Trendy gun jargon

[Aguila Blanca]

I take zukiphile's post as my cue to suggest reading Edwin Newman's two excellent books, Strictly Speaking: Will America be the Death of English? and A Civil Tongue. I think the title of the first should be regarded as prophetic.

[Don P]

I don't think of "mil spec" in the firearms industry as anything other than advertising lies. For example, Springfield Armory still sells a 1911 they call "Mil-Spec." It isn't mil spec -- there are a LOT of things about that pistol that don't conform to the Ordnance Department prints and specs for the M1911A1.

IMHO, "mil spec" isn't jargon, it's just BS

Retiring out of a CNC machine shop, "Mil-Spec" was the amount of parts selected for inspection by QC. I made extractors for the AR platform. We had 3 OS books all with different customer names on them. If the order I was working on was for Colt then I needed the OS book with Colt name on it for our ISO certification. No matter who I was making parts for we used the same blanks, same tooling, and all the spec sheets in the books were all identical EXCEPT for the name on the sheets. Colt, FN, and commercial extractors were ALL the same

[reteach]

There is very little reward in being easily annoyed.

Thank you zukiphile. I think you just gave me my life's apothegm.

[buck460XVR]

Maybe I'm old(and I am), but I have a hard time getting upset over other folk's vocabulary, as long as I can understand what they are talking about. Most of these "hated" words are not really "Jargon" anymore, but general terms and understood by most, if not all. Only thing that bothers me is when words are used that are derogatory or show disrespect. While I don't mind a hunting show referring to a weapon as a certain "platform" or whether they call it a "Mag" or a "Clip", I do get turned off when they call the hunt "whack 'em and stack 'em".

[seanc]

"bullet heads" - Love it! I'm going to add that to my vocabulary

[FITASC]

what really torques my sense of dignity is "shotty" and "wheely".

Along with Mossy, Remmy, Winny and other childish short cuts

[2damnold4this]

what really torques my sense of dignity is "shotty" and "wheely".

I agree. Why use the term "shotty" for something that should be refereed to as "the gauge" or "shell shucker" if it's a pump?

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by FITASC

Along with Mossy, Remmy, Winny and other childish short cuts

I dunno...as I said, folks all know what they are talking about. Is it worth getting your shorts in a bundle over?

I used to think the same about the moniker ''boolits". At one time it seemed to me, it was a just childish way to try and impress others, because it seemed folks were trying to imply that their own "boolits" were better than other bullets and those that cast their own "boolits" were better than the average handloader that bought ready made projectiles. Then, suddenly, everyone thought the moniker was cool and everything that came out of the barrel end of a gun was now a "boolit". Well.....except for mine. I still use plain o' bullets.

[HiBC]

"Shotty" makes me squinty eyed.

What CAN happen is that a whole lesson on a fundamental can be condensed into a term.

We can refer to "Natural Point of Aim" and if the term is understood,we can spare the 12 minute lecture. "Find your Natural Point of Aim" and we move on.
Unless you say "What is that?"

I'm not a competitive shooter,I don't pretend to be. But if you watch th youtbe vids by people like Jerry Miculek or Rob Leatham,they will teach you how important a correct,proper grip is to shooting the handgun with speed and accuracy.
There are skills that will increase control of the gun.

I don't think anyone can watch Miculek and doubt he knows how to "run the gun"

I don't claim it makes me cool to say "Learn to properly grip the gun" its just a fundamental

FWIW,I don't recall using those particular terms.(Master grip,Rn the gun)

If we are working on a vehicle and I say "Throttle position sensor" or ECU, or MAS I'm not trying to impress or isolate you. Its about why you car runs like crap,and the fact you have not studied up on emission controls. I can perhaps help because I have studied some. So you resent me for "jargon?"

Maybe we start with on time and off time at the injector,how much air is flowing through the engine,the knock sensor,etc. Or maybe you just pay the flat rate.

At some point,if you want to run with the Big Dogs,get off the porch and keep up.

If I go to a foreign.non English speaking country,I appreciate when folks can help me in English,but I have no right to be miffed because I don't understand the language.

[Ben Dover]

I never could convince one of my neighbors, that the little thingy you load into the case is a "bullet" and not a "tip."

He insisted that a "bullet' is the thing you load into the magazine and the "tip" is what comes out of the barrel.

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by HiBC

Unless you say "What is that?"

I've been in some very long meetings in which that is the smartest question asked.

[Double Naught Spy]

I watch too much youtube gun videos.

Seems like that should be an obvious self correcting problem to dealing with your affliction.

[Don Fischer]

I hate these little made up words that mean nothing to a lot of people. Let's see, winny. How hard is it to say Winchester? And just as bad is all the letter's used instead of saying a word. Took me a long time to figure out what LGS meant! As bad as the people that need your social security number and ask for your social! I always make them say social security number. Sometime I do use abrevations but if I do, somewhere just before it I wrote out the word. Been thinking of making a post one of these days where all I write if the first letter in each word! DYGWIMD? WITHDATSCF?

[Erno86]

"Spray an pray"

Don't "snatch the shot"

[2ndsojourn]

Bottom feeder.

Either a semi-auto pistol or aquatic scavenger.

[Tony Z]

So many of these "bothersome" words first showed up in print media, many, many decades ago (Shooting Times, Guns & Ammo, some books, such as "ABCs of Reloading and so forth, to have named just a few). Think the authors were trying to "be cool" and "with it".

[44 AMP]

Bottom feeder.

Either a semi-auto pistol or aquatic scavenger.

or a certain kind of lawyer...

You need to cast your net wider young Padawan...

With the exception of revolvers, and some SMGs like the Sten and MGs like the Bren Gun virtually all repeaters are bottom feeders.

and I do hope everyone is ok with SMG for SubMachineGun and MG for Machine gun,

When I first ran into the term "boolits" I thought it was a bit childish, a deliberate "hillbilly" spelling but came to realize that (at that time) it was being used only for the lead "boolits" used in muzzle loading rifles and deliberately spelled that way to distinguish them from all the other kinds of bullets.

Today, the term spelled that way seems to have drifted from its original intended use...

Every modern technical process creates its own terminology and jargon. I could tell you how to adjust the TBP/NPH reductant flow to maintain a constant 16gm/l drop out from the K-2 column in order to minimize FP carryover but only a couple dozen people in the country would recognize what I am referring to. And most of them probably don't remember anymore...

sometimes, we need to "reinvent the wheel" so we don't confuse one wheel with another, but sometimes people do it just to sound cool...or think they do.

[Hal]

Is a "front stuffer" the same as a "smoke pole." I've never heard those terms used by a confirmed blackpowder shooter.

Yep sure are the same!
I don't shoot BP anymore (too dangerous)but - back when I did, we used those two terms - - every bit as often as centerfire rifle uses, referred to their sticks that thunder as - - sticks that thunder

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca

I respectfully submit that there's a difference between cliché and jargon. A cliché is just a phrase that's so over-used that it becomes boring. Jargon is "insider baseball" -- technical or pseudo-technical words that typically are only understood by those "in the know."

^^^Yes.

Jargon

Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a particular occupation, but any ingroup can have jargon.

Cliché
Description
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.

My dad was an electrician. Whenever he tried to explain to any of us what was going on with the television or anything else electrical, he would start with his electrical Jargon and lose us as we rolled our eyes and nodded our heads in false agreement.

As I said, as long as understand what folks are talking about I don't have an issue. Being in residential construction most of my life I understood many folks either did not understand the jargon or misused it. You learned to go with the flow. If folks wanted to call their balusters spindles, I went with it. No real need to correct the customer and try to impress them with your superior knowledge. This is what I see from a lot of folks that insist on using gun jargon. They feel a need to impress others with their knowledge, thus, the continuous arguments over commonly, sometimes incorrectly, used phrases and words. My ol' man hit the beaches of Iwo, Tinian and Saipan at 18-19 years of age. He hunted deer till the age of 85. Till the day he died, he called the magazine for his 740 a clip, and the rifle he called his Remmie. Didn't bother me a bit back then, don't bother me now.

[pete2]

Ah, I still like "spray n pray" with Your "bottom feeder". I guess it depends on what jargon it is. The term spray and pray got me kicked off one gun forum.

[FrankenMauser]

Okay, I'll agree on "boolits".
I hate it.

Earlier this year, on another forum, I was run up the flag pole and exiled for sharing my feelings on that ridiculously stupid, intentional misspelling, used only by people that feel some unfounded sense of superiority by doing so.

They may cast "boolits" with their heads up their ... trousers.
But I only cast bullets.

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by Hal

trousers.... I don't know why that irritates me - but it does...probably something from my childhood....

Originally Posted by FrankenMauser

... trousers.

Interesting. I didn't know this was a peeve.

I associate the terms "pants" with women and children. The suits I wore when very young had short "pants" and wearing trousers was associated with being a man.

Hal, this may be a lingering impression from my childhood as well. I was always embarrassed to wear shorts when the adults all had trousers, and wool knee socks are itchy before one grows leg hair.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by Hal

trousers.... I don't know why that irritates me - but it does...probably something from my childhood....

Would that be considered jargon or a cliché?

I always had an issue with the phrase "feminine napkins".......

Like, I'm sorry, they ain't no napkin.....

[MTT TL]

Whatever floats your boat.

Language changes over time too. This phrase is a good example as it used to have crude sexual connotations and is now acceptable in society.

[SHR970]

boolits: a way to get around work IT filters which flag the proper spelling. It's been a real thing for over a decade. Same for some of the other "misspellings". Unfortunately too many who didn't know just ran with it.

Front stuffer, smoke pole, smoke belcher, charcoal burner, etc. descriptive colloquial jargon.

Hi Cap: B.S. "Hopolophobe" made up term for over 10 round capacity. M1 Carbine 15 round is really Standard Capacity. Same for Ruger P89 mags, S&W 59 were 12 round. M2 Carbine are 30 rounds and AR's can be 20 or 30 round and still remain STANDARD capacity.

"ASSAULT RIFLE": Well we all know where that one goes. Guess that the twits that latched on to that term don't know that a full blown M-14 or FN FAL's are full blown Battle Rifles.