Stupid Things People Say

[Zulu Romeo]

^ In general, people talk too much. Pare it down to a minimum. It should be obvious whether or not something you're saying is opinion or fact.

Again, you're making assumptions. Especially on an internet board (plenty examples here on this very TrekBBS), you can't afford to assume that this is how somone must react to any given post.

If you want to make things obvious, then it shouldn't take too much effort to actually make it obvious, to the extent that if you were to approach what you say with fresh eyes, then you understand what that person (you) was saying. Even if it means not paring it down to a minimum of what you want to say. If you even have to spell it out to make sure you leave no ambiguity, it is worth the trouble.

As for people talking too much? I think the opposite (people not communicationg enough) is the real problem, and the solution is to not only talk more, but also to read and listen more.

 

[Goliath]

A lot of people nowadays don't seem to understand that a movie theatre is not their living room, and that behaviour that would be appropriate in their living room is not appropriate in an auditorium.

So I should quit bringing lube to the theater?

Depends on the theater.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

As for people talking too much? I think the opposite (people not communicationg enough) is the real problem,

I meant people TALK too much. I didn't say they communicate too much. You don't have to talk to communicate, and you can talk without communicating (i.e. bullshit smalltalk).

 

[bluedana]

I called up my primary doctor's office a couple of days ago to get a referral to a oncology specialist. What followed was an enormously frustrating conversation with the very thick receptionist. Example:

Me: I need a referral to a gynecological oncologist.
Her: Why do you need an oncologist?
Me: (long pause) Um, ... because I ... have cancer?

I realize you included only a part of your conversation, but the example you gave seemed a bit innocous since I've noticed those receptionists always ask for the purpose for a refeeral or appointment no matter how "obvious" it might seem. For all she knows, you were looking for info for a loved one. Sorry if this offends you.

No, it doesn't offend me at all. And, yes, I only included a part of the conversation. The part that happened after I gave her my patient ID number, asked to speak to the PA (which she blocked), told her how I came to need a new specialist (the one I had had changed practices), told her that I needed every three month follow ups and was due for one in August, and explained repeatedly that the OB-GYN practice and a GYN-ONC practice were not the same thing.

So yeah, the word "oncologist" should have clued her in after all of that since one typically sees an oncologist after one has gotten a diagnosis.

And after all of that, she says, oh, okay, well we can handle that in-house -- and gives me the number for the OB-GYN practice.

 

[Amaris]

A lot of people nowadays don't seem to understand that a movie theatre is not their living room, and that behaviour that would be appropriate in their living room is not appropriate in an auditorium.

So I should quit bringing lube to the theater?

Depends on the theater.

Or any Michael Bay movie.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

As for people talking too much? I think the opposite (people not communicationg enough) is the real problem,

I meant people TALK too much. I didn't say they communicate too much. You don't have to talk to communicate, and you can talk without communicating (i.e. bullshit smalltalk).

And if people don't talk enough, they don't communicate enough. Similarly, if people don't state their intentions sufficiently enough through talk or through writing, as in your "In my opinion" example, then the methods of communication are limited, especially if the forms of communication are limited to one modality (talk, or text, for example), and so the results are less satisfying.

You can communicate without talking, but can you interpret it just as well if you are restricted to the one form of communication (such as an internet message board)? And you can talk (or write) without communicating, but then again you just have to be good at listening (or reading, respectively) to filter out what is of value to you.

This has been an interesting conversation, and not just because of the ideas being thrown about. It has made me believe that the so-called "stupid" things people say may well just be a result of people trying to clarify things better for their own understanding.

What is "stupid" is the way that the statements can contradict themselves, confound logic and what is deemed common sense, and sometimes with a degree of irony to them, making them humorous.

Also what makes some people think the statements stupid is in how they contradict their own world views - perhaps a better term than "stupid" is "ideologically antagonistic" in these cases.

Some of the shorter phrases deemed "stupid" (or, better, "unwise") are also those seen in hindsight and based on experience of the interpreter. To use my examples earlier in the thread, it would be unwise to tell an angry person to "calm down" as it might be misinterpreted in a paternalistic tone and make them angrier; or to tell someone straight away that you love them is a big risk as it could be seen as a step too far in a budding relationship.

Ultimately, amusing and infuriating these things may be, the stupid things we say all improve communication and understanding, and indeed might end up as being the very necessary things we need to ensure that communication is crystal clear.

During our training, we were always taught that it is better to ask stupid questions early before you ask them too late. And if you do dare to say the stupid thing, you might even find that they might not be so stupid after all.

 

[Nardpuncher]

When I hear “It's the three-month anniversary” or “It's the six-month anniversary” of some event.

There's no such thing, of course. The first anniversary takes place one year after the event. The second anniversary is two years after, etc. That's what “anniversary” means.

Well, sometimes a newlywed couple will say “We're celebrating our one-week wedding anniversary.” But that's because they think they're being cute.

I say "One month anniversary" and stuff like that because everyone knows what you mean and we don't have a better word for it.
There are many words we use incorrectly but after time it's OK because we all know the 'new' meaning of these words.
Like dumb which really means that one is unable to talk, but is now accepted as meaning stupid. Or decimate which really means to destroy a tenth of something, but is accepted as a synonym for destroyed by most everyone, except those that want to be the kind of annoying person that corrects people at parties. If they get invited to them, that is.

 

[Trekker4747]

IIRC "decimate" doesn't mean to "destroy" a 10th of something -because, really, how would you calculate that- but to reduce something by 10s. Like you kill every tenth man or something along those lines. But, yeah, the meaning of words change over time and "decimate" has also come to mean to destroy something. Hard for some people to grasp but the meanings of words change and evolve over time.

To get upset because "anniversary" literally means an annual celebration of something, and not simply whatever increment you want it to be, is sort-of like getting upset that in some contexts "bad" means "good."

(Granted, one is slang and one is the new, modified, definition of the word, but, still, you get my point.)

 

[Owain Taggart]

I recommend reading 'The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that way' by Bill Bryson. It's an amusing story on the evolution of the English language.

 

[ITL]

I recommend reading 'The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that way' by Bill Bryson. It's an amusing story on the evolution of the English language.

One of the few Bryson books I have yet to read. Must get a copy!

 

[Finn]

^He's my favorite author. His Walk in the Woods is a must for those who like hiking, especially the Appalachain Trai. I've read a couple others, and I have yet to finish the Australia one.

 

[Lindley]

But if it's everyday then there is no weekend!

Obviously they mean they'd like that feeling everyday, and not literally have every day named Friday with nothing else changing. It's just a different way of saying "I wish every day felt like this."

But that Farscape episode was kinda weak.

 

[Goliath]

Or decimate which really means to destroy a tenth of something, but is accepted as a synonym for destroyed by most everyone, except those that want to be the kind of annoying person that corrects people at parties. If they get invited to them, that is.

IIRC "decimate" doesn't mean to "destroy" a 10th of something -because, really, how would you calculate that- but to reduce something by 10s. Like you kill every tenth man or something along those lines. But, yeah, the meaning of words change over time and "decimate" has also come to mean to destroy something.

As one of those annoying people who corrects people at parties, I feel compelled to intervene.

"Decimation" was originally a punishment for mutiny or desertion in the Roman army. If a unit mutinied or deserted, one man out of ten was chosen by lot, and was then clubbed or stoned to death by his comrades.

You can see an Italian Army officer inflicting a penalty like this on rebellious Libyans in the movie Lion of the Desert: he lines them up, and then shoots every tenth man in the head with his pistol.

Over time, people began using this word more and more loosely, to mean simply the death of large numbers of people. A unit was 'decimated' in battle. A population was 'decimated' by disease.

But I wasn't aware that people had started using it to mean destruction as well as death.

 

[Marten]

IIRC "decimate" doesn't mean to "destroy" a 10th of something -because, really, how would you calculate that- but to reduce something by 10s. Like you kill every tenth man or something along those lines. But, yeah, the meaning of words change over time and "decimate" has also come to mean to destroy something. Hard for some people to grasp but the meanings of words change and evolve over time.

To get upset because "anniversary" literally means an annual celebration of something, and not simply whatever increment you want it to be, is sort-of like getting upset that in some contexts "bad" means "good."

(Granted, one is slang and one is the new, modified, definition of the word, but, still, you get my point.)

It's a Roman legionary discuplinary method, where one tenth of a cohort (Or any type of unit) were killed in order to punish them.

Sorry, Cameleon beat me to it.

 

[Marc]

IIRC "decimate" doesn't mean to "destroy" a 10th of something -because, really, how would you calculate that- but to reduce something by 10s. Like you kill every tenth man or something along those lines. But, yeah, the meaning of words change over time and "decimate" has also come to mean to destroy something. Hard for some people to grasp but the meanings of words change and evolve over time.

To get upset because "anniversary" literally means an annual celebration of something, and not simply whatever increment you want it to be, is sort-of like getting upset that in some contexts "bad" means "good."

(Granted, one is slang and one is the new, modified, definition of the word, but, still, you get my point.)

It's a Roman legionary discuplinary method, where one tenth of a cohort (Or any type of unit) were killed in order to punish them.

Sorry, Cameleon beat me to it.

Or larger - Marcus Crassus decimated what was left of a legion after it ran from the slave army led by Spartacus.

As the topic, the local weather presenter always talks about "the installment plan" as in "we might get some sunshine and fine weather on the installment plan".

Does the idiot even know what an installment plan is?

 

[scotpens]

As the topic, the local weather presenter always talks about “the installment plan” as in “we might get some sunshine and fine weather on the installment plan.”

Does the idiot even know what an installment plan is?

I'm not even sure what he means by that, but maybe he thinks he's being witty. After all, who can afford to pay the cash price for good weather nowadays?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

"God did it."

"Evolution is just a theory."

 

[Amaris]

"God did it."

That is a statement of faith and has no bearing on the intelligence of the speaker. One can believe in a god, and that a god created the natural world and still be very intelligent.

"Evolution is just a theory."

That is merely a statement out of ignorance, not stupidity.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

A gr 10 student taps the librarian on the shoulder and shows her a book and asks "Is this a book or an on-line source?"

OMG

That totally outdoes anything I could come up w/ from my former teaching days.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

That's a bit like the menu at Tim Hortons saying "Chai Tea". Realistically, you only need to say Chai, since in India where it originates, that is the word for Tea, so it's a bit like saying Tea Tea, but for North Americans to understand what they're ordering, most restauraunts say Chai Tea.

Someone else that realizes this!

I grew up hearing my Russian grandparents call tea "chai." I snicker every time I hear "chai tea."