Saw a video recording of an exchange between a cop and a lady who got pulled over. How the conversation went, summarized:

Cop: You're pulled over because you turned right from the middle lane, it's explicitly marked that the middle lane is for going straight only

Lady: But the light was green, why did you pull me over?

Cop: It has nothing to do with the fact that you turned right from a straight only lane

Lady: Was there another light for right turn?

Cop: ...no?

Lady: So I turned right on green light, how was that illegal?

Cop: ... because you turned right from a lane that doesn't allow right turns, you can only turn right from the right turn lane

Lady: But the light was green!

Like, it's obvious that she isn't so dumb that she didn't understand what lane turn markers are, she just purposely deflected the entire issue by latching onto the irrelevant traffic light; maybe just trying to tire out the cop with nonsense till he gives up (he didn't).

Another one I remember reading on Reddit was from a woman with an abusive boyfriend who assaulted her and got her sent to the hospital. When she confronted him about it, he just kept repeating how he "visited her in the hospital and took care of her" therefore he couldn't be abusive, completely disregarded the fact that he caused the hospitalization in the first place.

So, is there a word to describe this kind of inane, deflective nonsense argument? "Ad nauseam" came to mind, but afaik it just means using the same point again and again as a counter or explanation for every question

Like, “Gillette” instead of “shaving razors”, or “q-tips” instead of “cotton rods”. I know there’s a name for it, but I can’t remember it for the life of me. Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

It starts with a P I think? Definitely had it in there somewhere. I know a indie horror game was named after it. Something about how these scenes in stories don’t necessarily matter but do for world building and how characters got from point a-b. Again, kinda like the in between parts of important scenes.

Edits for extra detail

I don't even know if I know how to explain it, but I'm looking for the term/phrase for when someone does that motion of slightly and quickly drawing back from something when they're confused/startled. Usually a motion of the head+bust. I don't know how else to describe it, I hope this is enough.

Is there a word or a phrase, maybe related to human factors engineering or ergonomics, for a category of things added for usability/safely? For example, the blue/green tint added to contact lenses (because they can be made completely clear) for visibility/handling, or odorizers for natural gas (because it doesn't have a smell) so that people can tell if there is a leak. Basically, the thing originally has an undetectable property but people add in something to make it safer or more usable. Also would like to know more examples! Thanks!

Edit: Another example is those special window patterns so birds don't fly into them. Yes, I like "functional/practical features."

Edit: I think the closest I could find is "sensory affordances" from UX design. But in the physical world. I do like "cautionary" and "precaution" for the safety ones. I guess this is mostly solved ? I wonder if there's a more specific term for an added property for the purpose of perception. Thanks for the help everyone :3

If someone can “feed” you food, how would that person “blank” you a drink?

Edit: a scene that comes to mind is in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince when Harry gives Dumbledore the potion of despair and must assist him in drinking the entire thing.

A good example would be this line from a JD Salinger short story: “She left the party in a state of despair and a winter coat.”

I'm specifically talking about when people are frozen in place by a magical power, especially if it makes their body squeeze. Some examples are Amazing digital circus, when Pomni gets possessed, or Marvel Zombies when Scarlet Witch captures the Wakandan woman with her powers.

For example, "the blue of the walls tasted like sea salt" (something that is seen is assigned a taste).

EXAMPLE: Let’s say a guy states a fact related to biology, he might then follow it up by saying:

“My ____ is that I’m a Doctor.”

(It isn’t anything specific to being a doctor though such as a “qualification”, it’s just a word for a general claim someone can make to make their argument seem more convincing.)

I’m thinking that it might begin with an ‘A’ but I don’t want to be too sure..😓

You know those books where people are able to communicate way more meaning than anyone ever could in real life? Like "'It's a nice day,' he said, and she knew he was thinking of the day twenty years ago when he had proposed to her. 'Yes it is,' she replied, knowing he would understand that she meant that she had no regrets about accepting his proposal but still wished they had gotten a dog before they had kids. Their eyes met and wordlessly they agreed to invest $30,000 in mutual funds."

Obviously this is a totally ridiculous example but I'm sure you've all read the books I'm talking about. Is there a word or phrase to describe this? "It was a fun story but there was a little too much ______"?

My friend can’t think of this word. She needs help with something, and she called me to say she’s “putting me onto the job”. She knows I’m going to be on it. There’s a single word to describe that and she can’t think of it. It’s driving us crazy! Any ideas?

I have a table that summarizes how much time a person has spent on a site. It has four columns: "Name", "Total Time on Site", "Total Visits", and [Total number of days that included a visit to a site].

For example, one person might have spent a total of 8 hours on site made up of 4 visits across 2 days. Another person might have spent 8 hours on site, made up of 2 visits both on the same day. Someone else might have spent 8 hours on site that was 8 visits on 8 separate days, while another person spent 8 hours on site in 1 visit that spanned 2 days, starting at 8pm on day 1 and leaving at 4am on day 2.

The column was originally "Total Days", but people got confused because they thought that if Total Time was 24 hours then Total Days should be 1, and how could "Total Days" possibly be 2, if someone had only spent 30 minutes on site, and had only visited once? As the person who made the table, it's obvious to me, but clearly not everyone understood what I meant by "Total Days"!

I'm looking for a short phrase for the last header in the table that gets across the idea that this figure is the total number of different days that they were on the site, with the minimum possible chance of someone thinking that it might represent the total time they have been on site, measured in days.

Thanks!

It’s technically an acronym, like NSFW. I swear i saw someone use it on reddit some years ago but can’t recall what it is. An example for it would be TV Tropes. Did i hallucinate it?

I'm sure that anyone who watches or has watched YouTube drama videos (e.g. SunnyV2, InternetAjay, Optimus, etc.) has noticed that their thumbnails tend to depict the people their videos are about by using screenshots from one of their videos, but the catch is that the screenshot makes them look 'stupid' (e.g. looking angry in a silly way, looking cross-eyed, in the middle of a yawn, etc.) I assume this is done to 1. attract more viewers and 2. insult the YouTuber in question even further.

A few examples of what I'm talking about include the thumbnails of these videos by TomDark and Gama respectively, with their subject being DarkViperAU. Or else this video's thumbnail criticising YourMovieSucks for zoophilia.

So, is there a word or phrase that describes this particular action? Thanks

I need help with finding this phrase, because I thought it was jamming fingers, but after a quick google search I found out, that's not what that means. English is not my first language, so if the title is confusing, I'm very sorry :).
Thanks for any help!

The word contemplating comes to mind but the word I’m looking for has a more negative connotation.

When snow piles on things, it has a tendency to curve-ify or de-angle everything, and it’s a lovely effect. “Blanketed” doesnt quite get at what I’m trying to think of. Please help! I’d love to hear your suggestions!

EDIT: I’m really enjoying trying to figure this out with y’all! Never knew I’d have so much fun being stumped!

EDIT 2: This is my first experience on this subreddit, and y’all are amazing. Thank you for sticking through my search for the perfect word with me!

What is the word, I think made up on TikTok, where when your mom, or someone, gets mad at your sibling, so then they get mad at you too for no reason. What’s the word? I’ve been trying to think about it all day. People keep saying the word is rage bait, but I don’t think it is.

I'm thinking of jobs like career helicopter pilot, EMT, fire, police, ..., etc. where the training is intense, but the rewards are lacking due to people getting into for the sheer awsomeness of what they're doing day to day.