Words or phrases that annoy you (even if you can't explain why) . . .

[ThunderSkunk]

“So this is actually a thing, in of itself — whether regional, as interrogative bookends, or in opening a statement with “So…” For some of us, it’s always been a thing.”

So you were annoying your whole life? Congrats I guess. I’m from Northern Wisconsin, went to school at UMD & Marquette. Half my life was spent here. I thankfully still don’t hear it locally among adults, though a certain demographic of the students today have adopted it, along with the other Valley Girl speech traits of upspeak, infinite likes, “is a thing”, vocal fry, etc… Add them all together, throw in meme quotes and enjoy the complete caricature tens of millions of people looked at and thought they should emulate.

 

[B S Magnet]

So you were annoying your whole life? Congrats I guess. I’m from Northern Wisconsin, went to school at UMD & Marquette. Half my life was spent here. I thankfully still don’t hear it locally among adults, though a certain demographic of the students today have adopted it, along with the other Valley Girl speech traits of upspeak, infinite likes, “is a thing”, vocal fry, etc… Add them all together, throw in meme quotes and enjoy the complete caricature tens of millions of people looked at and thought they should emulate.

Yes, correct: I’ve been annoying my whole entire life, just as you’ve been annoying your whole entire life. I even had a former parent (one I disowned long ago) who’d mock me for using what they, a high school dropout, deemed as “twenty-five-cent words”, from as early as when I was in grade three. It also didn’t help my early self-confidence that I was also in speech therapy tutoring for three years during grade school.

If we’re rolling out the bona fides, I contemplated university in Minnesota when I still lived there, but ultimately, I went to school at two of Canada’s three premier universities, each located in major cities. I did reasonably well and earned two degrees. (Marquette and Milwaukee, from the vantage of an Upper Midwesterner/prairie dweller, might as well be North-North Chicago; and the Upper Midwest doesn’t really begin until one leaves the northern burbs of Madison on the I-94. )

One of my closest friends in the Cities grew up in Duluth and did the “So…then” thing regularly, along with other Minnesota-isms. Considering the regional tics where I was raised (Texas, let me draft a long list of linguistic peeves about that sometime…), I found her regionalisms somewhat endearing.

I have no idea how much time you spent mingling with everyday people outside the confines of the UMD and Marquette bubbles (very easy to do whilst one is headlong inside the academy), but I can assure you, in driving around the state for work and also for area photography, I found these aforementioned regionalisms to be fairly common from Moorhead to Ely to Red Wing — though less so the more east and south one travelled.

tl;dr: Get outside, travel more, live in even more places — ideally, in more than one nation-state and/or in places where your first language isn’t the first language spoken locally. Find ways to let the small stuff slide and try to focus on the bigger, more paradigmatic stuff — stuff which tends to be a lot more subtle (and a lot more pernicious).

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I have no idea how much time you spent mingling with everyday people

No, you don’t, you just happened to choose the area I grew up in and have lived in on & off my entire life as your example of… and I admit I’m just skimming your lengthy posts, but it sounds like your point is that you do this, and you disagree that it’s annoying to me because you’ve done it a long time and you know of some others who do it too. Are you trying to convince me or yourself? Whether you know of one person or twenty talks in this distinct affectation does nothing to make it less annoying, nor does where they are geographically located.

 

[B S Magnet]

No, you don’t, you just happened to choose the area I grew up in and have lived in on & off my entire life as your example of…

I lived in the Twin Cities through most of my twenties. I still return and visit old friends.

But I’ve lived in four, very discrete parts of the U.S. (and two in Canada). Doing so yields a vantage which staying in one region just does not.

and I admit I’m just skimming your lengthy posts, but it sounds like your point is that you do this, and you disagree that it’s annoying to me because you’ve done it a long time and you know of some others who do it too. Are you trying to convince me or yourself? Whether you know of one person or twenty talks in this distinct affectation does nothing to make it less annoying, nor does where they are geographically located.

Just putting this out there on a limb: perhaps it wasn’t a good foot forward to open with, “So you were annoying your whole life?” Dang.

Maybe, idk, give yourself the chance to go outside after work and to have a walk or bike ride in a nearby public park while the weather is still warm. Or something.

But for sake of comity and civility, try to take out your contempt (or annoyance) on something else — something inanimate, ideally. Except in Minnesota, I’m still human, flesh and blood.

 

[mollyc]

I lived in the Twin Cities through most of my twenties. I still return and visit old friends.

But I’ve lived in four, very discrete parts of the U.S. (and two in Canada). Doing so yields a vantage which staying in one region just does not.



Just putting this out there on a limb: perhaps it wasn’t a good foot forward to open with, “So you were annoying your whole life?” Dang.

Maybe, idk, give yourself the chance to go outside after work and to have a walk or bike ride in a nearby public park while the weather is still warm. Or something.

But for sake of comity and civility, try to take out your contempt (or annoyance) on something else — something inanimate, ideally. Except in Minnesota, I’m still human, flesh and blood.

Also kind of ironic that he is complaining about sentences starting with "So...." and then proceeds to begin a sentence with "So...." 🙄

 

[B S Magnet]

Also kind of ironic that he is complaining about sentences starting with "So...." and then proceeds to begin a sentence with "So...." 🙄

On that one, I ain’t judging or calling out hypocrisy.

The rest, meanwhile… I was serious when I said for them to go and enjoy some time outside before it gets cold.

 

[usagora]

When gamers try to sound cool by referring to a video game series as an "IP" (intellectual property) instead of just . . . a series or franchise.

 

[chown33]

Here's an article on the topic:

Tired of 'circling back' and 'touching base'? How to handle all the workplace jargon

 

[B S Magnet]

Here's an article on the topic:

Tired of 'circling back' and 'touching base'? How to handle all the workplace jargon

Interesting overview. Thanks for sharing it.

The article noted a barrier which English-as-second-language workers face when dealing with what the article calls “jargon” (which, frankly, it is). But said language — the language of passive avoidance, used as a kind of conflict-avoidance shim or lubricant within workplaces — can also impact, negatively, workers who are neurodivergent.

Frank, direct, clear language, for many neurodivergent people (including people on the autism spectrum), cuts to the point and clears away superfluous ambiguity wrought by the language of passive avoidance. Neuronormative co-workers, meanwhile, may shy from this level of candour and, instead, fall back on that conflict-avoidance shim. And when that language comes from the C-level offices, offices which tend to see a paucity of neurodivergence, it does trickle downstairs to management and workers more broadly.

After all, the business of business isn’t, socially, organic; much of it is forced by a necessity of meeting an employing company’s or organization’s objectives, and those companies and orgs negotiate with other companies and organizations who engage in the very same. This language of passive avoidance follows a tradition to have given rise previously to the peculiar language of merchant negotiation (and haggling).

Passive avoidance, at the heart of many phrases within that article, tends to runs at stark odds with workers and principals who cannot (or do not) recognize or accept the relevance, if there is any, behind this linguistic parry-and-thrust within business.

Whether passive avoidance is a feature leavened by a social fear or by some other component, for the neurodivergent worker, focussed on what needs to be done, the language of passive avoidance in the workplace is an unproductive distraction and part of a superfluous game whose rules, developed and curated by neuronormative co-workers, are in constant flux. It tends to work against neurodivergent talent who cannot or do not “play the game” of passive avoidance.

 

[lamboaudi4]

Here's an article on the topic:

Tired of 'circling back' and 'touching base'? How to handle all the workplace jargon

Great read; thanks for the article. One of the corporate buzzwords the article mentioned was "giving 110%", which reminds of a comedy skit by Limmy: in fact I think I agree with him on this one

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Here's an article on the topic:

Tired of 'circling back' and 'touching base'? How to handle all the workplace jargon

Excellent read; thanks for sharing it.

 

[Clix Pix]

Even though I'm retired and no longer in the workforce, no longer having to deal with some of this stuff, it was indeed a very interesting article!

 

[dotnet]

Professional, cultural and hobbyist environments all have their jargons. This makes communication more effective and is a basic feature of most languages.

The issue with jargon in corporate settings could be that the jargon of executives, sales and marketing people permeates the entire corporate communication, even though it is not at all the jargon that specialist teams would normally use. The reason that the whole company often succumbs to the executive jargon could be motivated speech, i.e. a speaking attitude assumed by people (like a lab coat) in the hopes of climbing the carrier ladder, or simply feeling “on the level” with their superiors.

 

[Kung]

1. "Let's camp out on this point for a while." Drives me freaking insane.
2. "Let's unpack this." Let's not.

 

[decafjava]

1. "Let's camp out on this point for a while." Drives me freaking insane.
2. "Let's unpack this." Let's not.

Re: number 2 yea if you are moving or coming back from a trip, sure. Otherwise - ahh nope.

 

[B S Magnet]

1. "Let's camp out on this point for a while." Drives me freaking insane.

I’ve never heard this before, but if I do, I’ll likely say, trolling them back, “Great! I’ll bring the Coleman stove, binoculars, and deet spray!”

 

[BotchQue]

I watch probably too many news programs, and when some SME is being questioned it has become an irritating and almost constant preamble for the SME to say, "That's a very good question" before actually answering the question. It bugs me.

 

[usagora]

I watch probably too many news programs, and when some SME is being questioned it has become an irritating and almost constant preamble for the SME to say, "That's a very good question" before actually answering the question. It bugs me.

SME? Never heard that one before. Does it stand for "subject matter expert"? But I agree in general that it can be annoying when people say that. Also happens in Q&As frequently. The other people are probably like, "What, so my question stunk? He didn't say mine was a good question" 😂 I guess it's just a filler phrase some people use while gathering their thoughts to answer.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I watch probably too many news programs, and when some SME is being questioned it has become an irritating and almost constant preamble for the SME to say, "That's a very good question" before actually answering the question. It bugs me.

Sometimes, it is a good question, particularly if it has been preceded by a number of idiotic questions, and also, you may wish to signal (to your interlocutor) that - while you may not actually elect to answer this question - you are acknowledging that this was a good question and are saluting the fact that they asked it.

It may also allow you to gather your thoughts, prior to giving an answer.

I assume that "SME" means "Small (to) Medium Enterprise"?

 

[Expos of 1969]

Sometimes, it is a good question, particularly if it has been preceded by a number of idiotic questions, and also, you may wish to signal (to your interlocutor) that - while you may not actually elect to answer this question - you are acknowledging that this was a good question and are saluting the fact that they asked it.

It may also allow you to gather your thoughts, prior to giving an answer.

I assume that "SME" means "Small (to) Medium Enterprise"?

Subject Matter Expert

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Professional, cultural and hobbyist environments all have their jargons. This makes communication more effective and is a basic feature of most languages.

Only if the use of jargon is used to aid (rather than mask) clarity of communication.

The issue with jargon in corporate settings could be that the jargon of executives, sales and marketing people permeates the entire corporate communication, even though it is not at all the jargon that specialist teams would normally use. The reason that the whole company often succumbs to the executive jargon could be motivated speech, i.e. a speaking attitude assumed by people (like a lab coat) in the hopes of climbing the carrier ladder, or simply feeling “on the level” with their superiors.

All too often, - in my experience - it is an excuse (or a disguise) to mask a lack of clear thinking, by seeking refuge in the sort of impenetrable language that makes you look important and sound competent.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Subject Matter Expert

Ah, thank you.

Now, that is something that I hadn't known.

 

[BotchQue]

Subject Matter Expert

Correct. Sorry guys, retired military here and I speak in acronyms too much. ☺️

 

[Expos of 1969]

Ah, thank you.

Now, that is something that I hadn't

Correct. Sorry guys, retired military here and I speak in acronyms too much. ☺️

But I think the other meaning of SME is more widely known.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

But I think the other meaning of SME is more widely known.

Yes, my understanding of this acronym is "Small & Medium Enterprises", or, at least, this is what that acronym means in my world.