Innocuous things that make you irrationally angry (a list thread)

the man that gives away the free newspaper at the underground station that has no conception of if a person looks like they want to take a newspaper from him. those newspaper people are all very annoying but i particularly dislike this one, everything about him. he doesn't even stand on one place he's like a goalkeeper moving left and right across the whole of the entrance to intercept each person entering the station. And if i'm going to be reading on the tube then I haven't got my headphones on which means i also have to hear his voice and his voice is really annoying in a way i can't quite define.

Also, the use of the word "admits" in articles, for something that isn't an admission. "after collecting the trophy, sanchez admitted he was a worthy winner"

i've been told that a journalist should use "said" every time someone has "said" something, despite any urges the author might have to break up the repetition with "laughed," "admitted," etc. "said" strips the sentence of any editorializing/misperception and gets to the point.

i like "said" i've always admitted i'd prefer this

I understand 'said' for news coverage - and agree - but for big interviews or features (which is what I do - I'm not reviewing or news reporting) I do like to convey the nuance of a subject's responses so do not limit the words I have at my disposal to put the subject's disposition and reactions across (which still includes plain old 'said' when necessary).

Don't actually have a problem with most of those words - its really just 'admits' and 'concedes'. Got to the point now where even in contexts where the terms are actually appropriate to use I feel a flash of annoyance

despite his usual non-confrontational persona, cherry blossom admits that he sometimes feels irrationally angry

i really dislike "offered" as a synonym for "said" as well

Postman disappearing when I went out on Monday. Post van was there, i looked around to check if postman anywhere near. had been expecting one item for seemingly too long so wanted to make sure it wasn't with him.
Couldn't see him, went into town came back couple hours later & yes first item is in hallway but I have a green form instead of 2nd package. system with undelivery now is that they've centralised the phone system, so you're ringing somebody on the other side of the country instead of local sorting office. Subsequently they're not redelivering undelivered mail as easily & you have to trek out to sorting office which is now way out of town, seems like about a mile from closest bus stop.
trying to avoid missing delivery on items has tended to mean me sitting around at home waiting, or not taking showers at times I think postman might appear.

Further problem not hearing the doorbell. or alternatively thinking that I have heard the doorbell several times thanks to chimes in music being played, therefore checking door repeatedly but not at the time doorbell actually went off. This thanks to amount of times of crying wolf.
Must be a simple way around both problems here.

& hoping that downstairs door being shut in future doesn't actually exacerbate this further. I live alone up 4 flights of stairs, there is a street door to a place where bins are and people keep dumping things there. It has been suggested that that door be locked and a letterbox be situated at that level. So I'm really looking forward to not hearing postman even more so when they try to deliver oversize packages.

Journalists using ever-more fancy words to avoid "said" always reminds me of the randomly generated newspaper front pages from SimCity 2000, which would churn out articles featuring frequent use of "the mayor averred..." and "a citizen opined..."

(in news articles, I mean - absolutely makes sense in interviews, though even then there are some words which you only ever see in local newspaper articles or which just scream "8 year old writes story for school, has been told by teacher not to use 'said'")

substitutes for "said" that i enjoy:

- spluttered
- exclaimed
- mumbled
- whispered
- whined

I almost never use 'exclaimed' because there's punctuation for that, but I haven't done my job unless I whack in a 'chortled'.

i guess it's true about "exclaimed" being redundant. hee hee yes to "chortled"! --- also:

- cackled
- spat
- sneered

Useful for interviews with laconic Southerners: 'drawled'.

"'Oh!'" he ejaculated."

Ejaculations into ears = why hello, Jane Austen, I didn't know you were that sort of girl...

You can't use most of the above in news.

Said, added, continued, went on, or nothing at all for a par in between, is my formula.

Maybe "joked" or "laughed" if it's an entertainment story.

Most hideous: 'smiled'. Usually found only in the lower rent kinds of fanfic, thank heavens.

I know someone who mistakenly used 'queefed' instead of 'quipped'....

I had "who kisses johnny depp's character in the flick" in a story today before noticing how lol it sounded...

There's a tabloid celeb reporter that always use "s/he shrilled!". Urgggh.

that's just wrong, shrill isn't a verb. "trilled" maybe, but that would make my skin crawl.

in news writing "said" is the only acceptable way imo

- cackled
- spat
- sneered

Keep all three on hand for stories on Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld et al.

Is " '[X],' he eviled" proper construction?

xpost - my error, it is 'trilled' he uses.

i saw some more oyster rubbers today, utterly failing to make the barriers work the first time

"i don't understand, my rubbing technique is impeccable!"

tbh sometimes I have to do the rubbing to make it work - my usual Oyster action is to tap, but sometimes I get the Seek Assistance problem, and in that instance, rubbing seems to help.

probably a bad idea to gis 'oyster rubbing'

don't tap, just hold it there! though i know it feels less purposeful and dynamic...

Two interviews last month - one, a venerable old film director with weapons-grade twinkly-uncle schtick and a hellraiser past; the other a young French product designer who's very boisterous and mobile. In each case, just like always, I really want to convey the nuances of their conversation and how they behave while being questioned since all those little tells add up to an assessment of disposition and help to draw a portrait. Again, I do not work in news but where my work intersects with current events via a newsworthy subject, I like knowing that I'm not limited to 'said' or reactive descriptions only.

yeah i can totally see how for interview i'd do that. for news tho esp like hard bbc news style you get away with v little...

"after collecting the trophy, sanchez admitted he was a worthy winner"

"Okay, you got me. I'm not a loser after all!"

chick on facebook refers to Lynyrd Skynyrd as 'he' as if it is a person named Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Technically, kind of right, but still pretty lololol

It's not really right unless they're talking about the actions of the late schoolteacher. If they're talking about the band (which they would be, as the teacher's name isn't actually Lynyrd Skynyrd), then they're not even close to correct.

I remember walking into a Blockbuster music looking for Dimmu Borgir cds in like 1999 and not being able to find it as they had it filed under Borgir, Dimmu, as if it was a dude named Dimmu Borgir.

There's a whole thread about this: Band names that sound like one person

gum snappers
getting to a show too early on a cold rainy night and having to wait on line
standing in line
listening to dumb in-line conversations

fuck i am so crabby tonight I may stab everyone

having to wait IN line I meant

gum snapper behind me will be first to die

agh he is a sniffer too

add loud line-talkers, and chronic yawners. I need to chill, shit is driving me nuts

Hahah I was about to add "the phrase 'wait on line'" lol. Makes no sense rargh sounds so jarring.

I notice lots of East-Coasters use the "wait on line" thing.

hey mr. 40 something businessman who flashed his lights 7 times at me to make a right turn on red, did you happen to see the illuminated "No Turn on Red" sign? just for that I'm going to have sex with one of your relatives

*zips up*

Looks like Russell Brand's b just expired.

Fuckwits in meetings saying "Can I just talk to that point?"

No, you can talk ABOUT it, or, preferably, fuck off and die.

Oh thats a new one. Ughhh.

also 'go-live' as a noun or adjective