Yeah, I've got mine, too. Poles are what you string utility wires from, like powerlines and telephone wires. Even my cane rods are that, rods, not poles. When someone says "fishing pole", I am compelled to either correct it or ignore it. I don't even know how many fly rods I own, but there isn't a bug rod in the bunch. I've never caught a "nate" by my own description; not sure about "brats"; and steelies are either a small brass spoon fishing lure or a term recklessly used by the inbred, sub-human life forms associated with Fishing and Hunting News.

As for being anal-retentive Strikezone, consider that language is one of the attributes that separates us from lower life forms. I'm nearly convinced that the language used by some individuals is clear and cogent evidence that they are representatives of a lower life form, or maybe it's just low-lifes. 8^)

A related beef is the current wizardry that makes nouns out of what has long been verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Language is only a useful communications tool so long as conventions are adhered to. Absent that, humans might just as well grunt and gesture to make their meaning known.

Sincerely & a little t.i.c.,

Salmo g.