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

I hear it misused all the time and it never fails to jar even though I rationally agree with Moodles.

It was being misused from the moment it was translated into English, so there's no real basis for approving of the "correct" usage and disapproving of the more recent "incorrect" one. At best, they're equally wrong. Using "begging" as the English translation for the Latin "petitio" is like translating the English phrase "running the show" into another language as "flowing the show". And then hundreds of years later people try and justify the bad translation by saying something like "water is so powerful that its flow sweeps away everything, so it is in control".

You should just use "assuming the conclusion". It's an accurate translation of the original Greek phrase.

I won’t be doing that. But thank you for the explanation. I think I’ll still get annoyed by it being used instead of “raise the question” though. The phrase must just die.

let’s just bugger it instead

I assume your pardon?

Usages that annoy the shit out of a mathematician acquaintance of mine: people describing things (usually coronavirus infections) as growing 'exponentially' when they're merely increasing at an uneven rate. Basically if it's not the formula in the first paragraph here (that I can't figure out how to paste in): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth, then it's not exponential. Apparently.

I'd noticed that and let it slide cos it seemed to be a byproduct of the same reason some people think "penultimate" means "really really ultimate"

people should stop using words

and start making sense

"OMG that's so random!"

But they don't mean 'random' at all, they mean lame or bogus.

Do they? I think it’s usually more like “weird”.

People use the words "random" and "surreal" in ways that make me want to punch them in the throat.

I guess it can be interpreted as weird or odd as well, but never in a good way...

People use the words "random" and "surreal" in ways that make me want to punch them in the throat.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, June 10, 2021 2:15 PM (sixteen minutes ago)

do you have a normal reaction to anything

random originally meant fast

your mom was so random last night

they don't mean 'random' at all, they mean lame or bogus

yeah, and what about when people say 'bad' but they really mean 'good'? or when they write 'phat' instead of using a word that really exists? it's kee-ray-zee!

> the terms "Brother-in-law" and "Sister-in-Law" have always annoyed me because they are used both to mean your spouse's sibling and your sibling's spouse.

the rules for second cousin once removed etc are similarly confusing but because they are, if I'm reading them correctly, asymetric.

The thing I get with highly imprecise or hyperbolic use of words is that while I'm perfectly aware of what's likely to have been meant, my brain will also provide a literal reading.

It can be both annoying and amusing. Amusing is better obviously but then I have to hold back from sharing too many bad jokes as it often isn't appreciated ;-(

I just introduce my family as "friends, friends of friends, and some of my gift service clients"

I’ve referred to my wife’s sibling as my brother-in-law and to his spouse as my sister-in-law but never really considered the implied incestuousness until now

I’ve never been able to keep track of the conversation when ppl constantly refer to their relatives by their relation. Siblings I get but “my sister in law’s husband” is so much more confusing than “Jeff, my sister in law’s husband” who is then Jeff going forward. How important could it possibly be for conversation participants to know the full relation??

They should all just be referred to as “my relative” be they wife, son or second cousin once removed.

just call them all "er indoors"

or "Cathy's Joe"

better than "Cathy's Clown"

"Insta" is bad enough but I'm getting increasing numbers of promo emails calling their wares "insta-worthy"
I can't stand it

I prefer “pizza-worthy”

I suspect languages other than English have more precise terms for family/relations.

"OMG that's so random!"

But they don't mean 'random' at all, they mean lame or bogus.

― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, June 10, 2021 9:01 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I specifically remember the first time I heard other kids my age saying "random." It was 1991 and I was randomly (!!) paired up at a youth conference with a roommate who used it in every sentence. I switched roommates.

these are my kin

over there? my otherkin!

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/im_so_random.png

stadia

“I’m not saying ____ but I’m not not saying it either.”

any variant of the "fixer-upper" sort of insufferable suffixes. particularly when it's something like "i'm the best cleaner-upper i know!" or some shit like that. aaaaaaaaa

I had a huge argument in my college syntax and semantics class with the professor because she insisted "fixer-upper" could only refer to the person fixing up the house, not the house itself. Whereas I had only ever used it referring to the house being fixed up.

You're right that that's how it's used, but it's always seemed syntactically odd to me. 'Fix-upper' would maybe make more sense; something to be fixed up, not something to be fixered up.

It is odd and linguists like to talk about it! Generally in English the -er suffix applied to a verb indicates an agent... a fixer is someone who fixes things. But some English -er words the suffix indicates a patient, an thing being acted on, such as the chickens you can buy called broilers or fryers, or a house that's a fixer-upper.

(that extra -er in fixer-upper I can't explain)

i always use it to refer to a house, as well, but i just thought saying "fixer-upper" was short for "fixer-upper house"

I wonder if the "er" in some speakers' minds is an echo of 'er as in "her"

Fix 'er up.

Git'r'done.

(that extra -er in fixer-upper I can't explain)

my theory is that this and similar doubled-'er' locutions are poetic additions to terms that sound too awkward with just a single -er. The resolution, by doubling the -er, is a bit twee, but twee seems more acceptable than clunky.

What's the 'up' even doing in the phrase 'fix up' anyway? US English especially is full of these added(-on!) prepositions that seem mainly there for poetic cadence. There's also:

Head up, close out, change up (I know this meanS something specific in baseball), beat out, swap out, build out

“I’m not saying ____ but I’m not not saying it either.”

cf. HAAAAAATE "sorry not sorry"

I'm not too keen on 'in spite of, or perhaps because of'

I often wonder why in British/Australian usage, “washing” as a noun means laundry but “washing up” means kitchen dishes.

That's funny. In American usage, "washing" as a noun is uncommon, and "washing up" means cleaning your face/hands, e.g. from being outside before a meal

My parents sometimes call the dishwasher the washing-up machine.

On the subject of laundry, I often find myself lost for words when I'm trying to describe liquid laundry detergent. I mean, I should just call it that, I guess, but it seems kind of unwieldy. I think in the UK I might have called it washing liquid, but that seems not specific enough even there.

don't forget "warshing"

What's the 'up' even doing in the phrase 'fix up' anyway?

They're call phrasal verbs and English has thousands upon thousands of them... very tricky for non-native speakers since the prepositions and particles tacked on are for the most part semantically empty.

US English especially is full of these added(-on!) prepositions that seem mainly there for poetic cadence.

verb + preposition is just a phrasal verb -- they are rampant in english and brutal for learners
there's usually a one-word alternative and bonus for comprehension you have to be able to parse both as well as tell the difference between a phrasal verb and a prepositional phrase. poetry or rhythmic flow doesn't have much to do with it afaik