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

swath is bad swathe is good

(it can be either acc.SOED: "the space covered by the sweep of a mower's scythe", and its various figurative evolutions)

swarf is another one- the ultra sharp metal peeling byproducts in engineering works. just touch that stuff and it cuts your finger open!

it is why swarfega is called swarfega (except i can't work out what the "ega" but means)

also "shoddy": crappy bits of wool left over after the weave gathered up and used to make (very inferior) textile

In the UK, the word "Swarfega" may be used as a generic term for all similar cleaners, particularly if they have the same green jelly-like appearance as genuine Swarfega. According to the company website;[4]

The name derives from “swarf”, being the old Derbyshire engineering term for oil and grease and “ega”, as in “eager to clean”.

This may be a bit confusing, as "swarf" now commonly refers to the metal shavings and chips resulting from metalworking operations. The word did not originally mean oil or grease as Deb claimed, but rather the waste material from a grindstone (or similar material resulting from wear in a machine). This material would be a wet or oily mixture of grit abraded from the wheel and filings from the workpiece.

!!

I once had a job of cleaning carding machines of swarf with paraffin and rags, it was very riveting/character building stuff. My co-worker quit after an hour - i lasted 2 and a half days!

This material would be a wet or oily mixture of grit abraded from the wheel and filings from the workpiece.

a resultant paste if you will

all my childhood lego was (is) in big swarfega tubs that dad took from work.

"from the makers of Plus-Gas and Gunk" as the adverts used to say

I have a middle-aged co-worker who calls her clients “extra” all the time. (I also once heard her refer to her son as her “flesh baby” so she’s maybe not a representative sample.)

I feel like I hear “a lot/too much” as a self-description among women in my social circle, re: worries that their personalities are exhausting for their friends/romantic partners.

"If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best."

“flesh baby” to distinguish him from her spectral baby

probably to distinguish him from her [ew] "fur baby"

Q: What did the outdoor car park say to the garage?
A: Sorry, I know I'm a lot.

Omg at flesh baby.

I feel like I hear “a lot/too much” as a self-description among women in my social circle, re: worries that their personalities are exhausting for their friends/romantic partners.

Yes, feeling like a burden for no real reason is sadly a thing for a lot of women. I’ve def used this in this context about myself. :(

F Kogan's "superwords" to thread

sounds as enticing as "superfoods"

"minimalist" instead of "minimal"
"minimalistic" instead of "minimalist"
it's, like, the opposite of minimal

but doesn't minimalisitic refer specifically to *minimalism*? these words different meanings, I think

words *have* different

https://frinkiac.com/meme/S05E22/1063428.jpg?b64lines=QUgsIFlPVVIKIEZMRVNIIE1PVEhFUiBVU0VEIFRPCiBCUklORyBNRSBQVURESU5HLg==

"parse" when applied to anything other than a sentence written in an ancient language.

I'll take it over 'unpack'.

you can blame software development for popularizing both of those, especially parse

http://i64.tinypic.com/14x2dr9.png

there are a lot more entries but i wasn't going to screenshot the entire thing. "parse" used both literally and figuratively has been in usage for centuries and is an excellent word.

yeah parse is great. unpack is awful but it's not a software word either: it's a twee college word. for litcrit, not rars. dfw was always using it.

sometimes he'd have to "bracket" something, so he could unpack something else.

I thought differently having posted and, yes, "unpack" is more of a lit analysis thing

operationalize

also, two phrases/figures of speech I hate: "herding cats" and "the juice isn't worth the squeeze"

but I digress

“This little thing is absolutely to die for, so I’m just over the moon,” a beaming Prince Harry told reporters outside the couple’s residence near Windsor Castle.

disgusting

what is it, a cronut?

"herding cats" is a great simile, being both vivid and visual. it's just overused, mainly because it communicates a particular kind of problem quickly and easily. we won't be getting rid of it any time soon.

Harry being 100% literal there and revealing some dark secrets imo

"creatives" still kills me, I hate it.

Good one. I fucking loathe it.

"creatives" is bad but "creators" (esp. referring collectively to the writers and artists of comic books, e.g. "comics creators") is actually worse!

I only know one Creator and that's Yahweh

Yahweh or the highway

Ooh baby i love yahweh

"content creators"

'Content sire'.

makers

'Dreamers of dreams.'

"merch"

'signage'

Yeah, 'murch' is kind of horrible.

'man up'

there is no worse phrase

This lovely piece of prose was tailor made for this thread

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/university-assessment-committee-erotica

https://i.imgur.com/RabvpCN.png