5 ms·

Small nitpick: on your user testimonials, you list reddit users as r/<username> when the correct way to do it is u/<username>.

latexr 2y ago
> Small nitpick Nitpick on your nitpick: By definition, all nitpicks are small. This isn’t important, but I thought you might appreciate the meta commentary.
- MichaelApproved 2y ago
  Nitpick on your nitpick: It’s possible for something to be small, relative to something that is already considered small. Things that are considered small can still have variations in the extent of their smallness.
- krsdcbl 2y ago
  nitpick on your nitpick on the nitpick: a "metacommentary" would be if you'd be commenting on your own text. That's even less important, but I thought you might appreciate such asides
  - j_bum 2y ago
    Wouldn’t it be meta commentary if we’re discussing the nature of the comments, regardless of who made them? If not, what type of commentary would it be?
  - vendiddy 2y ago
    Are there any contenders to provide a nitpick on this?
- csallen 2y ago
  Even though saying "small nitpick" is redundant in terms of its literal meaning (denotation), communication is about more than simple denotation. It's also about emphasis, tone, and emotions, and saying "small nitpick" can be a good way to soften criticism and add a little humility and politeness.
  - wrboyce 2y ago
    This particular linguistic construct is called a pleonasm! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - Stratoscope 2y ago
      One example the article notes is tuna fish. When I was a kid, tuna and tuna fish were two different things. Tuna was tuna straight out of the can, with nothing added. After all, the can says tuna right on it. Tuna fish was tuna mixed with mayonnaise and crunchy things like pickles and celery. It was what today would be called tuna salad. So if mom asked, "would you like a tuna sandwich for lunch?" we would reply "can we please have a tuna fish sandwich instead?" Because who wants plain tuna in a sandwich? If she asked if we wanted a tuna salad sandwich, we would be completely confused. Is it a salad or is it a sandwich?
      - phist_mcgee 2y ago
        Never heard of tuna fish as a phrase, do you say salmon fish and anchovy fish? Genuine question.
        wrboyce 2y ago
        This is almost certainly an American thing, we just don’t have “tuna fish” in British parlance. A “tuna sandwich” would be understood to be a tuna mayonnaise sandwich, sometimes with surprise crunchy bits and sometimes without. You do occasionally see “tuna crunch” used to explicitly denote the addition of, most commonly, red onion and bell peppers.
        Stratoscope 2y ago
        I think the distinction between "tuna" and "tuna fish" (tuna salad) was likely just something we made up in our own family. Maybe even just a way for us kids to prank our mom, or vice versa. "Do you want tuna, or tuna fish?" OTOH, "tuna fish" was indeed a common phrase back in those days (mid 20th century) as a synonym for canned tuna. It appeared on tuna can labels and advertisements. Here are some examples: https://www.google.com/imgres?q=%22tuna%20fish%22%20advertisement&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.squarespace-cdn.com%2Fcontent%2Fv1%2F5b64c5548f5130fa86e2fb2e%2F1624657029972-N61VN46TJE13PZOO88M9%2Fpuzzle.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.palosverdespulse.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F6%2F25%2Fit-tastes-like-chicken-how-local-canneries-marketed-fish-in-a-can-by-marifrances-trivelli-director-los-angeles-maritime-museum&docid=6VNNKLXDSBlYoM&tbnid=Wj1soSO3nYeJrM&vet=12ahUKEwjp6KeM4dyKAxWHOTQIHXRWI5kQM3oECD0QAA..i&w=1650&h=1275&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjp6KeM4dyKAxWHOTQIHXRWI5kQM3oECD0QAA https://www.google.com/imgres?q=%22tuna%20fish%22%20advertis... https://www.palosverdespulse.com/blog/2021/6/25/it-tastes-like-chicken-how-local-canneries-marketed-fish-in-a-can-by-marifrances-trivelli-director-los-angeles-maritime-museum https://www.palosverdespulse.com/blog/2021/6/25/it-tastes-li... Over the years, "tuna fish" fell out of common use, which may explain why you haven't heard of it. Here is a conversation I had with ChatGPT 4o about this: https://chatgpt.com/share/677988fd-28b0-8012-af63-5bd59985a2f4 https://chatgpt.com/share/677988fd-28b0-8012-af63-5bd59985a2... To answer your question, no, we never said salmon fish or anchovy fish. Just tuna fish. Language and its evolution is an interesting thing!

latexr 2y ago

> Small nitpick Nitpick on your nitpick: By definition, all nitpicks are small. This isn’t important, but I thought you might appreciate the meta commentary.

MichaelApproved 2y ago
Nitpick on your nitpick: It’s possible for something to be small, relative to something that is already considered small. Things that are considered small can still have variations in the extent of their smallness.
krsdcbl 2y ago
nitpick on your nitpick on the nitpick: a "metacommentary" would be if you'd be commenting on your own text. That's even less important, but I thought you might appreciate such asides
- j_bum 2y ago
  Wouldn’t it be meta commentary if we’re discussing the nature of the comments, regardless of who made them? If not, what type of commentary would it be?
- vendiddy 2y ago
  Are there any contenders to provide a nitpick on this?
csallen 2y ago
Even though saying "small nitpick" is redundant in terms of its literal meaning (denotation), communication is about more than simple denotation. It's also about emphasis, tone, and emotions, and saying "small nitpick" can be a good way to soften criticism and add a little humility and politeness.
- wrboyce 2y ago
  This particular linguistic construct is called a pleonasm! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - Stratoscope 2y ago
    One example the article notes is tuna fish. When I was a kid, tuna and tuna fish were two different things. Tuna was tuna straight out of the can, with nothing added. After all, the can says tuna right on it. Tuna fish was tuna mixed with mayonnaise and crunchy things like pickles and celery. It was what today would be called tuna salad. So if mom asked, "would you like a tuna sandwich for lunch?" we would reply "can we please have a tuna fish sandwich instead?" Because who wants plain tuna in a sandwich? If she asked if we wanted a tuna salad sandwich, we would be completely confused. Is it a salad or is it a sandwich?
    - phist_mcgee 2y ago
      Never heard of tuna fish as a phrase, do you say salmon fish and anchovy fish? Genuine question.
      - wrboyce 2y ago
        This is almost certainly an American thing, we just don’t have “tuna fish” in British parlance. A “tuna sandwich” would be understood to be a tuna mayonnaise sandwich, sometimes with surprise crunchy bits and sometimes without. You do occasionally see “tuna crunch” used to explicitly denote the addition of, most commonly, red onion and bell peppers.
      - Stratoscope 2y ago
        I think the distinction between "tuna" and "tuna fish" (tuna salad) was likely just something we made up in our own family. Maybe even just a way for us kids to prank our mom, or vice versa. "Do you want tuna, or tuna fish?" OTOH, "tuna fish" was indeed a common phrase back in those days (mid 20th century) as a synonym for canned tuna. It appeared on tuna can labels and advertisements. Here are some examples: https://www.google.com/imgres?q=%22tuna%20fish%22%20advertisement&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.squarespace-cdn.com%2Fcontent%2Fv1%2F5b64c5548f5130fa86e2fb2e%2F1624657029972-N61VN46TJE13PZOO88M9%2Fpuzzle.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.palosverdespulse.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F6%2F25%2Fit-tastes-like-chicken-how-local-canneries-marketed-fish-in-a-can-by-marifrances-trivelli-director-los-angeles-maritime-museum&docid=6VNNKLXDSBlYoM&tbnid=Wj1soSO3nYeJrM&vet=12ahUKEwjp6KeM4dyKAxWHOTQIHXRWI5kQM3oECD0QAA..i&w=1650&h=1275&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjp6KeM4dyKAxWHOTQIHXRWI5kQM3oECD0QAA https://www.google.com/imgres?q=%22tuna%20fish%22%20advertis... https://www.palosverdespulse.com/blog/2021/6/25/it-tastes-like-chicken-how-local-canneries-marketed-fish-in-a-can-by-marifrances-trivelli-director-los-angeles-maritime-museum https://www.palosverdespulse.com/blog/2021/6/25/it-tastes-li... Over the years, "tuna fish" fell out of common use, which may explain why you haven't heard of it. Here is a conversation I had with ChatGPT 4o about this: https://chatgpt.com/share/677988fd-28b0-8012-af63-5bd59985a2f4 https://chatgpt.com/share/677988fd-28b0-8012-af63-5bd59985a2... To answer your question, no, we never said salmon fish or anchovy fish. Just tuna fish. Language and its evolution is an interesting thing!