Sep. 13th, 2006

jack: (Default)
I occasionally read some [livejournal.com profile] mock_the_stupid. It's sometimes funny, though often a bit repetitive. I try to avoid it, because I always want to say "Ah, but what if..." and "If you define the words like this, it's not stupid" and "I think I said that once" and "It's a natural mistake, it needs to be ironic or at least punny"

But half a dozen items tonight made me think they were worth propagating abbreviated versions thereof.

Firstly, a wonderful example of out-out-out-out-pedanting

Student: I measured my heartrate like you said, but it doesn't change however I run.
Teacher: Hmm.
Student: Could my pacemaker be effecting it?
Teacher: *headdesk*
Poster #1: "Affecting"?
Poster #2: No, actually, it really should be effecting it -- or she'd be dead.
Poster #1: I think she meant "have an effect on", ie. affect.
Poster #2: I'm sure she did, but I think she *should* have meant "effect" ie. "cause to exist"
Poster #1: But it should beat anyway, if irregularly.
Poster #2: Ah, yes, it *affects* the heart *beat* but it *effects* the heart *rate* -- there would be no constant measurable rate otherwise.

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jack: (Default)
And in Tuesday's update, thanks to sonic for croquet and killer bunnies! It was a fun evening. Though I think I'm not cut out for world domination, I drew nearly all of the bunnies, and nearly all of the macguffins, and felt awfully guilty sitting there with six bunnies to everyone else's none, mowing them down as they appeared. Martin killed them all with a giantic black hole, but it was too late. It did come down to a 50/50 chance in the end, as the winning card was the last one drawn, and the penultimate drawer had a choice of two.

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