"Clinically proven" oxymorons and misnomers

[yosophat]

The phrase Same Difference.
Just admit you are wrong!
A lot of people use this in the south.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Crash landing...that one always confused me.

Why? It's perfectly possible to land on the ground in a heap.

Well yes i suppose, although i think we all want to avoid doing that.

Crash landing...that one always confused me.

Beats just crashing.

True enough, but tell me this what exactly is an original copy?

Not sure, but either way, same difference.

 

[Rigs83]

George Carlin made a career pointing them out.
Here's a few
Hot Water Heater, if the water is already hot you don't need to heat it.
Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.
If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him.
One can never know for sure what a deserted area looks like.
Go to:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_carlin.html
for more.

 

[iamnotincompliance]

If I may get my George Carlin on for a moment...

When two planes almost collide, they call it a "near miss." It's a near hit! A collision is a near miss!

*WHOOM!*

"Look, they nearly missed"

"Yes, but not quite!"

But enough of that before I'm ninja'd by someone who types faster than I do. I also take exception with "VIN number" (VIN, of course, being Vehicle Identification Number), and, tangentially, the Rio Grande River, "Rio Grande" of course translating to "Big River." The Big River River? If you insist, people in charge of naming things!

I'm missing plenty more Carlin quotes that fit here, but that requires more effort on my part.

[EDIT] Eh, close enough to a ninja, I guess. Did it really take me eight minutes to slam that out?

 

[Tehpwnsauce]

Friendly fire. Well I liked the bloke but I still shot him in the face, doesn't quite work.

 

[Compatriot Block]

Irregardless. It's almost always used by someone who is trying to sound smarter than they really are, and it doesn't mean anything either! Regardless already means "without regard", via the "-less", they're essentially saying that it's worth regard. RAAAAAAGE.

 

[mooncalf]

One of the definitions (And a much, MUCH older one than "to be homosexual") of gay is, essentially, and obscenity, or a negative, odd thing. It's technically correct to say, "That's gay,"

You're thinking of queer, gay is the one that used to mean happy.

But the point of this thread is things people say that contradict themselves, such as the old "Military Intelligence"

'Course now that I need to remember my favourite, I can't. x.x;

 

[BiscuitsJoe]

What about military intelligence? That's not a real thing. Same as living dead, old news, live recording and a few others I can't think of right now.

There's UFO which of course stands for Unidentified Flying Object. Well... you've just identified it haven't you?

Also when people say "a whole 'nother" or "all of the sudden"
Those aren't even remotely grammatically correct.

 

[TheTygerfire]

I hate people who get all worked up when I say, "That's gay,"

One of the definitions (And a much, MUCH older one than "to be homosexual") of gay is, essentially, and obscenity, or a negative, odd thing. It's technically correct to say, "That's gay,"

Personally, I find it more offensive to call homosexuals gay. I also find it ironic. The term "gay" in reference to homosexuals came about as a negative conotation - you'd call anyone who was obscene gay.

If anything, both uses of the term should be halted. But since that won't happen, I refuse to stop saying my technically correct (not culturally accepted) use of the word.

There are very few things I would call "Gay" in that terminology, but seeing as I myself am homosexual and do it I don't see the issue in calling something insanely stupid "gay". I also use ****** to describe extremely stupid Politically Correct people or people that defame the homosexual community (like Perez Hilton, that guy is a huge fag)

"all of the sudden"

It's "all of a sudden"

 

[JC175]

If anyone knows the film "Manos: The Hands of Fate" (horrible B-movie, don't ask), Manos is actually spanish for hands. So the title translates to "Hands: The Hands of Fate".

 

[captainwalrus]

Also when people say "a whole 'nother"

It technically isn't wrong. The "whole" is used as an infix. It's the same as "fan-fucking-tastic" or constructs like that.

 

[minarri]

...okay, I get the part about koala marsupials, but what's wrong with "clinically proven" again?

I think the fact I get pissed about it is just proof of how much of a nerd I am, so don't feel bad about not reacting to it.

What it comes down to is that you cannot clinically prove anything: clinical trials (is experimentation to assess the effectiveness of a new product) are an example of scientific experimentation, and because of this they test collected data against a null hypothesis. Yay for inferential statistics!

The resulting information (e.g. a p-value) demonstrates the probability of receiving the demonstrated results assuming the null hypothesis is true, and while this number can and sometimes is extremely small, it can't really ever actually be zero. Because of this you can't actually prove something false statistically; you can only clinically suggest it.

It's just that marketing likes phrases with more punch than that, I think, so hence we have "clinically proven".

 

[Abedeus]

"A brave Frenchman."

Damn you, I thought up about that!

Look up high!

...Can you look UP low? Or look DOWN high?

I hate people who get all worked up when I say, "That's gay,"

One of the definitions (And a much, MUCH older one than "to be homosexual") of gay is, essentially, and obscenity, or a negative, odd thing. It's technically correct to say, "That's gay,"

Personally, I find it more offensive to call homosexuals gay. I also find it ironic. The term "gay" in reference to homosexuals came about as a negative conotation - you'd call anyone who was obscene gay.

If anything, both uses of the term should be halted. But since that won't happen, I refuse to stop saying my technically correct (not culturally accepted) use of the word.

There are very few things I would call "Gay" in that terminology, but seeing as I myself am homosexual and do it I don't see the issue in calling something insanely stupid "gay". I also use ****** to describe extremely stupid Politically Correct people or people that defame the homosexual community (like Perez Hilton, that guy is a huge fag)

"all of the sudden"

It's "all of a sudden"

But it's okay for a f*g to say f*g.

"You mean you have to be a fag, to say fag?"
"Well, Jimbo, looks like we've learned something new about you, wanna make out?"

 

[sallene]

Flying high....


If you are flying arent you already technically high up in the sky?

High as a kite, agian, if its a kite and its up in the air, isnt that a given that its high?

 

[BiscuitsJoe]

Also when people say "a whole 'nother"

It technically isn't wrong. The "whole" is used as an infix. It's the same as "fan-fucking-tastic" or constructs like that.

Well yeah but "nother" isn't a word. "Other" is, but I hear a lot of people use "nother."

 

[blaze96]

With some people who speak English who talk about a group named in a foreign language, this tends to happen, The 'Los Mexicanos' (for instance). Los means the, you don't need to say the followed directly by another the in a different language.

Honest politician and the phrases "The public is always right" and "The customer is always right" these also bother me slightly.

 

[DND Judgement]

Also when people say "a whole 'nother"

It technically isn't wrong. The "whole" is used as an infix. It's the same as "fan-fucking-tastic" or constructs like that.

it's called temesis (don't know how to spell it)