Now, a small cadre of philistines in my office has been using the word "outreach" as a NOUN... "Were you able to establish some outreach with the printers?" etc.
What language abuses have been rubbing you raw lately?
― andy, Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:18 (fifteen years ago) link
― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:35 (fifteen years ago) link
― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:36 (fifteen years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:36 (fifteen years ago) link
― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:37 (fifteen years ago) link
― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:37 (fifteen years ago) link
― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:21 (fifteen years ago) link
― Chriddof (Chriddof), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:26 (fifteen years ago) link
― El Santo Claus (Kingfish), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:36 (fifteen years ago) link
― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:38 (fifteen years ago) link
― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Four Words: Use Other Words Please"Use other words please."Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug youMost irritating cliche/phrase/expression"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!" words that annoyWords that should earn the author a slapPROVERBIAL and other tip offs to poor writing
― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:48 (fifteen years ago) link
― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:52 (fifteen years ago) link
― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:54 (fifteen years ago) link
― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:55 (fifteen years ago) link
― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:57 (fifteen years ago) link
― andy, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:00 (fifteen years ago) link
-- 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.
― the music mole (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:02 (fifteen years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:03 (fifteen years ago) link
I also have a horror of people who write prolifically in all caps.
― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:07 (fifteen years ago) link
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?
― andy, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:14 (fifteen years ago) link
Also: 'fridge,' girls who refer to each other as 'girl,' proactive...i'll be back when i think of more....
― roger adultery, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:47 (fifteen years ago) link
― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:54 (fifteen years ago) link
― the music mole (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 01:00 (fifteen years ago) link
― Roderick the Visigoth. (Jake Proudlock), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 03:19 (fifteen years ago) link
― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 03:30 (fifteen years ago) link
― BrianB (BrianB), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 05:26 (fifteen years ago) link
― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 20:47 (fifteen years ago) link
― Melly E (Melly E), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 21:10 (fifteen years ago) link
― barbara wintergreen, Monday, 29 December 2003 18:24 (fifteen years ago) link
― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Monday, 29 December 2003 20:18 (fifteen years ago) link
― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 29 December 2003 20:34 (fifteen years ago) link
'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.
― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Monday, 29 December 2003 23:59 (fifteen years ago) link
― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:00 (fifteen years ago) link
― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:10 (fifteen years ago) link
― barbara wintergreen, Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:19 (fifteen years ago) link
― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:46 (fifteen years ago) link
― ermes marana, Tuesday, 30 December 2003 01:47 (fifteen years ago) link
― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:29 (fourteen years ago) link
― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:32 (fourteen years ago) link
― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:33 (fourteen years ago) link
― gear (gear), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Wait, huh? Fridge is the thing you put food in, whats wrong with it?
― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 18 August 2005 08:01 (fourteen years ago) link
― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 09:10 (fourteen years ago) link
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?"
― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:29 (fourteen years ago) link
― naus (Robert T), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:38 (fourteen years ago) link
― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:39 (fourteen years ago) link
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:42 (fourteen years ago) link
punching old
― deems of internment (darraghmac), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 12:15 (one month ago) link
99% of the time doesn't make particular sense in the context just like some compulsive content-free pejorative
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 13:27 (one month ago) link
language must be liberated from notions of content asap
― Xia Nu del Vague (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 13:29 (one month ago) link
"Doggo"
Also "very good boy"
― Sam Weller, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 14:04 (one month ago) link
14/10 heckin' good post
― non-euclidean lenin (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 14:07 (one month ago) link
my puppo just done a bork
― maffew12, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 14:48 (one month ago) link
this is precisely the point of it― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Tuesday, November 5, 2019 8:27 AM (one hour ago)
how so? the point appears to be "acting like a self-satisfied older neoliberal is obnoxious and due for many of our current problems" not "let's call anyone annoying us a boomer" - it's like an even dumber bye felicia.
― Mordy, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 14:58 (one month ago) link
and responsible for* etc u get the pt
"give your head a wobble"
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 6 November 2019 09:54 (one month ago) link
customer reps reassuring me with gentle words not to worry, as though I had called them in panic rather than exasperation.
https://i.imgur.com/N9PJi9a.png
― mick signals, Thursday, 7 November 2019 16:59 (one month ago) link
I think that "don't worry" in that context is code for "please do not yell at me like everyone else does".
― A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 November 2019 17:06 (one month ago) link
Shoot, is it? Too late.
― mick signals, Thursday, 7 November 2019 17:17 (one month ago) link
Not sure I hate it, but lately the thing where people reply 'That's okay' to 'Thank you' is really tickling me:
CASHIER: 'That's £5.95, and here's your change'CUSTOMER: 'Thank you'CASHIER: 'That's okay'
― YOU CALL THIS JOURNALSIM? (dog latin), Friday, 8 November 2019 12:12 (one month ago) link
FRIEND 1: I just got accepted for an amazing dream job!!FRIEND 2: Wow, congratulations, that's brilliantFRIEND 1: Thank youFRIEND 2: That's okay
― YOU CALL THIS JOURNALSIM? (dog latin), Friday, 8 November 2019 12:13 (one month ago) link
SUPERMAN: 'Here are the baddies to put in prison'MAYOR: 'The city is safe again! Thanks Superman'SUPERMAN: 'That's okay'
― YOU CALL THIS JOURNALSIM? (dog latin), Friday, 8 November 2019 12:14 (one month ago) link
...and here's why
― tempted by the fruit of your mother (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 8 November 2019 15:39 (one month ago) link
Been around for ages now but this use of "do a ____" in an attempt at being winsome is just awful and needs to stop (I did a cry, you are doing a frighten, &c)
"did a racism"
― Sam Weller, Monday, 18 November 2019 14:08 (three weeks ago) link
Knock yourself out
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Monday, 18 November 2019 17:11 (three weeks ago) link
'Like', that fatuous word sticking out like a sore thumb in conversational English. It's like killed American podcasts for me, like, the word just pops up like every five seconds. I used to think littering sentences with 'like' was solely an American thing, but last time I was in England I heard it quite a lot?
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 07:57 (two weeks ago) link
My podcast bugbear is Americans starting an answer with "So" and ending it with "right?"
― Sam Weller, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 08:54 (two weeks ago) link
Starting an answer with "So" is just what politicians et al do in the UK these days.
― 'Skills' Wallace (Tom D.), Tuesday, 19 November 2019 09:24 (two weeks ago) link
'Like' has been a thing in UK and US English forever really and I'm guilty of it myself. But there's a certain tone to a lot of podcasts that amplifies it, definitely
― YOU CALL THIS JOURNALSIM? (dog latin), Tuesday, 19 November 2019 09:32 (two weeks ago) link
"So" used to annoy me as the classic opener for broadsheet columnists and Guardian letter writers ("So Celebrity X claims..." etc). As the beginning of an answer to a direct question it just signals to me that evasion will follow.
― fetter, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 09:39 (two weeks ago) link
State of this, state of that...
― Zelda Zonk, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 10:22 (two weeks ago) link
Screw 'so', go 'hwæt' or gtfo.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 19 November 2019 10:28 (two weeks ago) link
one of my supervisors does the "so..." opening to a "...right?" closing for nearly every sentence uttered. one of those things where once you notice it, it's very distracting and grating.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 19 November 2019 16:55 (two weeks ago) link
Chicken cacciatore.
No idea why.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 30 November 2019 09:37 (one week ago) link
across from the medical center
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Saturday, 30 November 2019 10:55 (one week ago) link
Been around for ages now but this use of "do a ____" in an attempt at being winsome is just awful and needs to stop (I did a cry, you are doing a frighten, &c)"did a racism"― Sam Weller, Monday, November 18, 2019 9:08 AM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Sam Weller, Monday, November 18, 2019 9:08 AM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
Yeah these are really bad but I think widely mocked for what they are, infantile regression... see also 'doggo,' 'heckin,' etc.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 4 December 2019 23:42 (five days ago) link
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, November 18, 2019 11:57 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
creeping americanization.
i mean, like, i say like a lot, but i have been living with canadians for 7 and a half years. british people in britain should not be saying like
― #FBPIRA (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 23:45 (five days ago) link
As an American I can say that saying “like” totally rules
― Swilling Ambergris, Esq. (silby), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 23:46 (five days ago) link
Everyone should do it
― Swilling Ambergris, Esq. (silby), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 23:47 (five days ago) link
Probably have said this before, but using BCE/CE rather than BC/AD is some shit-eating namby-pambyness. First of all, "common era" is a meaningless phrase. Secondly, if you want to pretend your dating system has no connection to Christianity, maybe start it in a different year.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Friday, 6 December 2019 00:20 (three days ago) link
stuff it, sick of seeing BC/AD still in 2019 CE, they're in different languages even.
Guess I could start using the Hebrew calendar exclusively tho
― Swilling Ambergris, Esq. (silby), Friday, 6 December 2019 00:38 (three days ago) link
xp Fair enough, except that those abbreviations don’t say merely “Jesus,” which would be okay...they say “lord” and “Christ”
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 6 December 2019 00:41 (three days ago) link
I’m happy to start writing “BJ” and “HJ” (for “h’after Jesus”)
― Swilling Ambergris, Esq. (silby), Friday, 6 December 2019 01:02 (three days ago) link
lollll
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 6 December 2019 01:03 (three days ago) link
Indeed quality of life has truly declined over the millennia
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 6 December 2019 01:04 (three days ago) link
Secondly, if you want to pretend your dating system has no connection to Christianity, maybe start it in a different year.
Yeshua ben Joseph didn't start in that year either, but our commonly-agreed era of dating did
― insecurity bear (sic), Friday, 6 December 2019 01:36 (three days ago) link
I thought this was some kind of criticism of Jdate before I scrolled up
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Friday, 6 December 2019 02:15 (three days ago) link
Even for you, sic, this is feeble trolling.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Friday, 6 December 2019 04:46 (three days ago) link
*wipes brow* lucky I wasn't trolling then!
(obv the dating didn't actually start that year either)
― insecurity bear (sic), Friday, 6 December 2019 05:34 (three days ago) link
Lived in blissful ignorance of this crime against the English langauge until this Joshua v. Ruiz fight tbh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportswashing
― I've Got A Ron Wood Solo Album To Listen To (Tom D.), Saturday, 7 December 2019 12:27 (two days ago) link
Such and such an artist/album 'slaps' is a construction I'll happily see the back of.
― Life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering...save string (Chinaski), Saturday, 7 December 2019 12:41 (two days ago) link
'We need to talk about... [ultra-niche, super-ephemeral, almost certainly insignificant cultural moment]'
― YOU CALL THIS JOURNALSIM? (dog latin), Saturday, 7 December 2019 20:08 (two days ago) link
“slab”
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 7 December 2019 22:07 (two days ago) link
slab?
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 7 December 2019 22:10 (two days ago) link
scottish labour?
Posts you had second thought about and decided not to post - put them here
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 7 December 2019 22:16 (two days ago) link
to be clear I was saying "slab," not objecting to it
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 7 December 2019 22:20 (two days ago) link