Sometimes we are bugged by some commonplace behavior, belief, or attitude, but bringing it up will come off as obnoxious and elitist. We all have those. I will tell you two of mine, in hope I am not unknowingly a snide weirdo.
1 - And/Or is redundant: Just use OR
At some point it was funny in context (like "the OP is stupid and/or crazy). I can hardly find a context that is not similar to this (arguably) ableist template.
In formal logic there is no use case for saying ‘and’ OR ‘or’, because simply OR entails AND.
If there was a valid case it should represent the logical structure of ‘AND’ OR ‘XOR’, but it is obvious that this is OR.
So, whenever we are tempted to say “and/or” it is kinda definitive that just OR should suffice.
2 - A ‘steep’ learning curve means the skill is quickly mastered : Just use ‘learning curve’
Apparently stemming from an embodied metaphor between the steepness of a hill and the difficulty of climbing it, this misnomer is annoyingly common.
I have yet to find a single source that does not yield to this erroneous, ubiquitous misconception.
Same goes for the fancier alternative ‘sharp’ learning curve.
In fact, in a diagram where the vertical axis is the skill mastery and the horizontal is time, a steep curve would mean that the task is quick or easy to master, since it reaches the higher level quickly, hence the steepness.
Since the literal alternative (‘Rust has a smooth learning curve’) will be counter-intuitive and confusing, and I bet nobody will adopt it, I suggest the following solution.
Almost every time you feel the need to reach for this phrase, YSK that probably just using ‘learning curve’ should suffice. For example ‘This language has a learning curve’. It gets the message across, without making others question your position in the graph interpretation learning curve.
What are your mundane grievances?
When a meal you order has cilantro, but cilantro isn’t mentioned in the menu. Even worse when it’s finely chopped so I can’t just pick it out.
Shit tastes like bugs. Surprise me with that nastiness and I’m sending it back… and that’s coming from someone who will usually just shut up and take whatever they serve me even if it’s the completely wrong entree.
This was me just yesterday. Some one-third of all people have the gene that makes it taste like soap (or I guess, to you, bugs). Why would you be putting that everywhere and not mentioning it?! It is frustratingly common.
Stink bugs, specifically. When I was a kid, one of those fuckers kamikazied onto a PB&J I was eating. First there was the crunch… PB was the smooth/creamy kind, so definitely should NOT be a crunch in there; then a really - REALLY - strong taste of cilantro.
At this point I’m pissed off at my brother, cuz I figured he put a wad of cilantro in my PB&J, cuz that’s the kind of thing that little bastard would do… spit it out, and… that’s not cilantro… wtf… little chunks of shell and bug legs… some of the larger chunks of shell had that recognizable stink bug pattern.
Never gotten a soapy vibe from it, but always though it tasted like rancid ass… then the bug thing happened, and yeah… it tastes like bugs.