Paul Fenwick

Help, my partner @DevRhiana is learning a technology, but the tutorial she's using keeps shortening the word "container":

this.cnt = Customer.newCnt();

…and so on.

This would normally be fine, but we were both raised Australian, and so keep misreading the abbreviation as a different word which you would use to refer to your best mate in certain social contexts.

I'm worried this is going to spill over into our everyday speech, and I'll start saying such inappropriate things like "yeah nah they're a good container", or "they're alright, but they can be a bit of a container at times".

#australia

Feb 11 at 7:10amWeb
Show thread🌱 Alyssa 🏳️‍🌈Feb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana I didn't expect it would docker words like that.
Show threadCuriousFeb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana as in you" Reproductive Container" for those who are troublesome?
Show threadmilla🧷Feb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana idk, as a former customer service worker I can definitely see this being the exact intended meaning of Customer.newCnt()
Show threadstibbonsFeb 11
@DevRhiana @pjf Counterpoint:
Show threadLevel 98 🇺🇦Feb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana On Mastodon, I'm not sure you should be using such strong language as "container"!
Show threadRhianaHFeb 11
@pjf an actual line of code. This is how I want to be addressed from now on!
Show threadAndrew HarveyFeb 11
@DevRhiana @pjf I'm going to start calling people "Sick Containers”
Show threadAndrewFeb 12

@DevRhiana @pjf Have you both seen the recent Honest Government Ad about how the NZ National party is "putting the n back in cuts"?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h-yjkAXxnMA

Honest Government Ad | Visit New Zealand!

YouTube
Show threadnickFeb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana I May Be A Container But I'm Not A Docker Container
Show threadAlysFeb 11

@nickzoic
THIS!!! YES!! 🏆

@pjf @DevRhiana

Show threadkrejgoFeb 12
@nickzoic @pjf @DevRhiana great #TISM quote 😃
Show threaditgrrl Feb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana my wife was gifted a slim metal bangle some years ago with the phrase “TRY NOT TO BE A CUNT” stamped into it – “bangle” immediately became the euphemism de guerre in our house…
Show threadRhianaHFeb 11
@pjf @itgrrl good advice for life
Show threadbigiainFeb 11

@pjf I think in 2026 and in an IT context, “container” would be a serious contender for one of the Seven Offensive Words.

https://pacificanetwork.org/indecency-obscenity-profanity-and-the-7-words-forbidden-by-the-fcc/

@DevRhiana

Indecency, Obscenity, Profanity and the 7 Words Forbidden by the FCC - Pacifica Network

Show threadAnthropyFeb 11
@pjf @DevRhiana honestly this explains so much about containers
Show threadKarl BaronFeb 11
@pjf I would always name COUNT() calculation columns in SQL as "cnt" in PHP so I could have a giggle when I came across them the next time
Show threadFlameFeb 11

@pjf > this.cnt = Customer.newCnt()

Customer service be like.

Show threadpitz ☕Feb 12
@pjf @DevRhiana newCnt is ridden of a few bugs discovered in oldCnt
Show threadRhianaHFeb 12
@pjf @pitz nothing compared to modernCnt or finalVersionCnt
Show threadkvcFeb 12
@pjf @DevRhiana I don’t like abbreviations. When my editor generates ctx for a Context in a rust poll() function, I always fix it to context. Let’s all be adults and write our words!
Show threadRhianaHFeb 12
@pjf @kvc I wouldn't have minded it so much if I knew what it was from the start. Took me half a day of reading code and documentation until I realised what it was short for but by then, it was too late!