― tehresa (tehresa), Sunday, 20 November 2005 01:45 (7 years ago) Permalink
pretty much
― What a pisser!, Sunday, 20 November 2005 01:47 (7 years ago) Permalink
― tehresa (tehresa), Sunday, 20 November 2005 01:47 (7 years ago) Permalink
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 20 November 2005 02:07 (7 years ago) Permalink
This one isn't a phrase but it confuses me:"Excuse me" being used by people walking in your general direction who aren't going to crash into you & you're really not posing any kind of obstacle to them going on their merry way, which leads me to assume it's an attention-getting device, as in "Hi I'm walking past you now, saw you weren't really noticing me, don't freak out at my proximity to you". Very weird, uniquely American convention that I haven't quite grasped yet.
― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 20 November 2005 03:01 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Mike Hanle y 3000 (hanle y 3000), Sunday, 20 November 2005 05:38 (7 years ago) Permalink
― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 05:43 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Sunday, 20 November 2005 05:43 (7 years ago) Permalink
― The Yellow Kid, Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:09 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:25 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Chinchilla Volapük (Captain Sleep), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:20 (7 years ago) Permalink
― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:29 (7 years ago) Permalink
― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:36 (7 years ago) Permalink
― BOHICA KAMAREK (BOHICA), Sunday, 20 November 2005 13:08 (7 years ago) Permalink
― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 20 November 2005 13:22 (7 years ago) Permalink
― harvey d grace, Sunday, 20 November 2005 13:31 (7 years ago) Permalink
― BOHICA KAMAREK (BOHICA), Sunday, 20 November 2005 14:22 (7 years ago) Permalink
Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...Things you're sick of hearing: Single words, cliches, and tired phrases. Don't read if you hate pedantry. Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug youMost irritating cliche/phrase/expressionFour Words: Use Other Words Please"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"Use other phrases pleaseBanal phrases that pepper everyday office conversation - report them here
― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 20 November 2005 15:55 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Sunday, 20 November 2005 15:58 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 20 November 2005 16:13 (7 years ago) Permalink
alba, youre everyones fact checkin' cuz
― sunny successor (he hates my guts, we had a fight) (katharine), Sunday, 20 November 2005 16:26 (7 years ago) Permalink
― THIS IS THE SOUND OF ALTERN 8 !!! (noodle vague), Sunday, 20 November 2005 16:27 (7 years ago) Permalink
Repeating the past isn't necessarily bad... especially if there is no past for a newcomer.Is this a semi-private board of stuffy folks bent on wanking off only in the company of fellow stuffy board members or what?
― BOHICA KAMAREK (BOHICA), Sunday, 20 November 2005 17:24 (7 years ago) Permalink
― THIS IS THE SOUND OF ALTERN 8 !!! (noodle vague), Sunday, 20 November 2005 17:30 (7 years ago) Permalink
Yes. Precisely! For example, if you were burning to discuss bicameral vs. unicameral legislative bodies, there is already a thread for doing exactly that. Why start any more?
― Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 20 November 2005 18:39 (7 years ago) Permalink
― tres letraj (tehresa), Sunday, 20 November 2005 19:09 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 20 November 2005 19:51 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 20 November 2005 19:52 (7 years ago) Permalink
The slowness of full-text searches isn't anything to do with your internet connection speed, btw.
― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 20 November 2005 21:02 (7 years ago) Permalink
2. The best thing to do when a string is redundant is to jump right in and announce the fact you have identified it as redundant instead of ignoring it, right?
3. After a three hour recovery period I am perfectly sober again.
4. Boo!
― BOHICA KAMAREK (BOHICA), Sunday, 20 November 2005 22:18 (7 years ago) Permalink
― sunny successor (he hates my guts, we had a fight) (katharine), Sunday, 20 November 2005 22:24 (7 years ago) Permalink
This sends me into fucking orbit for some reason.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 21 November 2005 03:12 (7 years ago) Permalink
― estela (estela), Monday, 21 November 2005 03:25 (7 years ago) Permalink
"He's burning both ends of the same candle"— I don't know what I hate about it, I just do.
"They're just talking" as a euphemism for two people not in a relationship fooling around up to but not including sex. I actually preferred "being with each other," back when that was the thing to say.
Also, in a previous phrases-you-hate thread I mentioned hating "Can I get..." when asking for something. The only time it should be used is by a Southern Baptist preacher asking for an Amen.
― naus (Robert T), Monday, 21 November 2005 07:24 (7 years ago) Permalink
― estela (estela), Monday, 21 November 2005 07:28 (7 years ago) Permalink
― naus (Robert T), Monday, 21 November 2005 07:40 (7 years ago) Permalink
― gem (trisk), Monday, 21 November 2005 07:41 (7 years ago) Permalink
― estela (estela), Monday, 21 November 2005 09:06 (7 years ago) Permalink
"Here goes nothing"— What does it mean?
Clue: Coincidentally, the phrase means exactly the same as one of its component words.
I actually hadn't heard or read that one since about ten minutes after watching an ep of 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh In' for the last time, some time around 1969. 'R&M'sL-I' was a classic show, and a ground-breaker, but it has spawned a ream of catch-phrases for subsequent flogging to death, even more than Monty Python. Fortunately, 'Here goes nothing' ran out of legs faster than most of them.
― Fred Nerk, Wednesday, 18 July 2007 07:54 (5 years ago) Permalink
Sheesh, some of you people... I love it how when Theresa asked if it had already been done, someone said yes and then A GAZILLION PEOPLE reiterate this fact. WE KNOW, now either ignore the thread (and by not posting make it drop lower on the list) or contribute something instead of "le sigh been thee done that, i'm a reg and you're a noob or idiot who can't search."
Anyway, I hate it when people say: I'm 110 procent sure. Dude, either your completely sure or less, but not more than completely.
― nathalie, Wednesday, 18 July 2007 08:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
As mentioned upthread, "base touching" is the WORST.
― Drooone, Wednesday, 18 July 2007 08:15 (5 years ago) Permalink
Big thumbs down on "pro-active". Hate hate hate it.
What does he "bring to the table"? Hate that one too.
All mindless utterances from mindless mid-level managers can go, too.
― craven, Thursday, 19 July 2007 01:16 (5 years ago) Permalink
verbs/verb phrases!! touches on, informed by - esp. when I resort to using them!!!
― youn, Thursday, 19 July 2007 01:18 (5 years ago) Permalink
My boss says "decant" when he means "put out the Japanese porn we just got". I know he tries, but you just can't make that classy
― Morley Timmons, Thursday, 19 July 2007 02:34 (5 years ago) Permalink
!!!Donna please tell me that was not a typo.
― Trayce, Thursday, 19 July 2007 02:59 (5 years ago) Permalink
I wish I could stop myself from saying "I hear ya" whenever I'm trying hard not to convey that I either really don't give a shit about what the person is saying or just feel uncomfortable.
― Hurting 2, Thursday, 19 July 2007 03:00 (5 years ago) Permalink
As much as I hate that I do it, I admit I use "it's all good" sometimes. But know that when I do, behind my eyes the real me is screaming "NO IT ISN'T, IT IS ALL GOING HORRIBLY WRONG AND I AM TOO PASSIVE TO KICK UP A FUSS SO I WILL JUST BE NICE AND A DOORMAT K"
Ugh.
― Trayce, Thursday, 19 July 2007 03:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
ooh, I hate 'it's all good'. (It's not you, Trayce, it's me) No, my boss totally says "I need you to decant H*usewives at Pl*y:King Sized Special". Awesome
― Morley Timmons, Thursday, 19 July 2007 04:41 (5 years ago) Permalink
:o
― Trayce, Thursday, 19 July 2007 04:43 (5 years ago) Permalink
I want your job!
manipulate (gently)
― Je55e, Friday, 20 July 2012 20:26 (10 months ago) Permalink
"massage the facts" is used a lot in law settings -- it has a winky euphemistic connotation that I don't really mind.
― Will Chave (Hurting 2), Friday, 20 July 2012 20:28 (10 months ago) Permalink
"legendary x" used any time more than five people have heard of someone, as in "legendary jazz tubraphonist billy eames comes to the blue hat this saturday." I mean "legendary" doesn't just mean "famous" and a lot of the people described that way aren't even famous.
― Will Chave (Hurting 2), Friday, 20 July 2012 20:33 (10 months ago) Permalink
I avoid it too. I sometimes use "finesse" in places that some might use some form of "massage."
xp re "massage"
― Je55e, Friday, 20 July 2012 20:36 (10 months ago) Permalink
"It's almost... as if..."
Stop it now ILX.
― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Friday, 31 August 2012 14:11 (9 months ago) Permalink
It's almost as if you got zinged on another thread.
― Know how Roo feel (LocalGarda), Friday, 31 August 2012 14:14 (9 months ago) Permalink
zinged by you restating exactly what i'd just said but not understanding it and then repeating it back to me in a snarky way? yup...
― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Friday, 31 August 2012 14:21 (9 months ago) Permalink
"the answer depends on who you ask"
No it doesn't! You're just using that as cover for the fact that you can't distinguish a correct answer from an incorrect one.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Friday, 14 September 2012 05:24 (9 months ago) Permalink
"I come bearing gifts"
especially when it's used ironically and the "gift" is something really really unpleasant. "I come bearing gifts!" *drops a huge stack of papers on desk* / *shits on desk* / *shoots u in face*
― crütis what we aim for (unregistered), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:34 (9 months ago) Permalink
"if you could..." statements that trail off without a consequence. "if you could take out the trash before you leave..." I guess the implied second half of the sentence is, "I'd really appreciate it," but why not just say so?
― crütis what we aim for (unregistered), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:40 (9 months ago) Permalink
hate it when people say "because of, or perhaps in spite of..." when they mean either "because of" or "in spite of", but certainly not both.
― crütis what we aim for (unregistered), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:41 (9 months ago) Permalink
(er, "in spite of, or perhaps because of...", I mean)
― crütis what we aim for (unregistered), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:52 (9 months ago) Permalink
"doesn't pass the smell test"
Again through overuse.
― Träumerei, Friday, 14 September 2012 16:19 (9 months ago) Permalink
"the next level"
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Friday, 14 September 2012 16:20 (9 months ago) Permalink
I've noticed an increasing trend in customer service -- specifically in line situations -- for service people to say "May I please help the following customer?"
That just can't be right. "The following customer" implies that you're about to specify which customer you mean. It's not the same thing as "the next customer," is it?
― has important things to say about gangnam style (Hurting 2), Friday, 28 September 2012 23:09 (8 months ago) Permalink
Huh. Haven't heard that yet. Back when I was in retail, it used to bug me when my coworkers would say "Can I help who's next?"
― die face down in some dude's pool (how's life), Friday, 28 September 2012 23:24 (8 months ago) Permalink
"No, Pete Townsend really had a good handle on that one..."
― die face down in some dude's pool (how's life), Friday, 28 September 2012 23:25 (8 months ago) Permalink
Can I help who's next?
― Plasmon, Friday, 28 September 2012 23:26 (8 months ago) Permalink
it was an interesting post to read at 4:40 in the morning - the perfect time to read language log I find - but when I hear that phrase I just assume a speedy fusing of two separate sentences: "Can I help?" and "Who's next?"
― Fizzles, Saturday, 29 September 2012 03:48 (8 months ago) Permalink
Your call will be answered in the order it was received.
― mick signals, Saturday, 29 September 2012 04:18 (8 months ago) Permalink
doing more with less
― Thanks WEBSITE!! (Z S), Thursday, 4 October 2012 21:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
...in this time of economic uncertainty...
― Thanks WEBSITE!! (Z S), Thursday, 4 October 2012 21:52 (8 months ago) Permalink
"moving forward""touch base""killed/killing/kill it"
― Loo Reading (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 4 October 2012 22:11 (8 months ago) Permalink
This is more of a pet peeve-y thing but adding only "So" before a word as a response and ... nothing more.
"That movie was great!""So good."
"Did you watch the debates?""So boring."
I don't know why this irks me but it does.
― Loo Reading (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 4 October 2012 22:15 (8 months ago) Permalink
adding "kind of thing" to the end of rambling sentences
― Thanks WEBSITE!! (Z S), Thursday, 4 October 2012 22:16 (8 months ago) Permalink
"Like us on facebook" FUCK YOU DON'T COMMAND ME WHAT TO LIKE
― Faster than food (Myonga Vön Bontee), Thursday, 4 October 2012 22:35 (8 months ago) Permalink
― Fizzles, Friday, September 28, 2012 11:48 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I think it's just an unfancy way of saying "I shall now assist whosoever may be the forthcoming person in the line"
― has important things to say about gangnam style (Hurting 2), Thursday, 4 October 2012 22:43 (8 months ago) Permalink
i see "...and whatnot" everywhere now. i read it all the time. even in stuff by really smart people.
― scott seward, Thursday, 4 October 2012 23:03 (8 months ago) Permalink
i used it in my youtube videos as a gag, but ever since i started doing them i hear/see it all the time. you know, any list of things followed by "and whatnot".
― scott seward, Thursday, 4 October 2012 23:05 (8 months ago) Permalink
i like using 'and whatnot'!much better than swearing like a sailor.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 4 October 2012 23:11 (8 months ago) Permalink
another sports one (basketball): "Icewater in his veins!" because to me that evokes a dude who would be shivery and uncomfortable, not cool under pressure.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 02:46 (6 months ago) Permalink
has their been any hatred for "could care less" yet? that one makes me cringe, like i have icewater in my veins.
― sadkdsajkldaskjdsajklasdkl (Pat Finn), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 05:43 (6 months ago) Permalink
In the 7th grade, the coach told me I had icewater in my veins after I hit two clutch free throws against St. Bavo. Presumably the icewater would absorb the excess heat caused by the stressful situation. Perhaps the equilibrium would be a stable 98.6. Use your imagination.
― toy_sleigher (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 05:51 (6 months ago) Permalink
it sounds painful though
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 06:03 (6 months ago) Permalink
"I'm just spitballing here but..."
Said often by dudes in office meetings and it's usually followed by a terrible idea.
― LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Thursday, 13 December 2012 03:20 (6 months ago) Permalink