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What's the most petty/pointless/pedantic hill you're willing to die on? (programming.dev)

submitted 3 months ago by notnotmike@programming.dev to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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For me, it may be that the toilet paper roll needs to have the open end away from the wall. I don't want to reach under the roll to take a piece! That's ludicrous!

That or my recent addiction to correcting people when they use "less" when they should use "fewer"

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[-] tychosmoose@lemm.ee 11 points 3 months ago

You should probably dampen your expectations on this one.

[-] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 months ago

Why?

This is a hill I'm willing to die on, and as such my expectations are pretty consistent. Thus damping is not really needed.

Doesn't mean my expectations are realistic though.

[-] tychosmoose@lemm.ee 9 points 3 months ago

Ha! Well I was just having a laugh. Expecting that you would prefer "you should damp your expectations" and that my construction should mean "make your expectations wet." And it turns out dampen is ambiguous. It means both moisten and dull, deaden, make weak.

Not only that, but most every form carries both meanings, and the "weaken" sense for the word damp predates the "humid" sense. Because the noun came first and it was specific to suffocating fumes in a mine that would extinguish candles, and people.

So my take now is that dampening means both "making weak" and "humidifying, moistening." Only damping is specific to motion/energy. And I can't recall encountering anyone using damping to mean "making wet."

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

Calm down there and dampen your expectations some. He was joking.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024

472 points (98.2% liked)

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