Jim Watson
New member
Similarly, the common description, "That fix is genius."
While I am here, I will say that "iconic" is the current overused cliche. Just as I thought "tactical" was fading.
Slang, jargon, and misused words
- Thread starter ligonierbill
- Start date
Similarly, the common description, "That fix is genius."
While I am here, I will say that "iconic" is the current overused cliche. Just as I thought "tactical" was fading.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
"Tactical" has been replaced by "tacticool" among the congnoscenti ... 
Jim Watson
New member
That is even worse, not only a cliche, but a made up one.
It could be argued that each of us is (at least some of the time) attempting to describe the character that we see ourself as and creating color and atmosphere to surround that character with.
I know that I don't intend for every single thing I say or write to be suitable for publishing in a rigorously screened technical journal.
Anyway, my personal opinion is that most of the time it's fairly obvious when it's appropriate to point out an inaccurate usage and when it really doesn't make any difference to let it ride.
local/regional slang can be entertaining, sometimes even frustrating, but its seldom dangerous.
Misuse of terms, through misunderstanding or deliberate misinterpretation gets dangerous when used by lawmakers.
When some member of Congress thinks a heat shield is "the shoulder thing that goes up.." we are ALL at risk.
All the BS over "assault rifle" and "assault weapon" (NOT the same thing) is a major example.
Perhaps not a big deal in casual conversation, but when you turn that into a LAW, its a really big deal!
Misuse of terms, through misunderstanding or deliberate misinterpretation gets dangerous when used by lawmakers.
When some member of Congress thinks a heat shield is "the shoulder thing that goes up.." we are ALL at risk.
All the BS over "assault rifle" and "assault weapon" (NOT the same thing) is a major example.
Perhaps not a big deal in casual conversation, but when you turn that into a LAW, its a really big deal!
Aguila Blanca
Staff
^^^ "Assault weapon" is neither slang nor jargon. "Assault weapon" is a phony term that was invented for the express purpose of confusing the American public into thinking that a semi-automatic AR-15 is exactly the same as a full-auto M16 military issue rifle.
Geezerbiker
New member
Exactly but they were going after AKM's first insisting they were the same thing as an AK47. While the 2 rifles look a lot alike, the operate very differently...
Tony
It was a phony made up term, for the reason you state, UNTIL they wrote it into law. Then it became a legal definition.
And, while the 1994 AWB Federal law sunset in 2004 and was not renewed, several states passed their own laws, most were virtual copies of the Fed law without the sunset clause, and those laws are still in effect and have been expanded in the years since the Fed law went away.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
44 AMP said:
Correct ... and not correct.
In 1994, when the feds and several states wrote it into law, it was "a" legal definition. Then the federal AWB expired, and over the intervening years several of the states that have their own AWBs revised the definitions. I don't know how many states currently have AWBs on the books but, of those that do, if more than two of them agree I will be very surprised.
So now it's a not "a legal definition," it's more like "a motley assortment of legal definitions." Which means it's not a definition (legal or otherwise) in any real world sense, it's just a phony concept that was invented for the express purpose of confusing the American public ...
But I repeat myself.
Correct ... and not correct.....
Correct in its origins and purpose, but not correct in that it still IS a legal definition in those states that have laws defining it.
The national scene is a mishmash right now, with some states having assault weapon laws, defining them one way, and other states with laws with differing definitions, and some states retaining the sanity to remember that they are just semi auto rifles.
However, there is a risk to that, as well. We, quite possibly took the wrong tack early on, trying to be precise, logical and reasonable. We spent a lot of effort explaining how these guns were really the same as guns they considered "ok" reasoning that the other side would see, and accept the wisdom of our argument and stop trying to ban them.
The other side, of course, heard only what they wanted to hear, and decided that if the semi autos that were "assault weapons" were mechanically the same as the semi auto sporting arms then they must ALL be bad, and heavily regulated if not outright banned.
In Washington state, as of the summer of 2019. ALL SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES became legally designated as "Semiautomatic Assault Rifles".
EVERY
SINGLE
ONE
And this happened because of the definition in the law of what a Semi Automatic Assault Rifle was. For once (and to our detriment) they didn't bother with using magazine size or type, or any cosmetic features in the definition. There is no language about pistol grips, heat shields, flash suppressors, or bayonet lugs. There's nothing about "accepting a detachable magazine" or any of the other "assault rifle features" used in other laws.
They went straight to the heart of the action, and used that, stating flatly that if the rifle used any part of the energy from a fired cartridge to eject the empty and load another round then it was a "Semiautomatic Assault Rifle".
No attempt at explanation, or justification, just the flat fiat of law stating if it does "this", then it is called "that". And they used the definition that covers every single semi auto ever made. Doesn't matter if its an AR/AK or a 100yr old gallery gun shooting .22 shorts. ALL of them are semiautomatic assault rifles under state law, and therefore have extra fees, waiting periods, and other requirements in order to purchase or even possess.
This piece of garbage is of course being challenged in court, but there are a few small problems with getting a decision, one being that our state govt has been in "covid panicdemic" mode for a while so "lesser" issues like gun rights are not on the front burner.
The other problem is that due to the massive regulations imposed by the law, the state has not been enforcing or even applying much of it so far. And with out enforcement, no one is "harmed" and without someone suffering harm from the law it can only be challenged in certain specific ways. Or so I understand it.
Anyway, point is that if the state has a law that says a certain gun is an "assault weapon" then in that state with that law being valid, legally that gun is an "assault weapon".
Reality doesn't matter much when you can define what words mean.
armoredman
New member
Why do people call it a "buggy" when it is clearly a shopping cart?
One that fell out of favor, thankfully, was calling a 9mm pistol a "neener". Usually it was the very low information crowd being guilty of that, of course.
Two I do get a kick out of are referring to snakes as "nope ropes" and "danger noodles".
One that fell out of favor, thankfully, was calling a 9mm pistol a "neener". Usually it was the very low information crowd being guilty of that, of course.
Two I do get a kick out of are referring to snakes as "nope ropes" and "danger noodles".
I was looking for ballistics stuff when I found a site where the author kept talking about "come-ups." By which he meant "holdover" or "bullet drop"; it was hard to tell. Then I found a bunch more references to "come-ups" on other sites.
Best as I can tell, it came from the airsofters, and now it has infected real guns.
Oh, and as for "engine" vs. "motor" upthread: you have New York dictionary compilers on one side, and Ford MOTOR Company, General MOTORS, and many others, who have made tens of millions of them for more than a century, who say otherwise.
Sort of like the "gun experts" who insist that "pistol" only applies to autoloaders. I guess there weren't any "pistols" before 1893...
Best as I can tell, it came from the airsofters, and now it has infected real guns.
Oh, and as for "engine" vs. "motor" upthread: you have New York dictionary compilers on one side, and Ford MOTOR Company, General MOTORS, and many others, who have made tens of millions of them for more than a century, who say otherwise.
Sort of like the "gun experts" who insist that "pistol" only applies to autoloaders. I guess there weren't any "pistols" before 1893...
Jim Watson
New member
I learned about "come-ups" in mid and long range shooting; BPCR and F Class.
It means how much elevation to you add to your sight setting to go from one range to a longer range.
I can see adjusting your sight so the bullet strike "comes up".
I can also see raising your point of aim (holdover) so the bullet hits higher.
I think regional dialect and the individual teacher's choice of jargon creates differences in terms that have the same end result meaning.
When I shoot long range with a pistol I don't hold over the target, I raise the front sight in the rear notch, with my target on top of it, so, I am holding the front sight "over" its regular position. I call that holdover, I suppose someone else could say I "come up" on the front sight. Either way, the result is the same, my sight picture allows me to still see my target, and the alignment of the sights allows for the longer range trajectory.
I can also see raising your point of aim (holdover) so the bullet hits higher.
I think regional dialect and the individual teacher's choice of jargon creates differences in terms that have the same end result meaning.
When I shoot long range with a pistol I don't hold over the target, I raise the front sight in the rear notch, with my target on top of it, so, I am holding the front sight "over" its regular position. I call that holdover, I suppose someone else could say I "come up" on the front sight. Either way, the result is the same, my sight picture allows me to still see my target, and the alignment of the sights allows for the longer range trajectory.
44 AMP said:
Language ordinarily works by trust and consent. You and I and every other speaker are part of a process in which all agree on what a word means. Whenever someone tells you that the a word's meaning is the going to be the product of his fiat, you've departed from living language and entered the world of argot. It has all the same problems of fiat currencies.
To paraphrase Dickens, if the legislature supposes a gallery rifle is an assault weapon, then the legislature is an ass.
This may sound argumentative, I do not mean for it to be, but since the general subject here is communication, I’ll submit that you’ve described this process poorly.
What you are doing (I do it also) would be better described not by saying that you raised your front sight (afterall, you still hold that front sight under your target same as always), but that you very much lowered your rear sight… to the place where the front sight nestles in.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
And, since the sights are designed to have the tops of the front and rear sights aligned horizontally, by lowering the rear sight all you are doing is aiming higher.Sevens said: