Pet Peeve rants.

Here's a very specific pet peeve.

I work a lot in software development, and I hate when people refuse to use the standard pronunciations of acronyms, instead spelling them out. For example, we're using SQL databases in our code, and so many of the team keep saying S-Q-L. Come on, just say "sequel". I don't know why this bugs me so much. It especially bugs me when a dev says S-Q-L. Then I think, "You were my brother, Ani!"
People still get mad at me when I ALL CAPS reserved keywords.

--Patrick
 
Related pet peeve: Mathematicians that program like they're writing first-draft proofs (but without the accompanying explanation statements, because it's not like I'm sending this code to another human being), so they smear unexplained lambdas and multi-line ternaries all over the place, and all the fucking variables are named a b c d...
 
Aurgh! I hate when I get messages from vendors asking if about late payment when they clearly received the debit memo which explains the difference in payment. I shouldn't have to re-explain to you why the damn invoice was paid the way it was. Stop wasting my damn time on things you can figure out with the information you are given!

And for frack's sake, I don't authorize paying back the debits and never have. The debit memos clearly state to contact the Customer Service rep and includes their name and their extension. STOP ASKING ME FOR THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION.

Assholes.
 

fade

Staff member
Related pet peeve: Mathematicians that program like they're writing first-draft proofs (but without the accompanying explanation statements, because it's not like I'm sending this code to another human being), so they smear unexplained lambdas and multi-line ternaries all over the place, and all the fucking variables are named a b c d...
I'm actually impressed you've got non-devs who understand lambdas and ternaries.
 
I'm actually impressed you've got non-devs who understand lambdas and ternaries.
Depends on your definition of dev. These are people who know enough python or C to write algorithms that compile, using libraries that map 1-to-1 to mathematical areas they understand. A side effect is that they find the most obnoxious-able features of every language and go "oh so this computer works like my brain!" and then make us cry by abusing them.
 
Depends on your definition of dev. These are people who know enough python or C to write algorithms that compile, using libraries that map 1-to-1 to mathematical areas they understand. A side effect is that they find the most obnoxious-able features of every language and go "oh so this computer works like my brain!" and then make us cry by abusing them.
They abuse them like they would their brain?
 
Here's a very specific pet peeve.

I work a lot in software development, and I hate when people refuse to use the standard pronunciations of acronyms, instead spelling them out. For example, we're using SQL databases in our code, and so many of the team keep saying S-Q-L. Come on, just say "sequel". I don't know why this bugs me so much. It especially bugs me when a dev says S-Q-L. Then I think, "You were my brother, Ani!"
Well, there's your problem.




That quote is from a prequel.
 
Ok, this may be because I'm in a different language area and whatnot, but...I'd never heard it was supposed to be pronounced sequel. Everyone I know pronounce it Esss-Queue-Elll. Sequel makes sense, but...Even from programmers and such, I've never heard it pronounced like that. Huh.
 
Ok, this may be because I'm in a different language area and whatnot, but...I'd never heard it was supposed to be pronounced sequel. Everyone I know pronounce it Esss-Queue-Elll. Sequel makes sense, but...Even from programmers and such, I've never heard it pronounced like that. Huh.
Never heard it pronounced as anything other than Ese-Ku-Ele (spelled out) in Spain, so it's definitely in a country/language basis.
 
Ok, this may be because I'm in a different language area and whatnot, but...I'd never heard it was supposed to be pronounced sequel. Everyone I know pronounce it Esss-Queue-Elll. Sequel makes sense, but...Even from programmers and such, I've never heard it pronounced like that. Huh.
My husband is a Computer Engineer and thinks saying it as sequel is dumb, but has at least heard of it. I've never heard of such a thing either though... ;)
 
For the longest time I thought "a sequel database" or "sequel search" was some sort of cascading database or neighbor-related search algorithm.

--Patrick
 
Here's a very specific pet peeve.

I work a lot in software development, and I hate when people refuse to use the standard pronunciations of acronyms, instead spelling them out. For example, we're using SQL databases in our code, and so many of the team keep saying S-Q-L. Come on, just say "sequel". I don't know why this bugs me so much. It especially bugs me when a dev says S-Q-L. Then I think, "You were my brother, Ani!"
Dear diary, today I learned that Fade doesn't like "ess cue ell." Now I know he will never be able to love me...
 
[DOUBLEPOST=1448051372,1448051276][/DOUBLEPOST]
One thing is for certain, though, nobody ever calls SCSI "Ess See Ess Aye." That's like a litmus test for who knows that they are talking about, and who doesn't.
The problem for me is that scsi doesn't require any additional phonemes to pronounce. It's scuzzy. But "sequel" adds the e, a w, and an eh - it's too much. So S Q L it is.

/insert IDK, my BFF Jill image here
 

GasBandit

Staff member
The problem for me is that scsi doesn't require any additional phonemes to pronounce. It's scuzzy. But "sequel" adds the e, a w, and an eh - it's too much. So S Q L it is.

/insert IDK, my BFF Jill image here



As far as SQL and extra phonemes goes, just say it fast. It kind of comes out like "seagull" but with a hard K instead of a G. So say it really fast in a sentence and it sounds close to Sequel.

Also, I've heard somewhere that SQL is actually an abbreviation of the original acronym, which was for Structured English QUEry Language.
 
Also, I've heard somewhere that SQL is actually an abbreviation of the original acronym, which was for Structured English QUEry Language.
It's due to IBM trying to avoid a trademark dispute:

SQL was initially developed at IBM by Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce in the early 1970s.[14] This version, initially called SEQUEL (Structured English QUEry Language), was designed to manipulate and retrieve data stored in IBM's original quasi-relational database management system, System R, which a group at IBM San Jose Research Laboratory had developed during the 1970s.[14] The acronym SEQUEL was later changed to SQL because "SEQUEL" was a trademark of the UK-based Hawker Siddeley aircraft company.[15]
That's SEQUEL pronounced ESS CUE ELL. :p
 

fade

Staff member
Wikipedia and the dictionary have the pronunciation as "sequel", also.

S-Q-L is one syllable longer, and the word looks like sequel. You're all weird.

I'm sorry, you're all double-you ee eye are dee.
 

fade

Staff member
Depends on your definition of dev. These are people who know enough python or C to write algorithms that compile, using libraries that map 1-to-1 to mathematical areas they understand. A side effect is that they find the most obnoxious-able features of every language and go "oh so this computer works like my brain!" and then make us cry by abusing them.
We have basically three levels of people who touch code: scientists, who know the science and enough coding to make it work, scientific programmers who are supposed to be good at both, and programmers, who usually only get the science in spurts enough to understand what they're coding. That's on paper anyway. It never works out that way. I think the vision was that the scientists would research and prototype, the scientific programmers add specific client features that require a strong understanding of the science, and the programmers work on UI stuff. In reality though, the lines are all blurred. Technically, I'm a scientist, but being a huge computer nerd who has his own licensed software, I tend to dev my own stuff start to finish, barring what I outsource to my scientific programmer. Hell, the IT guys come to me for *nix and cluster support sometimes. That's not intended to be a brag, more to enforce the whole "what the hell is a developer, anyway?" question. Also, we're a 40 person company, so these aren't huge groups.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
My pet peeve of the evening: Ad agencies that refer to the audio files of commercials as a noun form of "creative."

As in "attached to this e-mail you will find the creative for Mattress Firm's next flight."

Don't flatter yourself honey, it's not all that creative. But I'm glad at least apparently Bobby McFerrin will continue to receive royalties from your constant, hammering overuse of "Don't worry be sleep happy" in every single one of your commercials.

There are myriad ways this concept is described, there's no industry standard. They call it creative. They call it copy. The less fanciful just call them "spots." Some even call it "traffic" even though traffic is more commonly accepted to be the instructions for what to do with it than the file/audio itself.

But I think only once in my 12+ years in radio have I ever heard anybody refer to it as what it is: audio. Call it audio. Call it sound files. Call it an mp3, a recording, anything that it ACTUALLY IS instead of this artsy fartsy baloney "creative."

Every day, I become ever more convinced that agencies do absolutely everything they can to pollute, obstruct, confuse and make more inefficient the entire broadcasting industry.

And the only thing that's more bullshit than an advertising agency is an "in-house" advertising agency. But I think I've ranted about that before.
 
A pet peeve from my younger self: Bumper car rinks where you're supposed to go in a circle. This is what being a big kid comes with? RESTRICTED BUMPER CARS?!
 

fade

Staff member
When the protagonist in an anime or manga learns some new skill and all his older cohorts are like, "yes we knew that all along. Let us show you ours even though we were beaten to the point of death in the previous arc and it sure would've been nice to use it then."
 
Planning, scrounging, worrying and preparing; throw it all down the fucking drain because I can't find the fucking baking powder in my own fucking pantry. Fuck this shit.
 
LED Christmas lights that don't incorporate a full-wave rectifier and filter capacitor.
Ow, my aching visual cortex.

--Patrick
 
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