Words Mean Things

One of my pet peeves is the incorrect use of technical terminology in public. Sometimes I feel like I’m some sort of linguistic elitist when I point out that not everything interesting done in JavaScript is "AJAX." But unlike those who obstinately repeat “ain’t ain’t a word,” technically meaningless terminology actually affects people’s ability to communicate.

Case in point:

>> If I have a form element like
>> <input type="text" name="mydata">
>> Is there a way to select it in a similar manner to getElemntById()?
> var nameArray = document.getElementsByTagName('mydata');

I can' seem to get getElementsByTagName working. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

This confused individual thought “TagName” referred to the “name” attribute. Why would anyone think the “name” attribute was a tag? Because hundreds of people go around referring to attributes and tags. Stop it. You’re confusing people. If you don’t know what a technical term means, don’t use it. Use plain English instead.

sure, don't use a word incorrectly, good idea. but don't you think maybe people think they are using the terms correctly, rather than running around intentionally shifting words meanings? by the way, this seemed timely: people are confused by rapidly increasing tech jargon.
It doesn't bother me when non-tech people use tech terminology incorrectly, because no one looks to them for the meaning of tech terms. What I'm ranting about here is people on tech mailing lists, profesional technologists, using tech terms incorrectly.

And they're not doing it because they want to shift the meaning; that's just the unfortunate consequence. They're doing it because they want to use the buzzwords they hear everyone else using so they can sound like they know what they're talking about, but they're too lazy to learn what the buzzwords really mean.

It's like people walking around saying "automobile" because they think it sounds better than "car," only they use it to refer to anything with wheels. Then you tell someone you need an automobile to get somewhere quickly, and they give you a bicycle.

Be number 3:

knows half of 8 is