"Use other words please."

x0x0

I'm not sure what annoys me more: that it has become an ugly shorthand for 'anally retentive', or that it's only used in such a limited 'slag off' way, compared with the original Freudian sense. I'm not an expert on Freud, but I seem to recall an anally retentive character being about much more than alphabetising your CD collection and making lists.

"myth" as in "the rock myth" - was about to use it in the Depeche/League thread and suddenly thought HOLD ON.

too easy and vague by half

(Kid vs scientist: who'd want to be anything else anyway?)

Dinosaurs rooled! For 70 million years!! Badly designed? To get rid of them, the cosmos had to hurl a rock the size of Birmingham — at Mexico!!!

Also (somewhat related, tho not somewhat rock-related): "FAT CATS"

I'm sorry, excuse me, just HOW is this headline shortcut going to help stir up class rage against capitalism?

Cats are great, fat cats are bigger, thus better QED.

Might as well call 'em Honey Bunnies or Wonky Donkeys...

"Chameleon" (Tanya made this point once but she nicked it off me or Pete) - David Bowie a rock chameleon i.e. ever-changing, unpredictable BUT chameleons blend into the background, so it's more like Soup Dragons-y bandwagon jumping AND the only colours they can do are various shades of dull green yellow and brown so 'unpredictable' is a bit off too.

(And this word is doubly evil if used in the same sentence as "punk rock")

Like, yeah, I can even *say* it with a nice French Canadian accent. Where did that stupid expression come from ?

Post Schmaltz should be used more often.

Heh: this just reminded me one of the original OBSCURE STRATEGIES requires you to eat a Red Chili pepper and tape yr mouth shut, then work — write, record, whatevah — in this state.

(gently hug their balls, etc. i'm so sorry.)

I'll agree with whomever described "glacial" as a keeper. Except when you're describing artists from Iceland. I believe I may be guilty of this as well.

Confessions (i.e. more words that I tend to overuse): decidedly, melange, myriad, ornate and, erm (urp!) rawk

It's amazing I still find work..

What are the control conditions?

It's like [something crap], but on drugs!

And most awful of all is any piece containing 'hey kids!' or similar. Don't patronise your readers.

Whoa I just remembered that I *did* try to say something about this once and was rewarded with a “fuck off” iirc. It was in a thread for the band Liturgy. On zing outdoors so I’m not looking it up rn.
No wonder this felt dangerous to me lol/sob yet again.

i found it Liturgy

i claimed "it's 2015, can we not?" and got swiftly told off
i am not sharing this to relitigate that situation, but to note that this is not a new thing for me. i should have remembered this.

that was an out-of-line response on their part imo.

^^^

"I don't know who needs to hear this but..."

Louder for the people in the back

"the higher-ups"

“learnings”

😬

"...on my bingo card"

"ask" as a noun

"core memory"

istg if the pop-psychology of my lifetime manifested into a physical thing, it truly would be huge pile of literal bull shit, with a bunch of very ignorantly blissed out cows standing by at the ready.

needle drop

"final boss"

stop, please

See also final form, one-shot, side quest, level up, etc

Young people (tm) seem to use video game slang all the time. NPC, bot, etc.

they've gamified my anxiety disorder

A student wrote that he had leveled up his writing skills in my class and I found it helpful tbh — to see it how they see it helps me encourage other students to try in the pursuit of leveling up.

leveled-up is useful. i don't mind these words if they're useful

'level up' makes zero sense to me as a phrase. to my brain it just means 'fix something that's wonky' and i have to make a conscious effort to interpret it any other way

NPC is dehumanising language and has a strong fashy flavour, really hate to see non-fashy people using it.

It’s a very 2026 phenomenon that the type of cunts who 10 years ago were calling libcucks NPCs now spend all their time talking to a literal NPC that they think is god/their gf/therapist/financial advisor

NPC is horrible, yes. Reflective of a solipsistic mindset, but also a reaction formation against the idea that one might not actually be as important as one wishes to be.

i get that npc comes from toxic message board culture and furthermore from video games which have nothing of value to offer to anyone, but 'people who just follow along' is a real phenomenon that deserves some kind of shorthand that isn't too derisive i guess. 'default people', 'mainstreamers', something like that. 'sheeple' if you will.

I will have to ask my daughter about the decision between NPC and bot.

That went terribly, now I'm even more confused.

coronate/coronated evidently continues to give me sub-editor's histamine prickle lol: you can just say crown/crowned and lose literally nothing meaningwise (and gain style-wise imo)

for the fussy of mind "coronation" in the sense of the official ceremony of the crowning of a king (or by extension i guess the official ceremony of the inauguration of a president ect ect) is fine, bcz a latinate term for some all-channels fancy performative* event completely with parchment scrolls and big stamped seals is perhaps helpfully distinctive

"coronation vs contest" is iffy by these pernickety standards but does have a certain rhetorical-alliterative energy so i'll allow it (not that "crowning vs content" doesnt)

*note correct usage austin fans!!