"Use other words please."

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"Disconnect".

I'm not a prescriptivist (I speak and write in non-standard English every day - heavy Glaswegian dialect). And I'm not opposed to nominalisation in principle (certainly not the word "disconnection"). But there is just something about the proliferation of that word, especially in British print journalism when it's so clearly an Americanised turn of phrase, that just makes my blood boil.

you too could be called a 'Star' by the Compliance Unit (jim in glasgow), Friday, 4 September 2015 04:06 (eight years ago) link

I want to call time on "did a thing" on social media, as a coy substitute for "wrote a feature" - e.g. "I did a thing for the New York Times", as if you just scribbled a few lines in your downtime.

mike t-diva, Friday, 4 September 2015 10:48 (eight years ago) link

Yep, similarly the use of 'so this happened'

MaresNest, Friday, 4 September 2015 10:55 (eight years ago) link

don't much care for 'did a thing' but that's mainly because it sounds twee as fuck

speaking personally here, I tend to be comparably self-effacing about stuff I've written because of my gnawing sense of shame about failing to have learned any skill apart from writing about minority interest topics

Hector Ringtone (DJ Mencap), Friday, 4 September 2015 11:25 (eight years ago) link

two weeks pass...

'denier'

soref, Monday, 21 September 2015 00:35 (eight years ago) link

one month passes...

when did ppl start saying "drop dead" wrt deadlines? it drives me crazy

gr8080, Friday, 13 November 2015 14:50 (eight years ago) link

as in "what is the drop-dead date?"

gr8080, Friday, 13 November 2015 14:50 (eight years ago) link

I heard somebody use the words "moxie" in two separate sentences last week as if that's a thing that real human beings actually say.

tsrobodo, Tuesday, 17 November 2015 09:26 (eight years ago) link

"double-down on (something)"

Sam Weller, Tuesday, 17 November 2015 09:59 (eight years ago) link

seven months pass...

"...if that makes sense."

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 13 July 2016 13:24 (seven years ago) link

a rare sentence-final hedge!

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 13 July 2016 13:40 (seven years ago) link

"incestuous" to describe a tight-knit community who prefer to work/associate with each other rather than with outsiders. Don't try to make it salacious, it's not that interesting a scenario.

Josefa, Wednesday, 13 July 2016 14:35 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

sarcastic "it's almost as if"/"it's almost like" construction could do with some time on the bench

llandfillpollgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (wins), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 18:27 (seven years ago) link

yeah i wilt at verbose sarcasm. one of the reasons i can't handle john oliver.

bagging area (map), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 18:34 (seven years ago) link

"it's almost as if"/"it's almost like"

yeah have consciously retired this in recent years.

le Histoire du Edgy Miley (difficult listening hour), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 18:35 (seven years ago) link

"perfect pop"/"perfect pop song"

punksishippies, Wednesday, 17 August 2016 19:24 (seven years ago) link

you guys would put john oliver out of business

chicken lit (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 19:25 (seven years ago) link

"...if that makes sense."

i'm really good at this one

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 19:29 (seven years ago) link

music writers saying a song is 'all x and y'

i'd like to yell everyone about this one though

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 19:30 (seven years ago) link

Xxxpost ooh, good point! let's also add asides of the form '' --- and this is true ---''. been losing potency ever since dave barry wasn't making things up 25+ years ago.

Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 19:32 (seven years ago) link

"for white people" is gross, both in it implication about white people and non-white people

punksishippies, Wednesday, 17 August 2016 19:32 (seven years ago) link

two months pass...

"blew us away"

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 08:32 (seven years ago) link

three months pass...

"batshit insane"

had a great run, truly wonderous, but now it's time to fucking stop

sleepingbag, Sunday, 19 February 2017 18:43 (seven years ago) link

"tasty," in general, but especially for describing music. just visceral skin-crawling ick

a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 20 February 2017 21:50 (seven years ago) link

i like it for describing a situation that has just gone from bad to worse

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 20 February 2017 22:04 (seven years ago) link

"i wouldn't go out there, miller - it's gotten pretty tasty in the last hour"

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 20 February 2017 22:05 (seven years ago) link

visceral skin-crawling ick

― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, February 20, 2017 4:50 PM (thirty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 20 February 2017 22:29 (seven years ago) link

I thought "bonkers" is the new "batshit insane".

MarkoP, Monday, 20 February 2017 22:40 (seven years ago) link

What if… certain journalistic clichés merely mirror the hackneyed musical material under review?

pomenitul, Monday, 20 February 2017 22:53 (seven years ago) link

haha katherine ok

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 21 February 2017 09:14 (seven years ago) link

Some riffs are tasty and that's all there is to it I'm afraid.

ultros ultros-ghali, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 11:27 (seven years ago) link

I have to say I can kind of identify, the person i know who uses that word the most is a kind of posh dude who makes my skin crawl in a number of other ways. I think I like it because it's so exotic to my American ears..

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 21 February 2017 11:47 (seven years ago) link

"stripped back"

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 6 March 2017 09:29 (seven years ago) link

"copious amounts" - why does this phrasing shit me so much?

attention vampire (MatthewK), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 03:08 (seven years ago) link

it's very "I just finished my sixth-grade vocabulary lesson"

a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 03:11 (seven years ago) link

everything counts, in copious amounts

larry appleton, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 03:12 (seven years ago) link

buttloads is way better

“Remember,” he says, “Noddy Holder is a gangster.” (contenderizer), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 04:31 (seven years ago) link

It's like copious is already an amount, so it's like saying "excessive amounts amounts" maybe.

attention vampire (MatthewK), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 05:30 (seven years ago) link

"a myriad of" when you can just say "myriad"

or drop the preciousness a bit and just say "many"

or if you want to be extra precious go with "divers and sundry"

may all your memes be dank (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 7 March 2017 13:36 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

"what's not to like"

mark s, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:37 (six years ago) link

one month passes...

"frothy"

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 21:30 (six years ago) link

had hoped one of dan savage's redeeming factors would be to remove that from the non-ironic lexicon

sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Wednesday, 14 June 2017 21:40 (six years ago) link

santorum has def ruined 'frothy' forever

simultaneous santorum

dumpster fire
garbage fire
fire

Karl Malone, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 21:44 (six years ago) link

huh those are both totally different from the contexts I was thinkingof - music criticism (Pfork on Katy Perry's "frothy pop") and financial/market analysis ("tech stocks are getting a little frothy lately")

I guess my distaste is because it does have this animalistic sexual connotation, like frogs mating

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 21:45 (six years ago) link

My brother in law refers to beers as "frothies" and it makes my hands clench and unclench.

attention vampire (MatthewK), Wednesday, 14 June 2017 22:34 (six years ago) link

dumpster fire
garbage fire
fire

YES! These make me want to jump out a window. Also "garbage person," "trash person," etc.

flappy bird, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 22:48 (six years ago) link

In regards to guitar effects pedals: "creamy." Usually used to describe distortion or fuzz pedals.

Just, no.

Austin, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 23:09 (six years ago) link

three weeks pass...

'cockwomble' really needs to fuck off right about now

Shat Parp (dog latin), Thursday, 6 July 2017 08:07 (six years ago) link


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