Really trivial stuff that bugs you

[Trebuchet]

My bold. I don't see how this saves any of these. To me it looks like stylists running amok.

I suspect the dimples are actually for strength. That allows the plastic to be a bit thinner.

Did those bottles ever actually have flat bottoms? That's a terrible design for something that's pressurized. It's going to tend to become convex, which would be even less stable than the dimples.

[Trebuchet]

I'm currently bugged that the new comics on GoComics.com are coming up broken! How am I supposed to get my morning fix of Pearls Before Swine? And it's Sunday, so there's not even a new Questionable Content or XKCD!

[swampyankee]

That the number keys on telephones and calculators are arranged differently.

[Gillianren]

I suspect the dimples are actually for strength. That allows the plastic to be a bit thinner.

Did those bottles ever actually have flat bottoms? That's a terrible design for something that's pressurized. It's going to tend to become convex, which would be even less stable than the dimples.

When I was a kid, they had round bottoms. They also had a cap made out of a separate piece of plastic that was approximately flat on the bottom. The change in design means they don't need a two-piece design anymore. It's definitely to save plastic!

I'm currently bugged that the new comics on GoComics.com are coming up broken! How am I supposed to get my morning fix of Pearls Before Swine? And it's Sunday, so there's not even a new Questionable Content or XKCD!

I am bugged by the sheer amount of advertising on that page, too.

[Trebuchet]

When I was a kid, they had round bottoms. They also had a cap made out of a separate piece of plastic that was approximately flat on the bottom. The change in design means they don't need a two-piece design anymore. It's definitely to save plastic!

I'd forgotten that! No doubt that's why speedfreek remembered flat bottoms.

I am bugged by the sheer amount of advertising on that page, too.

No kidding! At least the comics seem to be working now.

[Noclevername]

It bugs me that I'm so easily bugged. Things that seem trivial in the abstract, really get under my skin when they actually happen to me.

[KaiYeves]

It bugs me that I'm so easily bugged. Things that seem trivial in the abstract, really get under my skin when they actually happen to me.

Same.

[vonmazur]

The English came first, from John Ball, in a sermon in 1381, during the peasant's revolt. The German is a translation of this, from "Wir sind des Geyers Schwarze Haufen" :

Als Adam grub und Eva spann, kyrieleis,
Wo war denn da der Edelmann, kyrieleis?
Spieß voran! Drauf und dran!
Setzt aufs Klosterdach den Roten Hahn!

Thanks, I thought it might have been English first...

Now it bugs me that I have just remembered the entire song, it will be playing in my head for days!!!

Dale

[geonuc]

I suspect the dimples are actually for strength. That allows the plastic to be a bit thinner.

I saw a 'how its made' show recently on plastic water bottles, and that's exactly right. The complex shapes are for rigidity, which allows for substantially less plastic.

[Perikles]

I saw a 'how its made' show recently on plastic water bottles, and that's exactly right. The complex shapes are for rigidity, which allows for substantially less plastic.

I note that plastic bottles for still water do not have this annoying bottom, but then they are not subjected to the pressure of gas from a fizzy drink. (The waterbottle strength is sufficient for a half-empty bottle not to burst when taken from sea level to a height of 2000 metres, from my own experience.)

[cynical mode] If the fizzy drink bottle has an annoying bottom so that it won't stand up easily, you might be inclined to drink it empty, thus increasing your consumption [/cynical mode]

[Luckmeister]

I'm tired of seeing pop-science writers on TV space science shows assigning human attributes to nonhuman objects.

Example: Angry Sun. As far as anyone knows, stars do not experience emotion.

They do not need to describe space with anthropomorphic adjectives that some use repeatedly throughout a show. Commonly understood science terminology should suffice.

I know why they do it. It personalizes a description in a way that appeals to our sense of mystery and awe. It is a technique that is taught in creative writing classes but I find it unnecessary and annoying when used in science documentaries.

This is perhaps a leftover from ancient myths that visible points or groupings of lights in the sky are gods, etc. who of course share our emotions.

[SeanF]

Yeah, don't anthropomorphize inanimate objects.

They hate it when you do that.

[Perikles]

I find this intensely irritating, and am wondering whether others consider it trivial because I don't:

Headline of a newspaper article: Einstein's theory is proved (source). The article is about the establishment of the fact that clocks at different altitudes run at different speeds. The difference is so small that only recently the difference has been measurable.

The point is that the findings conform to the predictions of relativity. This does not 'prove Einstein's theory'. I don't find the difference as being trivial. Am I being pedantic here?

[Trebuchet]

People who pronounce "trebuchet" as "tree-bucket". It's "treh-boo-shay".

[NEOWatcher]

People who pronounce "trebuchet" as "tree-bucket". It's "treh-boo-shay".

Now you just sound like the main character in "keeping up with appearances".

[swampyankee]

People who say "data is". It's "data are"; data is plural.

And those who say "it's only a theory..."

[Buttercup]

People who pronounce "trebuchet" as "tree-bucket". It's "treh-boo-shay".

Well dang it, I thought it was pronounced "Tray - booch - it." ;-p

swampyankee:

And those who say "it's only a theory..."

And that's your opinion. ;-)

[Gillianren]

I find this intensely irritating, and am wondering whether others consider it trivial because I don't:

Headline of a newspaper article: Einstein's theory is proved (source). The article is about the establishment of the fact that clocks at different altitudes run at different speeds. The difference is so small that only recently the difference has been measurable.

The point is that the findings conform to the predictions of relativity. This does not 'prove Einstein's theory'. I don't find the difference as being trivial. Am I being pedantic here?

No; I think it's an extremely important distinction, the preservation of which would make considerable amounts of modern life better. There are quite a few anti-scientific arguments which would go away entirely if only the general public could get away from the belief that theories are ever proven correct.

[geonuc]

I find this intensely irritating, and am wondering whether others consider it trivial because I don't:

Headline of a newspaper article: Einstein's theory is proved (source). The article is about the establishment of the fact that clocks at different altitudes run at different speeds. The difference is so small that only recently the difference has been measurable.

The point is that the findings conform to the predictions of relativity. This does not 'prove Einstein's theory'. I don't find the difference as being trivial. Am I being pedantic here?

Not really - it's a bit like the 'just a theory' annoyance.

[peteshimmon]

Sports commentators who respond to mounting
excitement with excessive macho diction.
Difficult to describe but extended competitions
like road racing bring it to a pitch.

Bradley Wiggins. BRADLEY WIGGINS.
BRRRRAAADLEYY WIGGGGGENNNNS.

:-), :-o, :-O.

[Perikles]

Sports commentators who respond to mounting
excitement with excessive macho diction.

I agree totally, but the Spanish football commentators here surpass everything. Totally and unashamedly partisan when Spain score a goal, they shout Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooal or something like that. The word is still heard after they have kicked off after the event.

[DonM435]

Sports commentators who respond to mounting
excitement with excessive macho diction.
Difficult to describe but extended competitions
like road racing bring it to a pitch.

Bradley Wiggins. BRADLEY WIGGINS.
BRRRRAAADLEYY WIGGGGGENNNNS.

:-), :-o, :-O.

I note that when an announcer really wants to impress you, he drops his voice real low and talks in a real slow rumble:

"Andddd ... nnnnnnow. Staaaaay tuned forrrrrr: Thuh. Firrrrrssst! Everrrrr! Big! Ten! Champeenship .... Ggame!"

No lie. They all read that line dozens of times the same way. I had time to check the other channels before they finished that sentence.

[Buttercup]

All the people with photos as their Twitter avatar. Guess it's Facebook Lite? :-p

[closetgeek]

People who pronounce "trebuchet" as "tree-bucket". It's "treh-boo-shay".

I've always pronounced it Cat-uh-pult. <runs and hides>

[Buttercup]

I've always pronounced it Cat-uh-pult. <runs and hides>

Lol!! :-D

"Trebuchet" means "pumpkin flinger" in French. Oh wait, this isn't untrue facts thread. Sorry. :-p

[Trebuchet]

I've always pronounced it Cat-uh-pult. <runs and hides>

Works for me! When people ask me the difference between a catapult and a trebuchet, I always say its a subset. All trebuchets are catpults, but not all catapults are trebuchets.

[Extravoice]

On the topic of catapults, the term Pumpkin Chunkin' annoys me.

Where I come from to "chuck" means to throw, so it should be "Pumpkin Chuckin'"

Maybe Chunkin' has a meaning I'm missing, but my brain refuses accept the term as being correct (even if it rhymes).

[Paul Beardsley]

It wouldn't be so bad if it did rhyme. 'n' and 'mp' don't.

In my language, "pumpkin chunkin'" means cutting a squash into cubes.

[Paul Beardsley]

People who say "data is". It's "data are"; data is plural.

I have to disagree here. True, in Latin, "datum" is singular and "data" is plural. But we're not speaking Latin, we're using one of many words that we appropriated from Latin (and other languages). In English "data" is generally treated as an uncountable noun, because that is how it works best.

For similar reasons I don't have a problem with "spectrums" as a plural of "spectrum".

And those who say "it's only a theory..."

I have to agree here.

[Perikles]

I don't have a problem with "spectrums" as a plural of "spectrum".

I'm afraid I do. This trend is attributable to ignorance of the language, and I think streamlining languages removes some colour. What's wrong with having various ways of forming a plural?

You seem to have a remarkably flexible attitude to English (which is merely an observation). Tell me this: a friend of mine once arrived late to dinner and excused himself with "sorry, the wife took far too long manicuring her toenails". When I laughed, he crossly accused me of being pedantic. Do you think I was?