"A Mute Point" - Ouch!

jwmorrice

Gentleman by Profession
Jun 30, 2003
7,133
2
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In the laboratory.
I've noticed this new mangling of the English language in a few posts. Please folks, it's "a moot point".

'And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.' - Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene 1

jwm
 
That and 'irregardless' are pet peeves in my office. Our Pres uses both words without realizing the error, and yet prides himself on his education.

A 'mute' point is one where I sit quietly and think to myself, "If I post (say) this I will start a flame war. If I keep my mouth shut, I can let some other guy get lambasted with PM's and abuse". So I make a 'mute' point.

Maybe I should have kept this as a 'mute' point. Oh, well. It's moot now.

To paraphrase "It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."
 
A moo---t joke.

Q. What do you call a cow that doesn't give milk?

A. An udder failure.
 
I would like to defend the use of the term 'mute point' on this basis: I wish that some of our more offensive or anti-social posters had been 'mute' instead of making their 'point.'
 
my pet peeves are "very unique" and "quite sure". "Unique" and "sure" are absolutes. there are no degrees of either. Something can't be more unique than something else.
 
Seems like Grandma's first law of the household is coming true:

Every home should have a good dictionary and a good atlas.


Can't tell you how many times I heard 'don't ask me go look it up' as a kid . . . the old broad knew what she was talking about!