Why do people use phrases they don't understand?

[Perknose]

I listen a lot to the BBC news on NPR and more than one of their correspondants sprinkle entirely extraneous "sort of" 's throughout their commentary in the same way American teens overuse "like." These are supposed professionals!

 

[ShawnD1]

Just saw another example of misuse. Catch 22 - This means being in an undesirable state and the only way to get out of the situation is to not have been in the situation to begin with.

It is not synonymous with ironic.

Catch 22 means you're fucked no matter what you do. I don't think I've ever seen it used incorrectly.

 

[Lean L]

Catch 22 means you're fucked no matter what you do. I don't think I've ever seen it used incorrectly.

It may have de-evolved into such. The origin of the word suggests otherwise. Just like how BMW cars are now called beamers...

 

[Perknose]

It may have de-evolved into such. The origin of the word suggests otherwise. Just like how BMW cars are now called beamers...

Since we're getting technical with the language, devolve is a perfectly fine English word.

 

[Lean L]

Since we're getting technical with the language, devolve is a perfectly fine English word.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Its the perfectly finest words out there LL!

I mean Oh NOES!!!!!! What is wrong with a bit of flavor....


>wark<

 

[ShawnD1]

It may have de-evolved into such. The origin of the word suggests otherwise. Just like how BMW cars are now called beamers...

The phrase is originally from a book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22#Concept

Among other things, Catch-22 is a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase "Catch-22" is common idiomatic usage meaning "a no-win situation" or "a double bind" of any type. Within the book, "Catch-22" is a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic that, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions.

The bolded part is the original meaning. Endless circular logic where it's impossible to win. If you're sane, you are forced to fly combat missions. If you are crazy, you stay on the ground. The only reason you are crazy is because of the combat missions.
combat --> crazy --> grounded --> not crazy --> combat --> crazy again --> grounded again

You will hit the catch 22 wall if you lose shit like your birth certificate and you can't find your social security card. You need a birth certificate to get a new social security, but you can only get a social security card if you show a birth certificate. At that point the only option left is to kill yourself because you officially can no longer prove who you are. Catch 22.

 

[ShawnD1]

Since we're getting technical with the language, devolve is a perfectly fine English word.

I hate when people say devolve. The term makes no sense at all.
Evolve means something slowly changes over time. What is devolve? It doesn't change over time?

Evolve is another term people fuck up on a regular basis. People will say things like bacteria are not as evolved as humans. That's the dumbest statement ever. One could argue that bacteria are more evolved than humans because they can survive extreme cold and extreme heat while humans cannot. The only organisms that can live in the dead sea are bacteria.

 

[BoomerD]

It may have de-evolved into such. The origin of the word suggests otherwise. Just like how BMW cars are now called beamers...

Only by morons. BMW cars are called Bimmers...BMW motorcycles are called Beamers...

 

[Perknose]

I hate when people say devolve. The term makes no sense at all.
Evolve means something slowly changes over time. What is devolve? It doesn't change over time?

Don't hate!

The fine English word "devolve" does not mean what you (sarcastically) posit it to mean.

Here:

intransitive verb
1
a : to pass by transmission or succession <the estate devolved on a distant cousin> b : to fall or be passed usually as a responsibility or obligation <the responsibility for breadwinning has devolved increasingly upon women — Barbara Ehrenreich>

2
: to come by or as if by flowing down <his allegedly subversive campaigns…devolve from his belief in basic American rights — Frank Deford>

3
: to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution <where order devolves into chaos — Johns Hopkins Magazine>

See? "Devolve" is not the opposite of "evolve" at all. Just because it has evolved from the same Latin route and has a 'd' in front of it does not make it so. It is its own word.

Not only does devolve make perfect sense, it has it's rightful place in the English lexicon, thank you very much!

Evolve is another term people fuck up on a regular basis. People will say things like bacteria are not as evolved as humans. That's the dumbest statement ever. One could argue that bacteria are more evolved than humans because they can survive extreme cold and extreme heat while humans cannot. The only organisms that can live in the dead sea are bacteria.

Words in any living language can and do evolve strong connotations which even often overwhelm their original denotation as far as popular usage goes.

People use "evolve" with the strong connotation of positive change probably because they link it to species' evolution, in which all change is a positive and beneficially adaptive change.

Please take notice of the strongly positive connotations rife throughout this dictionary definition of "evolve":

transitive verb
1
: emit

2
a : derive, educe

b : to produce by natural evolutionary processes

c : develop, work out <evolve social, political, and literary philosophies — L. W. Doob>

intransitive verb
: to undergo evolutionary change

Examples of EVOLVE

1. Her company has evolved from a hobby into a thriving business.
2. Some flowers have evolved remarkable means of insect pollination.

Of course, by denotation, "evolve" is value free, in that something can evolve into something worse.

However, a word's strict denotation is almost never the whole story of it's proper and accepted usage.

Language is funny like that, and if you don't grok this, you will remain at sea loudly decrying entirely acceptable usage because you have been left behind in the sadly circumscribed ghetto of denotation only understanding.

 

[Lean L]

The phrase is originally from a book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22#Concept

The bolded part is the original meaning. Endless circular logic where it's impossible to win. If you're sane, you are forced to fly combat missions. If you are crazy, you stay on the ground. The only reason you are crazy is because of the combat missions.
combat --> crazy --> grounded --> not crazy --> combat --> crazy again --> grounded again

You will hit the catch 22 wall if you lose shit like your birth certificate and you can't find your social security card. You need a birth certificate to get a new social security, but you can only get a social security card if you show a birth certificate. At that point the only option left is to kill yourself because you officially can no longer prove who you are. Catch 22.

How does that differ from my explanation?

Although to get into the book

All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.

You don't become crazy by flying. No one wanted to fly, so they wanted to plea insanity but they can't since the only way to plea insanity was to ask. Asking proves sanity.

 

[CZroe]

Only by morons. BMW cars are called Bimmers...BMW motorcycles are called Beamers...

Actually, that's just the Americanized way to distinguish them.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Well, they are easier to pronounce than Bimwuh's....

(BTW, a commercial series actually called BMW vehicles "Bee-mers" here on the East coast. So no, it ain't just motorcycles.)

 

[CZroe]

Why do people use "X of X" to express time if they don't know what "of" means (and I don't mean the circular reasoning expressed in the dictionary)? It's as bad as the people who use "would/could/should of"

 

[MotionMan]

Why do people use "X of X" to express time if they don't know what "of" means (and I don't mean the circular reasoning expressed in the dictionary)? It's as bad as the people who use "would/could/should of"

I see what you did there.

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

Only by morons. BMW cars are called Bimmers...BMW motorcycles are called Beamers...

I have NEVER heard that before.

I have always heard of BMW's referred to as beamers. I have never heard of a bimmer.

MotionMan

 

[Ninjahedge]

Bih-mer does not sound nice. It also does not call attension to it as an acronym. You do not shorten something to make it less convenient or catchy to say.


Well, I don't. You can do whatevah the hells use wants.

 

[ShawnD1]

I have NEVER heard that before.

I have always heard of BMW's referred to as beamers. I have never heard of a bimmer.

MotionMan

Maybe they're from Sarth Efrika or Australia.
The first letters of BMW in American English are pronounced Bee Em. bee em er. beeeeemer

Ya might call M "im" if you're in south africa or something.

 

[Ninjahedge]

You're a loonie.

Or a pooftah.

Are you a pooftah SD1??!?

 

[ShawnD1]

You're a loonie.

Or a pooftah.

Are you a pooftah SD1??!?

careful now or I'll glass ya

 

[BoomerD]

Since we're getting technical with the language, devolve is a perfectly fine English word.

Actually, it IS a perfectly fine word...it just doesn't mean what many people think it means...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devolve
de·volve
verb \di-&#712;välv, -&#712;vo&#775;lv, d&#275;-\
de·volvedde·volv·ing
Definition of DEVOLVE
transitive verb
: to pass on (as responsibility, rights, or powers) from one person or entity to another <devolving to western Europe full responsibility for its own defense — Christopher Lane>
intransitive verb
1
a : to pass by transmission or succession <the estate devolved on a distant cousin> b : to fall or be passed usually as a responsibility or obligation <the responsibility for breadwinning has devolved increasingly upon women — Barbara Ehrenreich>
2
: to come by or as if by flowing down <his allegedly subversive campaigns…devolve from his belief in basic American rights — Frank Deford>
3
: to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution <where order devolves into chaos — Johns Hopkins Magazine>

 

[BoomerD]

I have NEVER heard that before.

I have always heard of BMW's referred to as beamers. I have never heard of a bimmer.

MotionMan

http://www.bmwccbc.org/misc/tech-and-trivia/bimmer.html

"Definitions:
Bimmer - proper accepted slang for BMW cars. Most people don't know this.
Beamer/Beemer - proper accepted slang for BMW motorcycles. You will hear this term used incorrectly by many people.
Bummer - When you get a speeding ticket.
Bitter - Another German car. Very rare; hand built.


So just why is a BMW car called a 'bimmer' not a 'beemer' or 'beamer'?

The answer in part lies in knowing some BMW history and what came first.

All real BMW enthusiasts know that BMW got a big start on two wheels, what many call the real BMWs.

In those days, BMW motorcycles were quite active in racing, and one of their competitors at the track was often the BSA bikes.

Well as things would have it, a track slang developed, and the BMWs were usually referred to as 'beemers' and the BSAs were referred to as 'beesers'.

So, of course for any true enthusiast, there is no way that a BMW car could be called a 'beemer', so they were called 'bimmers'.

Unfortunately, in the US and Canada, and perhaps other countries, there was a time (kind of still is) where for various reasons, a BMW owner was considered an upwardly mobile person, and of course due to the fun in driving their BMWs most all of them had big grins on their faces.

Hence it is little surprise that the non enthusiast types out there incorrectly labeled BMW cars and their owners as 'beamers' or 'beemers'. "

 

[Drako]

I have NEVER heard that before.

I have always heard of BMW's referred to as beamers. I have never heard of a bimmer.

MotionMan

And you live in California? Wow, everyone I know calls the cars Bimmers.

 

[CZroe]

My Bimmer/Beemer poast from another thread yesterday:

Why the argument? It's been Bimmers for the cars and Beamers for the bikes for as long as I can remember, going back to the '60's.

The argument is regarding whether or not the term "beemer" should even exist. we just settled on using one to distinguish one type and one for the other, but that is NOT universal. Like I said earlier, that's *ONLY* the "rule" in the USA. Actually, I said "America" to be intentionally vague and be inclusive of Canada but it looks like one of the articles discouraging the use of "beemer" entirely is Canadian. With BMW being a foreign auto maker, the persistence of the argument EVERYWHERE matters more than what is generally accepted here. We don't make the "rules" for everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW#BMW_slang

The English slang terms Beemer, Bimmer and Bee-em are variously used for BMWs of all kinds, cars, and motorcycles.

In the US, specialists have been at pains to prescribe that a distinction must be made between using Beemer exclusively to describe BMW motorcycles, and using Bimmer only to refer to BMW cars, in the manner of a "true aficionado" and avoid appearing to be "uninitiated." The Canadian Globe and Mail prefers Bimmer and calls Beemer a "yuppie abomination," while the Tacoma News Tribune says it is a distinction made by "auto snobs." Using the wrong slang risks offending [US] BMW enthusiasts.

 

[Mike Gayner]

I have NEVER heard that before.

I have always heard of BMW's referred to as beamers. I have never heard of a bimmer.

MotionMan