Our misuse of the term "obtuse"

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buzzard767

Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
63
Sometimes I just can't help myself. My mother was an English teacher and I long ago started to cringe when I saw there confused with they're or their, and just as commonly, loose with lose. Although these are merely spelling errors, I get the same feeling when blade angles are so often referred to as either "more or less obtuse". Let me know if you disagree, but as I see it, there is no such thing as an obtuse edge relative to the knife blades we deal with on this forum.

Obtuse is an angle between 90 and 180 degrees. An obtuse blade would indicate an edge angle of greater than 45 degrees per side. Anyone have a blade like that? Something cannot be more or less obtuse unless it is obtuse in the first place so the terminology should be replaced with either "more or less acute".

Buzz

Oh yeah, obtuse also means "lacking in insight or discernment". I plead guilty, sometimes....
 
So MORE acute means smaller and LESS acute means greater angle? :)

This is a case where more means less and less means more. :D
 
Was in the Shawshank Redemption movie, when he asked the warden was he that dumb or was he just being obtuse? It landed him in solitary, So I am glad to be learning what it means in knife terms, Thanks
 
buzzard767 said:
Let me know if you disagree, but as I see it, there is no such thing as an obtuse edge relative to the knife blades we deal with on this forum.

Obtuse is an angle between 90 and 180 degrees. An obtuse blade would indicate an edge angle of greater than 45 degrees per side. Anyone have a blade like that?
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Yes. Besides the obvious cheapies, a Schatt & Morgan sway bellied trapper, and a gentleman's interframe folder made by Warren Osborne with pearl scales & Lytton engraving come to mind. But I get what you're saying. And no, no knife I can think of should have an edge like that.
 
Main Entry: ob·tuse
Pronunciation: äb-'tüs, &b-, -'tyüs
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): ob·tus·er; -est
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin obtusus blunt, dull, from past participle of obtundere to beat against, blunt, from ob- against + tundere to beat -- more at [SIZE=-1]OB-[/SIZE], [SIZE=-1]CONTUSION[/SIZE]
1 a : not pointed or acute : [SIZE=-1]BLUNT[/SIZE] b (1) of an angle : exceeding 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees (2) : having an obtuse angle <an obtuse triangle> -- see [SIZE=-1]TRIANGLE [/SIZE]illustration c of a leaf : rounded at the free end
2 a : lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect : [SIZE=-1]INSENSITIVE[/SIZE], [SIZE=-1]STUPID[/SIZE] b : difficult to comprehend : not clear or precise in thought or expression
synonym see [SIZE=-1]DULL[/SIZE]
- ob·tuse·ly adverb
- ob·tuse·ness noun
 
After taking a very interesting course in anthropological linguistics earlier this year I've come to appreciate that effective communication is far more valuable than grammatic convention and strict dictionary definitions. IMO pretty much everyone here knows what someone means when they say one edge is more obtuse than another, even if you're talking about 20 degrees v. 15 degrees.

Proper English just ain't more important than getting the idea across. :)
 
Dog of War said:
After taking a very interesting course in anthropological linguistics earlier this year I've come to appreciate that effective communication is far more valuable than grammatic convention and strict dictionary definitions. QUOTE]

That information is irrefutable. Furthermore, other than doing business at the local hardware or feed store, just think how much better it might be if information was effectively passed and grammatically correct.

another man's opinion: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZaN6Rx8X6_I

Buzz
If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going.
Semper Fidelis
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it is perfectly fine english, the word has many meanings, one of them is simply "not acute".

-Cliff
 
I want to reprofile my edge to a more obtuse angel then it has now.
I hope I don't loose my knife.
 
buzzard767 said:
... just think how much better it might be if information was effectively passed and grammatically correct.
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Very true. But after several writing and literature classes in previous semesters, that linguistics class was sure a nice change of pace. :)
 
acourvil said:
Is that called "grammatic irony"?
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As my pal, Martin, reminds me:

"Puns are for children, not groan men."

As Greg Holliman; as Principle Onyx Blackman; once said:

"I have been accused of being obtuse; therefore, I shall be oblique."

Buzzard767,

Thanks much for the correction. Unless an angle is betwixt 90-180 degrees, I'll try not to call it obtuse. Likewise; thanks to Bill DeShivs; if I'm just thinning an edge and not changing a drop point into a clip point, I rebevel instead of reprofile. And my coarse hone is coarse, of course.

It now more unpossible for I to making badder choices!
 
I mainly think of one poster that has numerously misused this term. :)
 
thombrogan said:
As Greg Holliman; as Principle Onyx Blackman; once said:

"I have been accused of being obtuse; therefore, I shall be oblique."
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Not just a great Principal, but a pretty good dancer too. "The field of glory is no place for the malformed or abnormal." :thumbup:
 
Daniel said:
Main Entry: ob·tuse
Pronunciation: äb-'tüs, &b-, -'tyüs
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): ob·tus·er; -est
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin obtusus blunt, dull, from past participle of obtundere to beat against, blunt, from ob- against + tundere to beat -- more at [SIZE=-1]OB-[/SIZE], [SIZE=-1]CONTUSION[/SIZE]
1 a : not pointed or acute : [SIZE=-1]BLUNT[/SIZE] b (1) of an angle : exceeding 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees (2) : having an obtuse angle <an obtuse triangle> -- see [SIZE=-1]TRIANGLE [/SIZE]illustration c of a leaf : rounded at the free end
2 a : lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect : [SIZE=-1]INSENSITIVE[/SIZE], [SIZE=-1]STUPID[/SIZE] b : difficult to comprehend : not clear or precise in thought or expression
synonym see [SIZE=-1]DULL[/SIZE]
- ob·tuse·ly adverb
- ob·tuse·ness noun
Click to expand...

LOL :D :yawn::D
 
As I see it the implied meaning of the word is generally more recognized than the grammatically correct meaning of the word. Whilst it's technically not the standard definition, the use of obtuse to describe an edge that is less acute than another is still technically correct.

The other way I see it is that it's a lost cause at this point, there are far too many people in this world who just aren't properly educated in grammar and spelling, and it doesn't seem to be getting much better.
 
obtuse sounds so much cooler than big angle or greater angle, lol!
 
as long as ya get the gist WTF does it matter this isnt an english comp essay lol.
 
We do have a lot of forumers where English is not their main language and they might be slightly confused with more acute and less acute. Shouldn't we simply say smaller or bigger angle?
 
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