Misnomers

[BillyTheWild]

There are a few terms used in the vaping community that annoy me a bit:

Analog Cigarette

Steeping e-juice:
Steeping is the process of extracting flavors, coloring or other components from a substance by soaking it in a liquid. There is nothing to extract when you get pre-mixed e-juices in a bottle, so it's not steeping. I think aging is more accurate a term to use.
(Also, it is usually recommended to have the cap off when “steeping” e-juices as in letting wine breathe. But the surface area in contact with air is so small that I doubt that it is doing anything. For this reason, in wine drinking, you let the wine breathe by pouring it in a glass or a decanter to allow for greater surface area to come into contact with air. But this is another topic altogether.)

Mechanical mod:
When I first heard about this term, especially “all mechanical mod”, I had this image, LOL:


Or this:

 

[Statistic]

Mechanical Mod is accurate. It's a simple machine. Even screws and nuts and bolts are machines.

 

[Statistic]

I stand corrected. A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, a simple machine can be defined as one of the simplest mechanisms that provide mechanical advantage (also called leverage).

So I thought maybe a "mechanical mod" is actually an electrical machine.. not so either. An electrical machine is the apparatus that converts energy in three categories: generators which convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, motors which convert electrical energy to mechanical energy, and transformers which changes the voltage level of an alternating current.

 

[llamainmypocket]

Words don't actually have meaning but are simply expressions of what the user means.

An association between a word and a common meaning is inferred from its use. In fact, dictionaries observe the use of the word to express its common meaning rather than setting guidelines for its use.

If I use the word coconuts to mean boobs then the meaning of coconuts is boobs. There's no difference here in these words and they are successful because you know what they mean.

You can be annoyed if you likevbut I won't hold it against you. Tis common in perfectionists to be annoyed with imperfection.

 

[Orobas]

Well alright, let's make an announcement that we must all modify our vaping vocabularies because a newfriend thinks we should.

pbbbbbtttt.......

 

[InTheShade]

I like the term analogues. I know that the word really has no relation to a cigarette, but I think the conveyed meaning is plain for all to see.

I know that words mean things, but as someone else said, if we all use these words in the same way to convey the same meaning, then the definitions change for us as a group and the word can be considered correct.

 

[Abe_Katz]

On the first two I agree.

I find "analog cigarette" to, well, sound silly. Of course this is also coming from someone who hates the term "e-cigarette". My PV does not look like a cigarette, taste like a cigarette, or have anything in common with a cigarette...well other than it has nicotine in it and I put it into my mouth.

I consistently use personal vaporizer myself, or PV for short. Of course thats because of my personal pet peeves.

Steeping is actually a misnomer but seems to be used because it is common usage. When describing the process to less experienced vapers I actually call it "aging" which is more accurate.

 

[BillyTheWild]

Words don't actually have meaning but are simply expressions of what the user means.

An association between a word and a common meaning is inferred from its use. In fact, dictionaries observe the use of the word to express its common meaning rather than setting guidelines for its use.

If I use the word coconuts to mean boobs then the meaning of coconuts is boobs. There's no difference here in these words and they are successful because you know what they mean.

You can be annoyed if you likevbut I won't hold it against you. Tis common in perfectionists to be annoyed with imperfection.

While I see your point and agree with you to a degree, I cannot agree with the argument as a whole. It's true that language is dynamic and it changes in time. For example, the word “conversate” is wrong and doesn’t exist in English. “Converse” is the right word. But since so many people use the word "conversate", some dictionaries now include it in a side note with an explanation that it’s not a formal word.

However, right is right and wrong is wrong. This has nothing to do with being a perfectionist or not. If you are an English teacher, you don’t teach your students to use the word “conversate” knowing that it is wrong but tech it anyway b/c so many people use it, do you?

How do you educate people when you don’t use the correct words and terminologies? When I started learning about vaping, I was very confused by people saying about steeping their juice. I was like, do you mean that there are still tobacco leaves in the bottle and I steep it like I would with tea?

Using your example, now, if everyone in the English speaking world uses the word coconuts to mean boobs, then, fine. But if only some people wrongly use the word coconuts for boobs, why do you think that it’s OK to start using the word coconuts that way?

And if everyone just starts making up different meanings for words or using the wrong words or terminologies willy-nilly, then, how is anyone able to learn anything. Like, is it OK for me to, all at a sudden, start calling mechanical mods, boobs? Like I will start a thread titled “I just get new boobs, anyone wanna see?”

 

[glasseye]

The word 'vape' isn't in Merriam Webster (or any that I know of) dictionary either. Yet. Like any other culture/subculture, words are made up well before they go mainstream. Personally, I find the term driptip to be a misnomer. It's a tip to be sure but do most actually drip into the tip?

 

[wandawag]

ya'll sure cheered me up. thanks

 

[BillyTheWild]

Well alright, let's make an announcement that we must all modify our vaping vocabularies because a newfriend thinks we should.

pbbbbbtttt.......

I didn't say that. But let's just say I did say that, what's wrong with that? So what? Someone needs to start, may as well be me. Yeah, I am not afraid to say that even if that means I may offend some of you.

 

[GaryInTexas]

I have a small collection of antique books. The cook books used "receipt" in the title instead of "recipe". Were they wrong for 100 years or were we wrong for 100 years or maybe meanings just changed.

 

[EddardinWinter]

Steep - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition of STEEP

transitive verb
1: to soak in a liquid at a temperature under the boiling point (as for softening, bleaching, or extracting an essence)

How does this not fit the activity of what e-liquid is doing? The juice flavors are being fully extracted into the solution. Even if it is an imprecise fit, it is a reasonable one. I would just get used to it if I were you, I don't see it changing.

 

[BillyTheWild]

Why do some of you take it so personally, like I am trying to take away your babies or something?!?! I simply point out some of the terms we use are wrong, that's all. This can be a healthy, productive discussion, you know.

 

[Hitmetwice]

And the analouge of the story is...if your coconut drips, your tip might be in steeping juice.

 

[MartiP]

The problem is that you are seeing all these terms as vocabulary. They aren't. They are a vernacular. And the vernacular of any specialized group often has very little to do with normal vocabulary. Vernacular usually gets set by early adopters/members/leaders of whatever group/technology is in question. I take it you weren't one of them. Well, too late now.

 

[GaryInTexas]

I'm not taking it personally nor am I offended in anyway. Just amazed that in a vaping forum there is concern over the exact terms used in this hobby. I'm more interested in liquids, hardware, and possible health benefits than I am the terminology. I'm outta here.

 

[Hippieangst]

mouse vs mouse

 

[BillyTheWild]

Steep - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition of STEEP

transitive verb
1: to soak in a liquid at a temperature under the boiling point (as for softening, bleaching, or extracting an essence)

How does this not fit the activity of what e-liquid is doing? The juice flavors are being fully extracted into the solution. Even if it is an imprecise fit, it is a reasonable one. I would just get used to it if I were you, I don't see it changing.

With pre-mixed juice in a bottle, there is not any "softening, bleaching, or extracting an essence" going on anymore. Steeping may apply to the process of extracting nic. from the tobacco leaves and in the manufacturing of the flavorings. But this refers to the manufacturing of the ingredients of the e-juices but not to a premixed e-juice bottle.

 

[Chikenbok]

I don't want to - but I will start quoting Ludwig Wittgenstein if I have to.