Pet peeves, Gripes, factoids and Truthiness: Debunked!

[TPMdm]

As a collection of mostly intelligent and articulate folks from a wide are of experiences and upbringings I'd like to collect the OT forums thoughts on a particular topic. I'd like posters to this thread to post their personal intellectual pet peeves and misconceptions excluding "controversies", matters of faith and areas of honest disagreement. I'm looking for more than just grammar nazi nit-picking stuff here (my examples to follow).

Factoid: people continually mis-use this to mean a small fact almost as synonymous with trivia. A factoid, as used by its inventor (Norman Mailer btw) "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper"

Stock Splits: These do not significantly increase the value of your holdings in a company! There might be a slight bump in overall stock price due to the publicity of the stock split, but the analogy I always use to argue the point is "What is worth more 4 quarters or a dollar bill?" ZOMG! I has 4 quarters now and I only had a dollah bill be4! I R rich.

The human appendix is not useless: Without getting technical it plays a role in the immune system. It isn't critical..... but it isn't useless either.

Gandhi was not a pacifist: He organized an 11,000 man militia to help defend the british colony of Natal.

[Glurin]

Facts: Often what a fact doesn't say is more important than what it does. Presenting a fact shopping list paints a very convincing yet false picture of reality.

Experts: They are not the ultimate bastions of knowledge and wisdom. Often times, they are the furthest thing from it. If you really want their opinion, read a textbook. They'll just quote you lines from it and they probably wrote it anyway.

[waflob]

Politicians: bunch of lying, self-serving (insert expletive of choice)

TV Evangelists: see above ...

Police: seriously, leave the motorists alone and go catch some murderers, rapists etc.

People who say "the game starts at max level": there's certainly more to do at max level, but the journey is also fun and important. This type of mentality is (imvho) responsible for all the power levelling services that get spammed, resulting in a) yet more spam and b) max level chars that don't have a clue about how to play. I really wish people would stop saying this ...

[surodat]

Buddhists are not the equivalent of the Amish - they are allowed to use cell phones.

Please get rid of all signs that say "We do not accept bills over $50" and replace them with "We do not have change for bills over $50." One is illegal, the other legit.

The business portion of the news where representatives from different banks all paint a rosy picture of the upcoming year in a desperate attempt to get some business. The point of these segments was annoying to begin with - infomercials for specific portfolios - but now that they've become desperate, it's just a scheduled begging session in the middle of my daily news broadcast.

Literally. It is correct to use literally in hyperbole to indicate a metaphor. It has been used as such for years.

(I love the Ghandi thing. He wanted a seat at the table of Empire, which is why he wouldn't fight the British, but had no problem killing Zulus to impress them. Not necessarily a fatal blow against him, since he was young at the time, but not the best aspect of his life. :D)

[zerlikjr]

Expert: Pronounced Ex-Spurt: Has been drip under pressure.

[SithDrummer]

People who say "the game starts at max level": there's certainly more to do at max level, but the journey is also fun and important. This type of mentality is (imvho) responsible for all the power levelling services that get spammed, resulting in a) yet more spam and b) max level chars that don't have a clue about how to play. I really wish people would stop saying this ...
Related to this:

Blizzard, for focusing so much of the game and the special events on being level-capped.

[TPMdm]

Well, it's a discussion forum but I was looking for post more like Surodat's and zerlikjr's, but keep them coming!

(a co-worker read a biography of Gandhi, while a great humanitarian and loved by the people, apparently he was not a very nice guy personally)

[Twoflower]

AoE : area of effect
AE : Arcane explosion, a MAGE spell.

i hate it when people talk about paladins ae tanking. Guess what, they cant !