Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...

well we say that too, but i’m sure you’ve heard something like “multiplying three by two gives you six”? i’ve heard it but “three times two gives you six” seems more common to me. idk why i thought the former was more common in non-usa anglophone countries

Yeah "by" means "times" which is precisely why it's used for area etc

tlg otm

In art or fashion, the use of X indicates a collaboration by two or more artists, e.g. Aaron Koblin x Takashi Kawashima. This application, which originated in Japan, now extends to other kinds of collaboration outside the art world.This usage mimics the use of a similar mark in denoting botanical hybrids, for which scientifically the multiplication × is used, but informally a lowercase "x" is also used.

but isn't that different? tlg seems to be saying the name that comes before the x is of a different type than the name that comes after it, "A as interpreted by B" and your graf seems to be saying they're more on equal footing, a collab

i had never heard of tlg's interpretation before, had always thought of it as your graf has it

He was right about the origins of the term and also that it is related to multiplication; the hybrid explanation (and possible origin) seems to factor into this. Basically his second most recent post.

well idk if japanese style mags still follow that
convention. when they were started doing it they were doing it for things that weren’t branded that way. so in ivy style guides you’d see “j. press x alden” to denote the specific alden shoe styles sold at j. press stores. but the shoebox at the j. press store probably didn’t even say “j. press” on it let alone include the “collabo x” tag (“collabo x” sounds like a bad comedy cartoon rap character)

but nowadays that “brand x brand” naming is just part of branding and marketing in general, i’m sure even the deepest cult japanese style mags use whatever name the brand itself uses to promote the product, to make searching easier for readers

Squier by Fender

It'll be dot product next, mark my words
ilx ⋅ kinder

i had never heard of tlg's interpretation before, had always thought of it as your graf has it

― Tracer Hand, Friday, January 13, 2023 2:06 AM (eight hours ago

i have! it's quite common! Like it shows up with Savage Fenty, which is the opposite of cult? see also YMP's post ... another common one though is "designer for brand" like "Christian Siriano for Lane Bryant" or "Betsey Johnson for Torrid"

https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2018/03/30/5abefc2f9f78042734449c5b/m_5abefc358290af1329e6d631.jpeg

lol

whoa that's like the song Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath

or La Dusseldorf

or Focus

Cash, the autobiography of Johnny Cash, by Johnny Cash

"pull your finger out"

like, when you think about what's being said....??!

I assumed it was out of one's mouth, like a baby sucking its thumb. You assumed anus?

Yes!!

https://media.tenor.com/81Qx9-z3yKoAAAAC/pull-yer-finger-out-letterkenny.gif

Yeah that phrase is not referring to your mouth.

Assuming has made an ass out of me.

And u!

https://i.imgur.com/JBoA5QH.jpg

or not: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/186931/origin-of-the-expression-pull-your-finger-out

about 2 seconds after the gun commander shouted at everyone to pull their finger out, rumor has it that one local funny muttered "...out of your ass", and it was one of the best moments of that terrible battle

This may show my naïveté, but why would someone have their finger in their ass?

This may show my naïveté, but why would someone have their finger in their ass?

What I've always wondered about the phrase "sitting around with your thumb up your ass".

Was just about to mention “get your thumb out of your ass” which I’ve seen/heard in US fiction & leaves no ambiguity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_massage

Probably means lazily scratching your arse.

Inclusive for those of us without balls to scratch!

Inclusive for those of us without balls to scratch!

Inclusive for those of us without balls to scratch!

thanks zing, point made

I have never heard that phrase without the ass part.

And of course, the inverse:

https://y.yarn.co/a4e8c55d-3ec0-4400-9b92-c027e0015e53_text.gif

It's a very very common British phrase. Without the ass/arse that is.

I know and it’s….. pretty gross!

Like I’m in a meeting and somebody says that. Hmm okay I didn’t really plan on imagining you with your finger up your own ass but hey I guess I didn’t have a choice

wait so was that System of a Down song that goes "pull the tapeworm out of your ass" parodying this phrase

Something I’ve recently noticed that I find grating is referring to workplace training programs or courses as just “trainings.” eg “This is a full day training that will teach you to…”

it's just a harmless gerund, ed

“Learnings” - which I always imagine in a yesssss masssster accent.

lol suzy

That one's pretty pedantic. Everyone knows what it means when you say that

Still hate it.

I won't defend the jargony register that people might say these words in, but. It's not an unprecedented type of word formation.

We use the word "feelings" all the time, and it has exactly the same etymological pedigree (that which is felt).

What's in an art museum? Paintings. What's in a city? Buildings.

Scientists speak of findings, musicians speak of bookings, formal institutions speak of proceedings, botanists speak of cuttings, decorators speak of furnishings, publishers speak of bindings.

Trainings and learnings (for instances of training and learning) may annoy you but they exist in a venerable tradition.

I've got a learning, a learning deep inside

Oh yeah

lots of venerable traditions are annoying too

Those traditionings are notes.

I think what makes “trainings” and, more so the singular “a training” grating is less grammatical objection and more it’s close resemblance to verbal tics I associate with my parents (eg referring to soup as “a soup”), which aren’t linguistically objectionable either but, I think, are more about the unconscious dynamics that make kids oppose, or want to control, innocuous things their parents do. I guess?