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

Four Words: Use Other Words Please
"Use other words please."
Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug you
Most irritating cliche/phrase/expression
"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"
words that annoy
Words that should earn the author a slap
PROVERBIAL and other tip offs to poor writing

-- caitlin (wpsal...) (webmail), December 23rd, 2003. (caitlin)

Oh yes, yes yes. I second that one. And the people who say it, say it over and over.

I also have a horror of people who write prolifically in all caps.

This is true.

But, this is a topic that should be dealt with routinely and harshly... the only way we can correct the language and suppress it's organic growth is by exposing and banning every new usage as it occurs... Isn't that what the French do?

Also: 'fridge,' girls who refer to each other as 'girl,' proactive...i'll be back when i think of more....

'poetic justice'. Used by the lazy to describe all 'justice' the speaker approves of, instead of a particular type. The adjective is rendered meaningless.

Agree re 'bird' for woman/girl, and lament its threatened return. Stinks of 'I'm being un-PC, where's my medal?'. Also the C-person uses it, which kinda ends the argument.

Wait, huh? Fridge is the thing you put food in, whats wrong with it?

I'm picturing him saying things such as "Would you like me to remove another beverage from the refrigerator for you, whilst we watch some association football?"

User of "here" here. I'd just like to say you are irrationally intollerant of a perfectly reasonable usage, Noel Emits.

ppl using 'begs the question' because they think it's a fancy way of saying 'raises the question'

at this point, that is what it means

NO IT ISN'T

I'd guess that it is used correctly a tiny fraction of the time. The incorrect usage comes up so much more often that it has essentially taken on that meaning.

it's definitely a lost cause but it makes me think twice about whether whoever's using it is a good writer

We should just stop using the phrase, it’s illegal now

it's a medieval mistranslation from Latin, which is turn was a bad translation of the original Greek, so it was already wrong to begin with

it's an awkward phrase when used correctly; used incorrectly, it's posing of the worst sort

brad otm

I think it’s too commonplace to be seen as posing. I hear it misused all the time and it never fails to jar even though I rationally agree with Moodles.

Tbf for all the descriptive use it serves it might as well be replaced with "humouring the buzzard." I'm afraid you have presupposed the conclusion in your argument there my good man, quite plainly humouring the f out of that ole buzzard, I dare say.

it's definitely a lost cause but it makes me think twice about whether whoever's using it is a good writer

(I don't think people think it's fancy, I think they just think that's what it is).

This is slightly outside where this thread normally goes, but the terms "Brother-in-law" and "Sister-in-Law" have always annoyed me because they are used both to mean your spouse's sibling and your sibling's spouse. And then there's also no word for your spouse's sibling's spouse, so you just have to say "my wife's brother's wife" which is very awkward.

oppor-chance-ity

you would say "my brother-in-law's wife", no?

xpost

oppor-chance-ity

You mean people other than couthy Glaswegian pensioners say this?

And then there's also no word for your spouse's sibling's spouse, so you just have to say "my wife's brother's wife" which is very awkward.

We need a word that means that, which also means your sibling's spouse's sibling.

I hear it misused all the time and it never fails to jar even though I rationally agree with Moodles.

It was being misused from the moment it was translated into English, so there's no real basis for approving of the "correct" usage and disapproving of the more recent "incorrect" one. At best, they're equally wrong. Using "begging" as the English translation for the Latin "petitio" is like translating the English phrase "running the show" into another language as "flowing the show". And then hundreds of years later people try and justify the bad translation by saying something like "water is so powerful that its flow sweeps away everything, so it is in control".

You should just use "assuming the conclusion". It's an accurate translation of the original Greek phrase.

I won’t be doing that. But thank you for the explanation. I think I’ll still get annoyed by it being used instead of “raise the question” though. The phrase must just die.

let’s just bugger it instead

I assume your pardon?

Usages that annoy the shit out of a mathematician acquaintance of mine: people describing things (usually coronavirus infections) as growing 'exponentially' when they're merely increasing at an uneven rate. Basically if it's not the formula in the first paragraph here (that I can't figure out how to paste in): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth, then it's not exponential. Apparently.

I'd noticed that and let it slide cos it seemed to be a byproduct of the same reason some people think "penultimate" means "really really ultimate"

people should stop using words

and start making sense

"OMG that's so random!"

But they don't mean 'random' at all, they mean lame or bogus.

Do they? I think it’s usually more like “weird”.

People use the words "random" and "surreal" in ways that make me want to punch them in the throat.

I guess it can be interpreted as weird or odd as well, but never in a good way...

People use the words "random" and "surreal" in ways that make me want to punch them in the throat.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, June 10, 2021 2:15 PM (sixteen minutes ago)

do you have a normal reaction to anything

random originally meant fast

your mom was so random last night

they don't mean 'random' at all, they mean lame or bogus

yeah, and what about when people say 'bad' but they really mean 'good'? or when they write 'phat' instead of using a word that really exists? it's kee-ray-zee!

> the terms "Brother-in-law" and "Sister-in-Law" have always annoyed me because they are used both to mean your spouse's sibling and your sibling's spouse.

the rules for second cousin once removed etc are similarly confusing but because they are, if I'm reading them correctly, asymetric.

The thing I get with highly imprecise or hyperbolic use of words is that while I'm perfectly aware of what's likely to have been meant, my brain will also provide a literal reading.

It can be both annoying and amusing. Amusing is better obviously but then I have to hold back from sharing too many bad jokes as it often isn't appreciated ;-(

I just introduce my family as "friends, friends of friends, and some of my gift service clients"

I’ve referred to my wife’s sibling as my brother-in-law and to his spouse as my sister-in-law but never really considered the implied incestuousness until now

I’ve never been able to keep track of the conversation when ppl constantly refer to their relatives by their relation. Siblings I get but “my sister in law’s husband” is so much more confusing than “Jeff, my sister in law’s husband” who is then Jeff going forward. How important could it possibly be for conversation participants to know the full relation??

They should all just be referred to as “my relative” be they wife, son or second cousin once removed.

just call them all "er indoors"

or "Cathy's Joe"

better than "Cathy's Clown"

"Insta" is bad enough but I'm getting increasing numbers of promo emails calling their wares "insta-worthy"
I can't stand it

I prefer “pizza-worthy”

I suspect languages other than English have more precise terms for family/relations.

"OMG that's so random!"

But they don't mean 'random' at all, they mean lame or bogus.

― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, June 10, 2021 9:01 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I specifically remember the first time I heard other kids my age saying "random." It was 1991 and I was randomly (!!) paired up at a youth conference with a roommate who used it in every sentence. I switched roommates.

these are my kin

over there? my otherkin!

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/im_so_random.png

stadia