimes have had to just roll my eyes and chuckle when I go into the old school hot chicken joints and they automatically assume that I can only handle mild or medium; nope, I came for hot chicken, not mild chicken. Anyways, racially off as it may sound, it's oddly satisfying when the staff at these places sees me eating hot or even extra hot chicken and remains shocked that a white person can gladly handle extra hot/spicy flavors. Yes, not all of us white folks only want the bland stuff---this food masochist wants her food to hurt her and hurt her good!

This is exactly why I say "Anglo-hot" instead of "white people hot."  Anglo can be seen as more of a culture than a race.  I'm NOT white, but I can't handle "international hot."  It's like East Asians in Toronto who say white people don't do seafood.  Ummmm, have you ever gone out east??!!!  Or west, for that matter?

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

As we here in some parts of the US joke, there's regular hot, and then there's "white people hot." It's kinda embarrassing to witness how scared white folks get over a little natural heat, actually; gives those of us who are more adventurous with our flavor profiles a bad rap.

My turkey-and mashed potatoes BF once came home with a can a sriracha Pringles, and gave them to me because they were "insanely hot" and that he had no idea how anyone could stand it. I laughed because Pringles?! Now come on now!

[Sun-Bun]

15 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

My turkey-and mashed potatoes BF once came home with a can a sriracha Pringles, and gave them to me because they were "insanely hot" and that he had no idea how anyone could stand it. I laughed because Pringles?! Now come on now!

Reminds me of how several of my family members gasp and act horrified whenever they see I'm eating a handful of Fuego-style Takis, those insanely delightful red-spiced corn chips once only found in Hispanic groceries. Please, they're friggin' store-bought hot corn chips, not fresh Carolina Reaper peppers: don't worry, it'll be okay!

[AgentRXS]

Quote

I'd do it with a lot less sleep deprivation if one of them didn't need attention in the middle of the night. And that is a pet peeve (in more ways than one).

Aww he just wants to share the most active time of his day with you. Either that or its payback for waking him up during one of his daytime naps. Nobody said cats aren't grudge holding little creatures.

Edited June 19, 2017 by AgentRXS

[Katy M]

12 minutes ago, AgentRXS said:

Aww he just wants to share the most active time of his day with you. Either that or its payback for waking him up during one of his daytime naps. Nobody said aren't grudge holding little creatures.

Some days when I get home from work, I wake up my cat just to make sure she's alive.  She's old.  She's sick.  And she is the soundest sleeper you've ever met.  She usually jumps a foot when I just lightly put my hand on her to make sure she's breathing.  But, I'm really just paying her back for a few years ago when I would wake up in the middle of the night and she would be standing over my head staring at me.  I'm not sure if she was just making sure I was alive, but wake up to that, and you're lucky if you don't have a heart attack.

[MrSmith]

On 6/16/2017 at 5:57 PM, TattleTeeny said:

My big peeve about this kind of stuff is a dollar sign, the amount, and the word "dollars" or "bucks."

Here's something I've never understood about this. We say things like "Fourteen thousand dollars", yet we write it as $14,000. Now if the dollar sign is supposed to be read as "dollars", then wouldn't $14,000 be read as "dollars fourteen thousand"? Why don't we write $14,000 as 14,000$? To my mind, putting the dollar sign at the end makes more sense.

[TattleTeeny]

Who the god-damn hell even knows? Plus it becomes inconsistent when we put the cents one on the end! No wonder people have trouble with this kind of shit! 

Oooh, I'm all charged up again today; the language-wrecking legal fools are screwing up shit all over the place today, and then being douchey about it. On my ninth revision of a 200-word catalog intro because they keep adding errors and then...

being douchey about it, haha!

[2727]

This has to be one of the best topics on the site. Being pissed off is a fine hobby, if you ask me.

[TattleTeeny]

I think it helps--not just because of the venting aspect (though that is fabulous because you can do it and get it all out without having to make a thing of it with the peeve-causer), but because it's sometimes funny to see what peeves others, and the way they explain why--especially if they realize it's not that bad in the grand scheme of life. Then, when others make comments like, "I'm sorry for your problem, but your post made me laugh," then maybe they laugh too. I know I do. 

[bilgistic]

I have used our forums here to pick up colorful language and phrases to integrate into my vernacular. How people express their pissed-offed-ness is good times. I think I have the same person to thank for "jackwagon" and "what the shit".

[NutMeg]

About spicy food: I ask if it's pepper spicy or chili spicy, because I can take as much pepper as you can throw at me but chili instantly numbs all my taste buds, and I hate that.

About cats : I believe my cat understands me even when she pretends she doesn't. Yesterday, with her around, I told my son (who is the love of her life) that she had been a pest in the morning (he was sleeping late because sick and I wanted him to sleep as long as possible) and that cuddles, then reasoning didn't work, so I had to revert to a threatening technique (pretending to throw my water bottle at her). Each of the three times I had to get up, I was settling in on my bed with my coffee cup, wanting to make strides in my writing before the day "officially" started and I had to get to my daily work. Each time she started loudly complaining, and as I told my son in front of her I really disliked starting my day on a threatening note. Apparently she understood loud and clear: today I got the usual morning cuddles and purrs, then as usual told her to let me know when she was back in after I let her outside (which she did), and no more meowing in front of my son's bedroom door. Let's see how tomorrow goes, I stil have to test her long term memory :)

I used the same approach with my son even when he was a baby that didn't talk: I always explained to him what would happen, why I was doing this instead of that, etc. People, notably my ex, used to roll eyes, but my baby never cried when I was leaving because (I want to believe) he knew I was coming back. I use the same approach with my cat when she's stressed, and she seems to benefit from it. You may all make fun of me, it's worked for me :) My theory is that babies and pets understand much more that we think they do, so why not tell it to them straight? worst scenario is they don't get it, but empirical evidence (mine) is they do.

Lastly, I agree on how the dollar sign should be *after* the number, it's more logical with how we read. Other languages have it in that more logical way, the order being xxx figure, then mn, bn, etc., then currency.  

[Qoass]

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To my mind, putting the dollar sign at the end makes more sense.

I feel the same way about writing dates. Whenever I come across the English day/month/year configuration, my brain grumbles.

[FormerMod-a1]

9 minutes ago, Qoass said:

I feel the same way about writing dates. Whenever I come across the English day/month/year configuration, my brain grumbles.

This one I can see though.  A lot of people, if saying it aloud would say "It is the twentieth of June", and you go from smallest increment to largest - day-month-year - and many would see that as more logical.  That said, since I was raised with MM/DD/YYYY and saying "June twentieth" rather than the other way around, it does take me a bit to adjust.  So, grumble away, brain!  :-)

[MrSmith]

1 hour ago, NutMeg said:

About spicy food: I ask if it's pepper spicy or chili spicy, because I can take as much pepper as you can throw at me but chili instantly numbs all my taste buds, and I hate that.

My wife has this problem, too. Whereas I like a little kick in my food, most of the time. I don't get native-born-Mexican level spicy (ever) because that's just too much for me. However, native-born-45-year-old-American level works just great! :D

Quote

About cats : I believe my cat understands me even when she pretends she doesn't. Yesterday, with her around, I told my son (who is the love of her life) that she had been a pest in the morning (he was sleeping late because sick and I wanted him to sleep as long as possible) and that cuddles, then reasoning didn't work, so I had to revert to a threatening technique (pretending to throw my water bottle at her). Each of the three times I had to get up, I was settling in on my bed with my coffee cup, wanting to make strides in my writing before the day "officially" started and I had to get to my daily work. Each time she started loudly complaining, and as I told my son in front of her I really disliked starting my day on a threatening note. Apparently she understood loud and clear: today I got the usual morning cuddles and purrs, then as usual told her to let me know when she was back in after I let her outside (which she did), and no more meowing in front of my son's bedroom door. Let's see how tomorrow goes, I stil have to test her long term memory :)

I used the same approach with my son even when he was a baby that didn't talk: I always explained to him what would happen, why I was doing this instead of that, etc. People, notably my ex, used to roll eyes, but my baby never cried when I was leaving because (I want to believe) he knew I was coming back. I use the same approach with my cat when she's stressed, and she seems to benefit from it. You may all make fun of me, it's worked for me :) My theory is that babies and pets understand much more that we think they do, so why not tell it to them straight? worst scenario is they don't get it, but empirical evidence (mine) is they do.  

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if your cat and your (then-infant) son do/did understand you. Even if your then-infant son didn't understand you, clearly your tone of voice and the calmness you exhibited reassured him. Though, I'm with you: I believe they do understand. I know my dog understands what I'm saying to him perfectly well. If you ask him where the "tree rat" or "squirrel" is, he knows to go look for the squirrels (and chase any he finds). He understands several colloquialisms used for asking someone else if they're ready to leave the house, and he gets "appropriately" (read as: "over the top") excited when he's going (and he knows when he is going, too, even before we reach for the leash).

My now-8-year-old nephew was baby-sat by my wife for the first two years of his life. They spent all day, every day watching "Here Come the ABCs" and "Here Come the 1-2-3s", with my wife narrating the entire time teaching him the letters, numbers, and other things on the screen. When he went for his kindergarten entry test to assess where he was educationally, one of the things he was shown was a picture of a farm. However, the farmhouse, barn, windmill, and fields were all in the background, while a combine was in the foreground. Because of that, my nephew concluded it was a picture of a combine and said so. The teacher had never gotten that answer and had never noticed there was even a combine in the picture! He was doing fifth grade work while in third grade and still not sufficiently challenged (because he does not struggle to maintain straight A's in every subject).

43 minutes ago, Qoass said:

I feel the same way about writing dates. Whenever I come across the English day/month/year configuration, my brain grumbles.

I write my dates in that configuration. That said, I NEVER(!) write my dates as 20/6/17. Instead, I always write my dates as 20 Jun 2017. I no longer abbreviate the year and I always use the three letter abbreviation for the month. That way, I get to write my dates how I like and there can be absolutely no confusion as to which format I used.

Oh, and Happy Summer Solstice tomorrow!

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

This one I can see though.  A lot of people, if saying it aloud would say "It is the twentieth of June", and you go from smallest increment to largest - day-month-year - and many would see that as more logical.  That said, since I was raised with MM/DD/YYYY and saying "June twentieth" rather than the other way around, it does take me a bit to adjust.  So, grumble away, brain!  :-)

And, if you don't know what the date is supposed to be 1/12 versus 12/1 is impossible to figure out if you're not sure which format is being used. 

[Quof]

I figure it always makes more sense to write out the month, wherever possible, to avoid confusion. 

I'm always puzzled/amused by people on Judge Judy who say "On 6/12, I was proceeding to drive my vehicle.... "   Who talks that way?

[3pwood]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

...  I'm always puzzled/amused by people on Judge Judy who say "On 6/12, I was proceeding to drive my vehicle...."   Who talks that way?

Cops.  Who also refer to "an individual" instead of "a person", & say things like "the driver's head collided with the pavement & he became deceased".   Language mangling isn't an innate skill, so they must take classes in it at the Police Academy.