this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
142 points (93.3% liked)

Ask Lemmy

25987 readers
1788 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Bonus points if it's usually misused/misunderstood by the people who say it

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 130 points 10 months ago (23 children)

"We only use ten percent of our brains."

People genuinely believe this and never learned where it came from.

[–] [email protected] 54 points 10 months ago (3 children)

That and the "Alpha Male" garbage. Even the author of the study on wolves has said repeatedly that his study was totally wrong. And yet some people continue to reference it and apply it to humans when even the original study wasn't about people.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (9 children)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I think we only use 10 percent of our hearts.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (20 replies)
[–] [email protected] 90 points 10 months ago (5 children)

"I could care less".

Oh really? How much less?

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 89 points 10 months ago (7 children)

"Everything happens for a reason"

The cancer disagrees.

[–] [email protected] 67 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Or worse: "it's all part of God's plan!" every time something bad happens. "So... God's a sadist, or what? Cuz his plan is shit."

[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago

God did ruin Job’s life over a bet with Satan so maybe this is less of a plan and more of a downward spiral gambling addiction

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Or the related one: "I'd like to thank God for coming through this surgery."

What about the doctors, nurses, and various other staff members?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

As a surgical tech, I have to bite my tongue when this pops up. Like... bitch, your god sent you to the OR in the first place - you should be pissed!

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

I actually love this one, because it's technically correct but not in the way people who use it mean, so you can turn it around easily.

Yes, you did get cancer for a reason. Because you insisted on maintaining your suntan every winter. Or perhaps merely because you pissed off the wrong banana.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 66 points 10 months ago (4 children)

“They’re just one bad apple” in reference to (more often than not) shitty cops, but also for most malcontents in a position of public trust. This a misappropriation of the aphorism “one bad apple spoils the bunch” which is literally saying that if there’s one bad actor in a group, the entire group is comprised.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 59 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"Customer is always right" isn't a trump card for customers to win disputes with the staff. When it comes to matters of preference, yes, the customer is always right. Ketchup on ice cream? Great. Down jacket and shorts? Sure thing! If it makes you happy and you're paying for it then you're always right.

In most other matters though, customers are usually wrong. The idea that random people off the street know more about the products and the way a business should be run than the actual people selling said products and running said business is absolutely ridiculous.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 56 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"if you can't handle me at my worst you don't deserve me at my best".

You're basically excusing bad behavior. And never taking accountability. People are wrong. Mostly when they are so blindly following some perception of greatness rather than caring for those around you.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 44 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"Survival of the fittest" when used to indicate the stongest should survive. Instead of the one best suited for (fitting) the situation.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Both wrong. Survival of the barely adequate.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 44 points 10 months ago (8 children)

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

That is not the definition of insanity

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago (4 children)

do or do not, there is no try

Fuck you. That was meant for a Jedi master not your fucking IT systems admin

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (6 children)

"Agree to disagree." No, dipshit, you're just wrong.

I do not agree to disagree, because we're not arguing about opinions. Your belief is simply, objectively incorrect. Or mine is, which is something that I would be willing to accept. If I were wrong, you'd be able to convince me that I'm wrong. We can keep going until one of us accepts that we didn't have an accurate understanding of reality.

It's always the dipshits that fall back on "Well, we will have to agree to disagree," usually right after they've been presented with enough evidence to change the mind of a rational person. Fuck that, I do not agree to disagree.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Agree to disagree is for things like "what ice cream flavor is best", not for things like "2+2=4".

[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If I were wrong, you'd be able to convince me that I'm wrong. We can keep going until one of us accepts that we didn't have an accurate understanding of reality.

I had an ex like you.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] JohnDClay 17 points 10 months ago (13 children)

You don't get tired of arguments? I see it as a 'fine, be stupid if you want' because I'm not spending more time on the point.

load more comments (13 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Especially when used by people claiming to have done just that.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Especially when you consider that it was coined to refer to literally impossible action. It's not meant to be about self-reliance or whatever, it's something that cannot be done.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago

THIS! A million times this!! It's literally implying the opposite of their intent in that you have to have someone else HELP YOU because you OBVIOUSLY can't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps!

One way to use this phrase correctly would be "No one can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, we all need some help along the way."!

[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Anything described as "just common sense." No, it's knowledge/awareness that you picked up from your particular environment. Not everyone has had the same exposure as you.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've found that "common sense" just means "things that I believe, but I can't explain why".

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Whenever "woke" is brought up.

Please give me your definition of woke, because so far it's been different for everyone I've talked to.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago (3 children)

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. And as far as I can tell Einstein never said it but it's always attributed to Einstein

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 27 points 10 months ago (3 children)

"actually we're a republic" when someone defends democracy

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (3 children)

"They need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps!" Apparently, the quote originates from like a late 1800s textbook or something, and it was a logic problem: "Why cannot a man pull himself up by his own bootstraps?" It's not possible, 'cause physics.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"not all heroes wear capes"

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago (3 children)

"Fuck around and find out"

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] LarryTheMatador 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (16 children)
load more comments (16 replies)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Occam's razor, because it seem it is often used wrong by using it for just shutting down possible explanations. Typically noone mentions, that this is about guessing probabilities without prior knowledge and not a way to completely ignore an explanation.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No one wants to work anymore.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"make it was simple as possible"

Super annoying, because the people who use this always forget the second half, which makes the saying useful.

"Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler" it is effectively a re-stating of Occam's razor.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"Galileo too was ostracized for his beliefs, but he was right"

Yeah but he did science, not that new age bullshit you think are an expert in.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (8 children)

"think of how stupid the average person is, and then think half of them are dumber than that"

So heavily overused.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (12 children)

I live in the US and follow rugby.

"Rugby is a hooligan's sport played by gentlemen, soccer is a gentleman's sport played by hooligans."

So cringe. Different sports are different. I can like both, I can even play both, and neither suffers a loss.

load more comments (12 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›