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

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And Tracer that's just not true! Americans love toying with the English language. You've spent time in the South, you should be all over that!

nabiscothingy, Friday, 19 August 2005 05:37 (eighteen years ago) link

The word "proverbial" when overused or when not referencing a proverb but an idiom or cliche. (Correct: "Let's not count our proverbial chickens just yet." Incorrect: "I'm having a proverbial bad hair day.")

I hate that, too. I usually tend to say "colloquial" instead, if it fits.

If you're a geek among geeks, you can get away with 'canonical' - generally meaning 'definitive' - in that context.

Forest Pines (ForestPines), Friday, 19 August 2005 06:11 (eighteen years ago) link

In a similar vein to limousine liberal, I loathe "chattering classes" for liberals here. This implication that lefties sit back on their overpaid arses drinking coffee and making uninformed armchair criticisms of politics and morality shits me up the WALL. "Chardonnay set" is another.

Trayce (trayce), Friday, 19 August 2005 06:24 (eighteen years ago) link

"that's what I'm talking about"
the syntax of "it's a [adjective] [noun], that". sorry Ned.

oops (Oops), Friday, 19 August 2005 06:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Footie is British for soccer.

I have never heard the word 'appie' in my life. Are we sure that the original poster is English?

1. Seeing "could of" or "should of" or "would of"

Bizarrely, this brings on the rage in me like nothing else on this thread. I shouldn't be mad, because 99% of the time, it's like Draw/Drawer, it's just someone who's never seen the word/phrase in print.

Based on this thread, we are all guilty of follies and should be slain.

Yes.

When someone says "Unamerican" it sounds like they mean corrupt, debased, without values.

Socialist, with compassion for their fellow humans, lacking true faith in the free market, internationalist....

Though you're right, unaustralian is just fucking funny.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 19 August 2005 08:00 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm amazed that I've met (and worked) with people who think "thankyou" is one word! Hard to believe I know but...

In general, Americanisms perpetrated by British people are always annoying - I've heard people say "on the weekend" instead of "at the weekend" for instance.

Diddyismus (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 08:08 (eighteen years ago) link

for free

Menelaus Darcy (Menelaus Darcy), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:50 (eighteen years ago) link

People that go really far out of their way to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.

theantmustdance (theantmustdance), Friday, 19 August 2005 10:45 (eighteen years ago) link

corny

jimmy glass (electricsound), Friday, 19 August 2005 11:39 (eighteen years ago) link

(3) "Impact" as a verb. IT'S A NOUN! Use "AFFECT"!!!

"Negative... It did not go in. Just affected on the surface." ?

nah....

g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 19 August 2005 11:53 (eighteen years ago) link

"Action" used as a verb. (Especially with regards to some annoying little thing I had already been doing.) "Can you please action this?"

Haha that's horrible! Maybe you should reply with something like "Sure, I'll letter you when I've computered the data so we can recruitment the people needed"?

(Scary thought: within too long that may not seem as ridiculous as it does now)

OleM (OleM), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:28 (eighteen years ago) link

"Negative... It did not go in. Just impacted on the surface." ?

nah....

Nah (times google)

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:38 (eighteen years ago) link

"chillax"

mark p (Mark P), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:40 (eighteen years ago) link

I work in marketing and gleefully use many of these - thankyou for "on-boarding" Lauren, I have noted it down!

The main problem with business writing isn't neologism - it's a kind of stiff, flowless formality. People come into business, think "hmm this is serious writing, when was the last time I did serious writing, oh yes..." and so everything is written in the passive-voice style of a GCSE science project.

Meanwhile back vaguely on topic, comics PR continually uses the phrase "bring their A game", eg. Todd Retch promises to bring his A game to his run on LADY JUGS. I assume it's born out of a deep-seated worry comics creators have about being bad at sports (this is also why Chris Claremont wrote 10,000 boring softball scenes in the X-Men).

Tom (Groke), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:43 (eighteen years ago) link

chillax sounds funny!
i likes it.

how about 'twirl'? does that bother anyone? surely it's an amalgm of twist and swirl?

g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:44 (eighteen years ago) link

twirl's a real word, dude.

Outsider Enter Port City (sexyDancer), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:48 (eighteen years ago) link

i'm not denying that. but it most probably originates from those two words. i'm just saying that perhaps combining two words to make a new one isn't quite modern fad it's made out to be.

g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:49 (eighteen years ago) link

Re: Political rhetoric

"... EVER SINCE 9/11."

elmo (allocryptic), Friday, 19 August 2005 14:48 (eighteen years ago) link

I have never heard the word 'appie' in my life.

whew. i'm relieved that that one in particular isn't common usage.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 14:50 (eighteen years ago) link

People deliberately pronuouncing "Muslim" as "Muss-lim", even tho "Muz-lim" is a perfectly acceptable pronunciation, because that's how Muslims pronounce it

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 14:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Dada, for real? But but...as long as it's not a situational affectation, what's wrong with trying to be less erm, ignorant?? Argh, there's too much to unpack, here. Assuming the Americanized/Anglicized pronunciation is "more ignorant" in the first place, which may be where we differ. I kind of think it is, by a particular definition.

Someone from work once got into a snit with a woman from Iran at a dinner party, because apparently my colleague likes to pronounce it "eye-ran" as opposed to "ear-ahn" and she objected to having the difference pointed out to her. That has got to be one of the smallest-minded things I've ever heard. Made me want to say: You do realize that she's FROM THERE, right?

Laurel (Laurel), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:18 (eighteen years ago) link

I have noticed that americans tend to play fast and loose with vowels.

Outsider Enter Port City (sexyDancer), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I get really riled when people describe themselves as "chocoholics"
Most people like chocolate, you're not special for eating chocolate and enjoying it!

Obviously if there is anyone with an actual physical addiction to chocolate i have nothing but sympathy for them

Slumpman (Slump Man), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:40 (eighteen years ago) link

Dada, for real? But but...as long as it's not a situational affectation, what's wrong with trying to be less erm, ignorant??

What's ignorant about it? We're speaking English not Arabic here or else every time I said Paris, for instance, i'd be pronouncing it Par-ee.

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Mind you, Eye-raq for Iraq - I hate that! Eye-ran is even worse!

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Actually the "-holics" suffix sort of grates in general, because the "hol" part is carried over from "alcohol" even when it doesn't make sense in its new context. (I think The Simpsons skewered this once: someone accused Homer of being a rageaholic, and he said, "You're right, I just can't live without rageahol!") Same goes for the "-gate" suffix in any current-events scandal.

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:47 (eighteen years ago) link

What's ignorant about it? We're speaking English not Arabic here or else every time I said Paris, for instance, i'd be pronouncing it Par-ee.

OTM. I can't stand people who say KRAHFT-VAIRK and BYERK.

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Maybe I just think foreign language pronunciations are fun and people should be encouraged to remember that there are lots of places where things are said/done differently. Which doesn't really have anything to do with anything on-topic.

Laurel (Laurel), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:49 (eighteen years ago) link

i agree with laurel. jaymc also otm about "-oholics."

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:54 (eighteen years ago) link

But wait, what if you met someone, and he told you his name and it required un-American-Heartland pronunciation rules -- would you mangle it on principle just because YOU don't SPEAK Farsi or whatever? For me this is a respect issue: names is names. So "muslim/moslem" isn't a proper name, granted, but I think there's some latitude.

Laurel (Laurel), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:55 (eighteen years ago) link

the fairly new phenomenon of everyone with a keen interest in something calling himself a "geek" -- that's gotta go.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Actually the "-holics" suffix sort of grates in general, because the "hol" part is carried over from "alcohol" even when it doesn't make sense in its new context. (I think The Simpsons skewered this once: someone accused Homer of being a rageaholic, and he said, "You're right, I just can't live without rageahol!") Same goes for the "-gate" suffix in any current-events scandal.

From the Onion: "I'm Like a Chocoholic, But For Alcohol"

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:58 (eighteen years ago) link

I must be pretty immune to these annoyances, as I read this thread and mostly just think, "Gah, get over it, language is fluid," but one that I've seen lately that really bugs me is "preznit" instead of "president." Is this supposed to imply some kind of disrespect or belief in the illegitimacy of Bush's presidency? Because it just makes you look like an idiot.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:01 (eighteen years ago) link

OTM. I can't stand people who say KRAHFT-VAIRK and BYERK.

i say "krahft - verk," cuz that's how it's pronounced, and cuz i HATE the americanized dumbing-down of it ("creeeeeyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaft - work" with a nasal short "a"). i say "byork," one syllable, rhymes with "new york." can't stand it when people pronounce it as "beeeee - york." why is the "byuh" sound so difficult? i get annoyed when people say "kuh - nish" instead of "knish" as well.

n/a, language is fluid, but that doesn't excuse people from being dumb.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:02 (eighteen years ago) link

is it really wrong not to want to let the dumb people win?

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Mispronouncing words and/or having an accent != dumb.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:07 (eighteen years ago) link

yes it does.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:08 (eighteen years ago) link

cmon, it's SO EASY to just pay attention to the world around you. if you don't, you're dumb.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:09 (eighteen years ago) link

this thread should, really, have been locked or moderated a lot, long ago

RJG (RJG), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:09 (eighteen years ago) link

There's a town in northeast Arkansas called Waldenberg, and it's just more fun to pronounce it with a V!

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:10 (eighteen years ago) link

i say "krahft - verk," cuz that's how it's pronounced, and cuz i HATE the americanized dumbing-down of it ("creeeeeyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaft - work" with a nasal short "a").

I just feel like this is a little silly. Like when someone's speaking English and they say the word "Guatemala" but they do the guttaral 'g'/hard 't' "correct" pronunciation, it seems way more affected than just speaking with an American accent (oh no, Americans with American accents!).

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:11 (eighteen years ago) link

what's to be gained from dumbing it down?

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:12 (eighteen years ago) link

But wait, what if you met someone, and he told you his name and it required un-American-Heartland pronunciation rules -- would you mangle it on principle just because YOU don't SPEAK Farsi or whatever? For me this is a respect issue: names is names. So "muslim/moslem" isn't a proper name, granted, but I think there's some latitude.

"Muslim" is a word in the English langauge, yes, it was originally from Arabic but it's now an English word - like Kayak or something... and you don't pronounce that with an Inuit accent

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:12 (eighteen years ago) link

this may be the wrong thread for what i'm about to say, but i'm soooo fucking sick and tired of people who are proud of their ignorance making excuses for never wanting to learn anything.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link

i say "krahft - verk," cuz that's how it's pronounced ... i say "byork," one syllable, rhymes with "new york."

So why don't you pronounce Bjork like it's pronounced, too? (Rhymes with "work.")

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:14 (eighteen years ago) link

French people don't say "hamburger," they say "'amboorgare." Is that 'incorrect'? No, it's a French version of an English word, just like "Crayaftwork" or whatever is an English version of a German word.

xpost, first of all, it's not "dumbing it down," that's what I'm trying to say. Secondly, what's gained is not having to overanalyze and correct how people naturally speak and just letting them communicate, which is what language is for in the first place.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:14 (eighteen years ago) link

"kayak" is a word in english because the people who write the english dictionaries say so and they went into an office and talked it out and came up with a "correct" english pronunciation.

So why don't you pronounce Bjork like it's pronounced, too? (Rhymes with "work.")

i don't wanna overdo it. plus, i hate bjork. fuck her.

French people don't say "hamburger," they say "'amboorgare." Is that 'incorrect'?

yes.

s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:16 (eighteen years ago) link

No it isn't if you're French

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:17 (eighteen years ago) link

No, it's a French version of an English word

Or a French version of an English version of a German word.

theantmustdance (theantmustdance), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:18 (eighteen years ago) link

"kayak" is a word in english because the people who write the english dictionaries say so and they went into an office and talked it out and came up with a "correct" english pronunciation.

Errrrrrrrrrrr, not really how these things work you'll find

Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:20 (eighteen years ago) link


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