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A veteran is someone who has served in the armed forces. It's like saying "I have 10 years tenure" when they're not a tenured professor, but just mean "have wor

A veteran is someone who has served in the armed forces. It's like saying "I have 10 years tenure" when they're not a tenured professor, but just mean "have worked in the industry/position for 10 years".

Tostino 3y ago
The term is used colloquially so often that I didn't even associate it with military service in this context in the least.
bckr 3y ago
Both the use of “veteran” and “tenure” that you provide as incorrect are recognized as correct by OED and are common colloquial uses.
sudosysgen 3y ago
> A veteran (from Latin vetus 'old') is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field.[1] A military veteran is a person who is no longer in a military.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran
cableshaft 3y ago
That's one definition. A word can have more than one definition. Cambridge: "a person who has had a lot of experience of a particular activity"[1] Merriam-Webster: "a person of long experience usually in some occupation or skill (such as politics or the arts)[2] Oxford: "A person with long experience in a particular (non-military) position, field, or activity; any experienced or ageing person."[3] Vocabulary.com: "Veteran commonly refers to someone who has fought in a war––think Veterans' Day, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial––but, in fact, the word can mean anyone with experience in a particular field."[4] I could go on. They used it correctly. 10 years is plenty of experience for this field to use the term veteran. [1]: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/veteran https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/veter... [2]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veteran https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veteran [3]: https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=veteran https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=veter... [4]: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/veteran https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/veteran
kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
Veteran has a broader meaning than just ex-military. Saying you're "a veteran" implies military service, while "a veteran of $foo" does not.
DiggyJohnson 3y ago
You just aren't familiar with the more generic definitions of "veteran" and "tenure". "Tenure", especially, is not reserved for the well-defined academic track.

Tostino 3y ago

The term is used colloquially so often that I didn't even associate it with military service in this context in the least.

bckr 3y ago

Both the use of “veteran” and “tenure” that you provide as incorrect are recognized as correct by OED and are common colloquial uses.

sudosysgen 3y ago

> A veteran (from Latin vetus 'old') is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field.[1] A military veteran is a person who is no longer in a military.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran

cableshaft 3y ago

That's one definition. A word can have more than one definition. Cambridge: "a person who has had a lot of experience of a particular activity"[1] Merriam-Webster: "a person of long experience usually in some occupation or skill (such as politics or the arts)[2] Oxford: "A person with long experience in a particular (non-military) position, field, or activity; any experienced or ageing person."[3] Vocabulary.com: "Veteran commonly refers to someone who has fought in a war––think Veterans' Day, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial––but, in fact, the word can mean anyone with experience in a particular field."[4] I could go on. They used it correctly. 10 years is plenty of experience for this field to use the term veteran. [1]: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/veteran https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/veter... [2]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veteran https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veteran [3]: https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=veteran https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=veter... [4]: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/veteran https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/veteran

kevin_thibedeau 3y ago

Veteran has a broader meaning than just ex-military. Saying you're "a veteran" implies military service, while "a veteran of $foo" does not.

DiggyJohnson 3y ago

You just aren't familiar with the more generic definitions of "veteran" and "tenure". "Tenure", especially, is not reserved for the well-defined academic track.