The reason this is annoying is that there are other measuring devices that can have a vernier scale though. For example, in my shop I have a cheap micrometer that only measures to thousandths of an inch, and a more expensive one with a vernier scale that measures to ten-thousandths. Offhand, height gauges also commonly have a vernier scale.
The reason this is annoying in a shop environment is that there are likely other tools around with a vernier scale. That being said, I've also been around older machinists & engineers who exclusively refer to gauge blocks as "jo blocks", even when there wasn't a single set manufactured by the Johansson company in the building. This is common enough that searching for "jo blocks" returns a dedicated page on mc-master: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jo-blocks
It's funny how this comes up often. Even though Kleenex is by and far the most popular brand here in Australia, I don't ever recall anyone ever saying something like "pass me a Kleenex". Maybe it's our penchant for either shortening things (afternoon becomes arvo) or adding synthesising suffixes for name (David is always Davo, McDonald's are Maccas) that Kleenex doesn't work for us.
The reason this is annoying in a shop environment is that there are likely other tools around with a vernier scale. That being said, I've also been around older machinists & engineers who exclusively refer to gauge blocks as "jo blocks", even when there wasn't a single set manufactured by the Johansson company in the building. This is common enough that searching for "jo blocks" returns a dedicated page on mc-master: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jo-blocks