Hacker News Reader

Comment by idk1 | Hacker News Reader

Can anyone tell me what 'Contra Wirecutter' means. It's like I've gone mad, everyone seems to know what this term means, both of these words mean nothing to me and I've spoken English my entire life. You're all acting like they're two words that make perfect sense. Haha. It would be really great is someone could explain the two words to me.

View on HN

Dictionary definition of contra: "against; in opposition or contrast to"

So "Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier" means that it is an essay in opposition to the opinion of the Wirecutter.com website regarding the IKEA air purifier.

Oooo thank you so much! I can't believe I've never come across this word, and I love words! I thought it was a video came and that's it. I guess it's the short version of contradict?

I also think in the context of having Wirecutter, a website I've never heard of afterwards, also added to the confusion. Thanks so much!

Contra (preposition): 1: AGAINST — used chiefly in the phrase pro and contra 2: in opposition or contrast to

(Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contra)

Wirecutter: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/

"Contra" means "against" or "in contrast to"[1]. The author has a position that is against Wirecutter's position. It is a Latin borrowing.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contra

Contra wirecutter is clearly invented for this article. But in short I take it to mean that it asserts a point of view that is in disagreement with the point of view asserted on the popular wirecutter.com product review site.

Ah ok, I thought wirecutters we things used for cutting wires.

They are, but in this case it’s a reference to the website that carries product reviews called “The Wirecutter”

Reply on news.ycombinator.com