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

"The 27 Club"

"Whack a mole". Not entirely because of Boris Johnson, only 99% because of Boris Johnson.

'straight-sized' people/bodies/clothing

'theatre makers'

prefer "dreamers of dreams"

Prefer "server"

read the room

yeah. aiui, 'read the room' originated among stand-up comedians whose sole interest in reading the room was to figure out how to entertain that night's audience and elicit laughs. it implicitly describes a relationship where roles are very divergent and highly imbalanced, where the person speaking must supplicate their audience for a favorable response.

I've definitely heard it used at work where "Don't rock the boat" would have been the phrase better suited to the somewhat cowardly message.

i thought it was more of a courtesy / social self-preservation thing. like if your partner's boss invites you over for a cocktail party you should probably read the room before broaching certain topics / making certain jokes.

"read the room" makes sense for anyone who is addressing a room -- a teacher, a public speaker, a person leading a meeting
it's a useful phrase and does not belong to comedians

I spoke of the origin of the phrase, not its present usage, which can mean altering your manner or tone to better suit the makeup of your audience (e.g. third graders vs. parents of third graders), but it seems to be morphing into a demand to alter the substance of what you are saying or to stop speaking altogether based solely on whether people approve of it.

citation needed

i prefer "know your audience"

"Don't grow a pair"

From ilx:

in other "failing to read the room" news:

(headline:) Nancy Pelosi Not On Board With Impeaching Brett Kavanaugh “That would not be my plan.”

― sleeve, Tuesday, October 2, 2018 1:34 PM (one year ago)

where Pelosi said what she meant to say, clearly and understandably, but the substance failed to meet sleeve's approval. sleeve expected his comment to be understood as a call from him for Pelosi to think and say the opposite.

this seems adequate to establish that the useage exists.

no

i'm pretty sure what sleeve means is that pelosi, in her capacity as (a) leader of the democratic party, had failed to take in to account the overwhelming sentiment that going after kavanaugh was the preferred move, that she was out of touch with the thinking of most democrats and was therefore failing to use her role as speaker to express this, hence a failure to read the room, which to me sounds like a perfectly okay use of the expression ?

iow, he thought Pelosi, by reading the room, would have concluded the room wanted something other than her considered conclusion about the best way to proceed. she was not out of touch with who her audience was, but out of touch with their desired response from her. sounds like what I said.

what you said is that her statement didn't specifically meet one individual's approval !

she was not out of touch with who her audience was, but out of touch with their desired response from her.

so she didn't fail to read the room, she actually read the room really well and then proceeded to say something that upset the majority of the people in the room ? what is the distinction you're trying to make ? how can you be in touch with your audience if you don't know what your audience wants from you ?

Be Morton Downey Jr?

how can you be in touch with your audience if you don't know what your audience wants from you ?

if you read carefully, I did not say she did not know what her audience wanted from her. I'm pretty sure she knew what would have pleased a fair number of them (viz. all those who thought as sleeve did), but she was not willing to give it to them.

This is a good ILX argument.

But a weird thread for it to be in

Yeah, like, read the room guys

it will be cool to go through these threads after quarantine has made everyone finally, fully insane and be able to trace its progress

“during this time”

overuse of referring to people as 'individuals'

dividuals

Makes me think of awkward police officers making stilted appeals for information.

"individual" sounds like police speak to me too

"the wife" -- i know a couple of good people that use this, but i hate it!

better half

ball and chain

trouble and strife

the missus

ugh

All awful. Likewise 'hubby'.

“The wife” is “the worst”

Use her name or leave her out of it

I choose to believe it's shorthand for 'The Wife of Bath'.

"ugh" is just plain rude

‘er indoors

... I was literally just going to post that.

The Duchess of Fife

waifu

i would rather be called waifu than any of the above

I'd rather be a husbando than a hubby, so I see where you're coming from.

'Consort' is underrated.

In Scotland, you hear 'man' used for husband, simple but effective.

Is "a wife" better than "the wife"?

I'm guessing "the little woman" won't meet with much approval here.

In Scotland, you hear 'man' used for husband, simple but effective.

Same in Romanian (we also have a dish that's quite similar to haggis called 'drob').

"our lass" won't get any shrift either!