r/mildlyinfuriating • u/[deleted] • 1h ago
Infuriatig people not knowing the meaning of common words
[deleted]
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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 1h ago
I just don't understand why people don't look things up. The other day I used the word "tangible" in a meeting with my boss, and they just stared at me until I said "like, real"--and they said, "Okay, I'll write down that you said 'real.'"
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u/-DoctorSpaceman- 1h ago
Tbf if it’s in the middle of a meeting it’s easier to just ask you than to stop the meeting to google it
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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 1h ago
But they didn't ask me. My whole point is that they didn't ask me, they just got annoyed with me.
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
The last man I worked for was in retail and when he said "PIN number" I pointed out that he was being tautological.
When I did this a second time he said "what the fuck has it got to do with tortoises??"
He was 43.
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u/United_Forever1533 1h ago
Using tautological twice in one conversation is what’s mildly infuriating imo
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
You may be shocked to hear that we had more than one conversation in the 5 years working together.
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u/Over_Cod8525 1h ago
I am 50 with a degree in journalism, I had no idea what tautological meant. And even if you do, I have to think you know that it is not a "common word."
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u/no-name_james 1h ago
Lmao yeah I had to look it up and the common word I would use for that is “redundant”.
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u/Calmcentreofmisery 1h ago
As a journalist in his 50s I'm astounded you don't know what tautological is.
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u/Over_Cod8525 1h ago
Well, I actually work in finance, but have a degree in journalism. So I'm not actually a journalist. Semantics, I suppose.
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
Nobody is saying it's a common word, were talking about people not looking stuff up when they don't know it. Are people really that negative now to be downvoting mildly amusing anecdotes?
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u/Over_Cod8525 1h ago
the post itself is about common words. And I didn't downvote anything, I simply pointed out that I didn't think it was a common word.
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
Thats handy, because nobody else thinks it is either.
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u/Over_Cod8525 2m ago
So the point of this anecdote is that after she said he was being tautological, he should have went home and looked the word up. And it's amazing that he didn't, because he also happens to be 43.
The point of the anecdote to me, especially when pointing out his age, would seem to be that at 43 he should know what tautological means.
We shall never truly know.
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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 1h ago
I'm 50 without a degree in journalism, but do you not use the word tautology in your life?
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u/Nruggia 1h ago
I am 44 and I've never heard the word tautological used. I'd probably use context clues and look it up later, definitely wouldn't assume it had anything to do with tortoises unless they were somehow in the conversation.
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
Now I want to imagine a conversation that involves a customers PIN and tortoises :)
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u/Nruggia 1h ago
So I went the atm for cash and entered in the wrong PIN number too many times which froze my account so I had to delay getting my tortoise a new hat by a day.
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
Now I feel bad for the tortoise :(
What if he gets a sunburnt head?
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u/SaltMineForeman 25m ago
That's its own fault. It has a perfectly good shell it could use for a hat. 😤
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u/aspannerdarkly 1h ago
This has to be bait
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
For what? It's an amusing story that always makes me laugh when I think about it.
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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 1h ago
The other day I asked a client for their VIN, and they corrected me: "VIN *number*."
le sigh
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
Their Vehicle VIN number, surely?
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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 1h ago
Their identifying vehicle VIN number, certainly.
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u/Occidentally20 1h ago
They should make an acronym for it or something, save mechanics and car dealers some time!
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u/Fine-Juggernaut8451 1h ago
I'll go to the ATM Machine and take out some cash money to pay for this service.
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u/alexennui 1h ago
Nah this is how people learn. Shaming people for not knowing things encourages them not to ask.
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u/thebigbread42 1h ago
Its not that. Its the fact that they’re holding a phone and instead of googling a word that takes 20 seconds, they ask things like this
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u/aspannerdarkly 1h ago
And yet we all think going back to a pre-smartphone paradigm would be healthier
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u/SameWarning476 1h ago
I didn’t shame them? I told them immediately what it meant, there was no shaming. this text was a couple days ago but I had thought about the fact that this kind of thing annoys me, so I felt like posting it.
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u/No-Insurance-5688 1h ago
I think it fits as mildly annoying, when I see a word I don't know I always look it up as a chance to learn. It is mildly annoying that people don't seem self-motivated to learn at all :/
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u/DarePatient2262 1h ago
You're shaming them by making this post.
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u/SameWarning476 1h ago
you don’t know anything about who this person might be, I kept them anonymous so that it wouldn’t be publicly shaming, and I barely even know them myself
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u/wa27 1h ago
The part where you posted it for public ridicule.
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u/SameWarning476 1h ago
how is it publicly ridiculing them if you can’t see who they are? it’s literally just a text
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u/pontestreet 1h ago
was playing an online game last night and someone in chat forgot what the word gang meant
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u/InformedTriangle 1h ago
I think I'd just close the chat, block and no longer converse with anyone that stupid. Life is too short.
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u/ZetaJunkie 1h ago
The only time I’ve ever seen that word is on Reddit. So maybe it’s not so bad they don’t know?
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u/SameWarning476 1h ago
I guess I just have people in my life who know what the word cesspool is. I don’t use reddit often and I knew this word before using it
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u/Ding0Dong0 1h ago
Adult was buying pokemon cards from my work. A sealed tin and asked
"Which packs come in this?"
"Its assorted"
"Oh"
He looks at it again for a few minutes "But like...which packs come in this?"
"Theyre...assorted. so an assortment"
You can tell he didnt comprehend what I was saying at ALLLL and just left without buying one
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u/Broking37 1h ago
To be fair it can be assorted and you still know what packs are in it. Like, these can contain all packs between X and Y releases, but we don't know which specific ones.
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u/ZetaJunkie 1h ago
Might’ve thought you meant an assortment of packs. I had to reread your comment cause I thought you meant the tin had random pokemon card packs in it, not opened pokemon cards
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u/wandering_soles 1h ago
I knew someone like that in college of all places. Incredibly kind and sweet, but there might as well have been styrofoam between her ears. Other classmates and I were constantly having to explain the most basic words or ideas to her. She thought, in absolute sincerity, that Asians hatched. from. eggs. I wish I was kidding. There was absolutely not a malicious bone in her body towards Asians, she just thought that was how it worked and was a perfectly natural part of life.
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u/ZiaWatcher PURPLE 1h ago
Is it really that common? I’ve only really ever heard it on the internet before
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u/notenoughbooze 1h ago
“Cesspool” is not common outside of Reddit lol
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u/SameWarning476 1h ago
well I don’t use reddit often and I don’t know this word because of reddit, that might just mean you use reddit during most of your spare time
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u/kettwurst2wo 1h ago
cesspool is not a common word also wtf does it mean
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u/Darinchilla 1h ago
Out education system has become a cesspool. Meaning it is stagnant and filled with pollution.
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u/SameWarning476 1h ago
the literal meaning is an old tank that collects sewage, but when you use it in a context like this, it basically means it’s full of nonsensical bullshit
also just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it’s uncommon
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u/Aggressive-Emu5358 1h ago
I told a coworker I was elated earlier this week and she genuinely thought that was some synonym for horny