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

Four Words: Use Other Words Please
"Use other words please."
Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug you
Most irritating cliche/phrase/expression
"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"
words that annoy
Words that should earn the author a slap
PROVERBIAL and other tip offs to poor writing

-- caitlin (wpsal...) (webmail), December 23rd, 2003. (caitlin)

Oh yes, yes yes. I second that one. And the people who say it, say it over and over.

I also have a horror of people who write prolifically in all caps.

This is true.

But, this is a topic that should be dealt with routinely and harshly... the only way we can correct the language and suppress it's organic growth is by exposing and banning every new usage as it occurs... Isn't that what the French do?

Also: 'fridge,' girls who refer to each other as 'girl,' proactive...i'll be back when i think of more....

'poetic justice'. Used by the lazy to describe all 'justice' the speaker approves of, instead of a particular type. The adjective is rendered meaningless.

Agree re 'bird' for woman/girl, and lament its threatened return. Stinks of 'I'm being un-PC, where's my medal?'. Also the C-person uses it, which kinda ends the argument.

Wait, huh? Fridge is the thing you put food in, whats wrong with it?

I'm picturing him saying things such as "Would you like me to remove another beverage from the refrigerator for you, whilst we watch some association football?"

it's the hierarchies of hate in watching sport that makes this complicated

hmm i see

for example, in the World Cup, i don't have any love for the Australian football team, they aren't my friends, i don't love them. i will root for them to batter the USA tho.

"I'm hoping they win/do OK/don't get beat/etc" will do

they're your frienemies.

depends what you're doing.

supporting a team: we have a word for this
picking a team and going to watch them play: you're just watching them
joining in with "I believe that we will win" chants: don't do that
hoping a team will win a match: we don't need a word for this

i follow tottenham, who i fucking hate with every fibre of my being

"I'm ride or die for them"

You say you support Tottenham, but do you fuck with them?

name 5 albums by them

not commonplace outside the USA. well, in Australia it's fairly commonplace but means something else.

LOL, yeah, pretty sure I've not heard it in a sporting context in AU. (Not unrelated: router, the IT device, pretty much *has* to rhyme with outer to avoid giggles, whereas a route on a map, where it doesn't suggest a verb, almost invariably rhymes with root.)

for example, in the Maine Senate election, i don't have any love for Graham Platner, he's not my friend, i don't love him. i will root for him to batter Susan Collins tho

#onethread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKH-Khz7kQU

i have probably mentioned it here before, but every time i see the word “creative” or “creatives” used to describe “artists” or “writers” or whatever, i want to punch the person who used the term in the fucking face

Not quite as bad but I also hate "professional". Especially people describing themselves as one. It's like, cool, I'm glad your job is so tedious it has no name, but thanks for clarifying you don't fiddle around with spreadsheets all day for the sheer amateur love of it.

Irl lol + otm

well you're both uninvited to my root for administrative professionals party

LOL that ‘professionals’ self-ID gives me horrible flashbacks to looking for flatshares in eg. Islington in the days of Loot and encountering viscose warrior women who began their chat with ‘so we’re all professionals’ and in that moment knew that I would not be living there.

hard agree on 'creatives,' they should all be drowned along with the influencers

there's a new ice cream shop down the road that has a banner saying 'Soft Opening' and I decided that's a really gross term

going to say isn’t the whole point of a soft opening is you don’t really advertise it? It could be that’s the business name.

Cronenberg's Delightful Scoops?

I like it when someone has a nice soft opening.

"A warm hand on your opening," old theater joke

hard agree on 'creatives,' they should all be drowned along with the influencers

when someone self-describes as a “creative” i know their art is shit without experiencing it in any way

otm

I see it used this way as well:
https://i.ibb.co/FLnjTmqY/2026-06-12-19-38-01.png

"Can the design team resize this creative so it fits on a mobile screen?"
"The client approved all the creative."

Not a big fan of "conversions" either

calling yourself a creative is surely cope for artists who aren't "independently wealthy" enough to do art full-time, and have to make do with taking filthy money doing design work for betfair or natwest. they need to realise its okay to have a shit job like most people, and art can be your hobby on the side; neither has to define how you describe yourself to people at dinner parties

not actually sure if i enjoyed my own use of "cope" there

calling yourself a creative is surely cope for artists who aren't "independently wealthy" enough to do art full-time, and have to make do with taking filthy money doing design work for betfair or natwest. they need to realise its okay to have a shit job like most people, and art can be your hobby on the side; neither has to define how you describe yourself to people at dinner parties

I actually don’t think this is it— I think that it’s a marketing term that was happily taken up by “artists” who see the main point of art to be selling it, which explains why most of the art they make is trash.

“artists” who see the main point of art to be selling it

sad, but understandable. in the US everything in life is subsumed by monetization. breaking free of that mindset is a daily battle.

An awful yet popular T shirt seen here in Amsterdam, usually worn by young males, is "Creatives Are the New Athletes"

And, yet, I was included in a recent photo project titled "Creatives In Amsterdam." Nice project, risible title.

"creatives" are people who make "content" to order, or to generate income on social media, it's not that complicated. frankly i think it's helpful to have a distinction between this stuff and actual art!

now stop it there is no such thing as actual art

there is no such thing as actual art

to get art, first you acquire some part of the craft and technique of working with your chosen materials, then you make stuff using what you learned, and whatever you add to it that can't be taught is art.

Art is anything made with artistic intent.

or an artful lack of same

This is a much better discussion than the one I was in with people making policy recommendations for who qualifies for subsidized artist housing.

As an artist who makes no money and has few ambitions besides making more art, “creatives” makes me want to projectile vomit. Creative what? Dogwalker? (no offense to dogwalkers)

I see it differently in different contexts. I used to hate it. I probably posted about hating it on this thread a few years back. … I see younger artists (mostly BIPOC) use that term to describe themselves and/or promote events, organizations, etc. Based on my unscientific surveys of such, here are some examples of how I came to accept Creatives.

1. Artists who didn’t go to art school and/or feel alienated from “the art world” and what it represents (e.g. white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism)

2. Artists whose practices are socially engaged where the art-making doesn’t fit into a conventional genre. The art produced isn’t the only goal.

3. Artists who want to be more inclusive/ appeal to broader audiences who find “content” more accessible

4. From an organizing standpoint, using more inclusive language can broaden one’s reach and engage more people who create … reducing gatekeeping

5. Artists who don’t feel like they deserve to call themselves artists because they don’t make enough money at what they define as art.

I guess I get it if people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what art is? Language is gonna do what it’s gonna do, but “art” and “artist” are huge, inclusive terms that can be applied to any of the above.

In elementary school it’s called art class. It’s a bummer that some people don’t feel they can live up to “artist.” Folk art! Installation art! Performance art! Found art! Readymades! Art is awesome and anybody can be an artist. Make something and call it art. Congratulations, you’re an artist!

I guess “creative” is technically more inclusive because it also includes writers and theater and other creative endeavors that are an art but not Art. It still irritates me and maybe I’m just old and language is passing me by.

My industry (social/economic research related to cities) looooves the word 'creatives' because it's a useful shorthand for any workers involved in cultural production - 'fine' artists but also writers and actors and set designers and web designers and musicians and others outside of fine art.

Easier (and maybe more understandable) than having to use 'cultural producers' or 'cultural production workers' I guess? And there's an element of industry loving a buzzword.

at least it's much better than "content creator"

I see it differently in different contexts. I used to hate it. I probably posted about hating it on this thread a few years back. … I see younger artists (mostly BIPOC) use that term to describe themselves and/or promote events, organizations, etc. Based on my unscientific surveys of such, here are some examples of how I came to accept Creatives.

1. Artists who didn’t go to art school and/or feel alienated from “the art world” and what it represents (e.g. white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism)

2. Artists whose practices are socially engaged where the art-making doesn’t fit into a conventional genre. The art produced isn’t the only goal.

3. Artists who want to be more inclusive/ appeal to broader audiences who find “content” more accessible

4. From an organizing standpoint, using more inclusive language can broaden one’s reach and engage more people who create … reducing gatekeeping

5. Artists who don’t feel like they deserve to call themselves artists because they don’t make enough money at what they define as art.

i understand all this, and don’t care. it’s a gross term, the people who use it in earnest suck, and the people who use it as an economic or marketing term also suck. the term is fucking gross.

“oh i don’t feel part of the nefarious big art world! let me adopt this term that is firmly rooted in neoliberal ideologies of proslductive capitalism” like get a brain

artist: i am trying to express an important truth i perceive in the world

creative: i am trying to capture your attention by appealing to typical traits of human behavior

that is how i perceive the terms in my own head— i recognize that it is only an opinion i have, and not necessarily anyone else’s feeling about the words

Maybe we should make a list of capitalist terms we should exclude from our vocabulary when discussing art…

this is reminding me of how in Jamaican media they often refer to anyone who performs or produces music as an "artiste"