We surrender language to scientific/other detail oriented pursuits too easily.
According to some, a raspberry is not a berry, but a pumpkin is. That’s dumb. The word berry existed before botanists tried (and failed) to determine exactly what it meant, and the original meaning is still way better/more useful than the botany one.
So here it is: a berry is a small fruit, which is usually sweet, and usually edible. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes, gooseberries, currants, and blueberries are all berries. Pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes, zucchini and bananas are not.
Other terms that have been co-opted this way include “work”, “salt”, and “rock”. I believe the fields stealing these terms should be forced to come up with their own, different words.
That’s way jargon is. If a field uses too much jargon, it raises the bar for entry unreasonably high. Instead of having a decent but imperfect understanding of something, you have no understanding.
As a recovering physicist, the jargon we come up with is absolutely terrible. In lieu of that we name things after people, or multiple people, or sometimes a composite name of jargon and people, which seems to me worst of all.
And it’s not like the other meanings of those words have been erased. I don’t even think the scientific uses are used more commonly than the every day ones.
And if someone “corrects” you just say you weren’t using the scientific term and they can fuck off with their useless contribution. Or say “hmm” and continue what you were saying if the previous instructions would be destructive to your way of life.
By using the degree of force suitable to something inconsequential. Occasional public mockery (“This guy things a watermelon is a berry!”) or miffed letters to the editor come to mind.
My level of involvement is to continue to talk about it occasionally when the opportunity presents itself, and hope that someone that isn’t yoked by the field of computer science (and therefore incapable of naming anything) will propose a name for at least one of these things.
I cope by just being a little extra specific when I can find the words to do so, like calling out botanically squash are fruits and mushrooms are fungi, while culinarily they work as veggies.
We surrender language to scientific/other detail oriented pursuits too easily.
According to some, a raspberry is not a berry, but a pumpkin is. That’s dumb. The word berry existed before botanists tried (and failed) to determine exactly what it meant, and the original meaning is still way better/more useful than the botany one.
So here it is: a berry is a small fruit, which is usually sweet, and usually edible. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, grapes, gooseberries, currants, and blueberries are all berries. Pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes, zucchini and bananas are not.
Other terms that have been co-opted this way include “work”, “salt”, and “rock”. I believe the fields stealing these terms should be forced to come up with their own, different words.
Technically correct is the stupidest kind of correct!
That’s way jargon is. If a field uses too much jargon, it raises the bar for entry unreasonably high. Instead of having a decent but imperfect understanding of something, you have no understanding.
As a recovering physicist, the jargon we come up with is absolutely terrible. In lieu of that we name things after people, or multiple people, or sometimes a composite name of jargon and people, which seems to me worst of all.
Force them how?
And it’s not like the other meanings of those words have been erased. I don’t even think the scientific uses are used more commonly than the every day ones.
And if someone “corrects” you just say you weren’t using the scientific term and they can fuck off with their useless contribution. Or say “hmm” and continue what you were saying if the previous instructions would be destructive to your way of life.
By using the degree of force suitable to something inconsequential. Occasional public mockery (“This guy things a watermelon is a berry!”) or miffed letters to the editor come to mind.
My level of involvement is to continue to talk about it occasionally when the opportunity presents itself, and hope that someone that isn’t yoked by the field of computer science (and therefore incapable of naming anything) will propose a name for at least one of these things.
I like this take!
I cope by just being a little extra specific when I can find the words to do so, like calling out botanically squash are fruits and mushrooms are fungi, while culinarily they work as veggies.