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Magnawing wrote:

3dfxMM wrote:

Magnawing wrote:Orientate...you can orient something or you can determine it's orientation....orientate is NOT a word. I've had this discussion with several teachers throughout my childrens' school careers.

I only looked at online versions, but every dictionary that I could find disagrees with you on this one.

If you could find a dictionary that was 25+ years old, you would most likely find that "orientate" did not exist in the American English language until it became used so frequently (albeit incorrectly) that it has become accepted as a real word and included into dictionaries. Kind of like internet, and many other "words" that have weaseled their way into our daily language.

I'm one of those geeks who owns a hard-copy, 16-volume set of the 1978 Oxford English Dictionary. "Orientate" appears on page 200 of volume VII; first recorded use 1849 in Ecclesiologist IX; other usage examples from 1850, 1866, 1877, 1880, 1883, 1884, and 1886.

That said, I agree it's an ugly word, and one that I never use. In a similar vein I will administer a program, but choose not to administrate it.

fickman wrote:This one isn't based on misuse of a term, but I'll admit that I hate the word "pistol". I never use it. I cringe when I hear it. I can't explain further.

Hm. I know you said you can't explain further, but this one's interesting. The use of the term "pistol" for a handheld firearm predates "revolver" by over 250 years. When Samuel Colt received his patent in 1836 for an innovative new handgun, he deemed it the "revolving-cylinder pistol."

Per the Gun Control Act (18 U.S.C., §921(A)(29) and 27 CFR §478.11):

The term "Pistol" means a weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand, and having:

• a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or permanently aligned with, the bore(s);
• and a short stock designed to be gripped by one hand at an angle to and extending below the line of the bore(s).

Though the definition has morphed since its first use in 1570, the term "pistol" seems still to serve a purpose.