"Flippers, goggles, oxygen tank" -- cringeworthy, or useful??

[cerich]

By that definition, wouldn't the pelvic and pectoral fins on a fish be flippers?

flippers are also orientated different than fins. Marine mammals can have fins, but they aren't the primary propulsion

 

[txgoose]

Terminology is a thing in many aspects of life. I just try to ask myself if I know what they are talking about. Only in occasional technical settings is it hyper critical to have the exact term or 100% accurate word.

Gun owners. A LOT of them say clip when they mean magazine. Experienced people. It is up to me if I choose to call them out or otherwise get annoyed. Do I know what they mean? Yes. Can I have a happy life by letting go of some need for them to say magazine? Yes.

Bike riders. A caliper brake is not a cantilever brake. People mix them up, experienced people. I get to decide if it upsets me or not.

BC vs BCD. SMB vs dSMB. Flipper vs fin. Carabiner vs suicide clip. Oxygen tank vs air tank. Torch vs light. IMO, most people know/understand the idea being expressed. You get to decide how dogmatic you need to be in order to be healthy. I get what you’re saying. I have been there myself. But I have also been working on letting go.

 

[Fastmarc]

From this day forward I will be call it flippers and annoy the hell out whom ever. LOL

 

[lv2dive]

I’m with you re oxygen tanks. I refer to “gas” (as in “how much gas do you have?”) or I avoid the term altogether (“What’s your pressure?”) bc any given dive typically involves multiple Nitrox and Trimix mixes in addition to at least one tank of pure oxygen.

I don’t much care about usage of flippers, goggles, tanks. Accuracy (or lack thereof) with those items doesn’t have the same potential to be life-threatening (as oxygen can be, deeper than 20’).

Back in the dark ages, we were told they were cylinders, not tanks. Only the ignorant called them tanks. A bottle held the post-dive refreshment.

Tanks, cylinders, flippers or fins don't bother me. Goggles do a bit, because they have a clear aquatic meaning that is different from the mask.

Oxygen is just wrong. It's an air tank, unless there's tech diving involved.

 

[RyanT]

it's a more accurate term than FINS, which divers started using to make themselves feel superior to "mere snorkelers". Marine mammals use flippers for propulsion, fish use fins.

I love this, yes, mammals use flippers!

 

[Jcp2]

But Flipper uses flukes.

 

[wnissen]

I tend to be against jargon when it confuses the lay person for no increase in precision. For instance, in Alaska what they call a snow machine is the vehicle with treads that in the lower 48 is typically called a snowmobile. Bad jargon. Especially since there is a thing down here that's called a "snow machine" that makes artificial snow.

So it doesn't bother me in the least to call it a tank. Your average non-diver has no idea what a "cylinder" is, except maybe a propane cylinder. But they do know what a tank is. Just like I don't even like "diving" because that's a separate activity that people do from cliffs. But everyone knows what scuba is. No confusion.

 

[PfcAJ]

I say flippers and goggles at every opportunity just to rile up the “wElL aCkShUaLlY” dweebs.

 

[JohnnyC]

 

[Johnoly]

Nut sack,,but politically correct say Trunks and then if diving from shore,,,well it's a suit - bathing suit.
Rednecks don't have to worry about any of that........your going Commando !!