Pedantic Terminology Disputes

Debates over precise wording, terminology accuracy, and pedantry in articles, tweets, and HN comments, distinguishing necessary clarifications from nitpicking semantics.

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#9382
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Keywords

CPU GP HN CA GPT ALL ycombinator.com CSAIL MIT OED phrase article wording confusion misleading pedantic term 93 correct clarifying

Sample Comments

tosh Oct 5, 2020 View on HN

I agree, the wording in the tweet is a bit misleading, I rephrased the title on hn, ty

junon Aug 16, 2021 View on HN

You're being pedantic at this point. It's clear what the article is conveying.

kunley Aug 6, 2025 View on HN

Not the "subtle" but simply, inaccurate wording then

snakeanus Aug 4, 2017 View on HN

It's not about being pedantic, it's about not being plainly incorrect.

MR4D May 1, 2020 View on HN

You are quite right. The article seems not to know the difference or is very sloppy in applying the correct term.

weberc2 Nov 8, 2016 View on HN

I put it in quotes because I'm not sure if this is a recognized term or if I just coined it. I didn't intend to misrepresent you, but I can see how it could be read as such. Apologies.

wslh Dec 30, 2025 View on HN

This is not what the article says, so in this context is misleading.

cachvico Oct 28, 2019 View on HN

That is correct, the article should not be using that term.

danans Dec 21, 2020 View on HN

No problem. I don't usually like to engage in pedantry, but I think that the point you were trying to make is not obvious to many, so worth clarifying.

bduerst Jun 1, 2019 View on HN

Agreed - this is a but misleading.