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Words or phrases that annoy you (even if you can't explain why) . . .
- Thread starter usagora
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I'm so sick of people calling me "bro" (or any variation of it). I'm not your "bro," sorry. Either call me by my real name, or I don’t mind “man.”
I think the phrase I really hate right now is "dynamic pricing" 🙄
So, price gouging, got it.
So, price gouging, got it.
Okay, I can now say that emojis/emoticons have officially lost all meaning.
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The good thing about August is that nobody is still talking about last February and nobody is yet talking about next February, so I don't have to cringe at hearing it pronounced feb-you-ary. But that bad habit will return in spades as we get closer to 2025.
Since I just used the phrase "in spades," I looked up its derivation. It came from card games. The original card game suit was swords and was translated into English as spades. The phrase "in spades" refers to the highest suit in the game of Bridge, i.e., winning in spades is the ultimate victory.
Meanwhile, the phrase "calling a spade a spade" has nothing to do with card games. It refers literally to shovels, and applies when you are speaking realistically while others are avoiding the truth. However, people who assume that "calling a spade a spade" is based on a racial slur may complain when they hear it, so perhaps it's better to use another phrase, like "tell it like it is."
Since I just used the phrase "in spades," I looked up its derivation. It came from card games. The original card game suit was swords and was translated into English as spades. The phrase "in spades" refers to the highest suit in the game of Bridge, i.e., winning in spades is the ultimate victory.
Meanwhile, the phrase "calling a spade a spade" has nothing to do with card games. It refers literally to shovels, and applies when you are speaking realistically while others are avoiding the truth. However, people who assume that "calling a spade a spade" is based on a racial slur may complain when they hear it, so perhaps it's better to use another phrase, like "tell it like it is."
^That's fascinating. I did not know that about either phrase. Though I do know that the phrase "follow suit" also has its origin in bridge.
In our part of the world, spades are spades, shovels are shovels, both are earth-moving implements and have nothing to do with anything else.
However, getting your spades and shovels mixed up, and using either for the wrong task, will have everybody questioning your competence at even digging a hole.
OTOH, when the term comes up in a meeting, it normally means that the speaker is about skin, flay and generally disembowel some poor underling.
You forgot the "w". I ran across a children's book awhile back that asked "Where is the double-u (w)* in February?" (*I forget how it was actually written.) Most people seem to drop the "r" and add the "w".
And yes, "calling a spade a spade" has had an erroneous racial connotation for a long time. I remember back in college waiting in line for the dorm cafeteria to open along with several other students, one of whom was blind. He used the phrase, which prompted "knowing" smiles among the sighted, given the mixed-race cohort in the line.
Other words that falls into this category are "niggling" and "niggardly", neither of which have anything to do with race.
Another thing (of the many examples discussed in this thread) that irks me is the inability of some writers from the US to draw a distinction between the verb "to lay (down)" and "to lie" (as in 'to lie down', for, mendacity is a different matter), especially when using the past tense, or, rather, how they are used incorrectly.
I have lost count of the number of pieces where I have read "s/he laid down" (on a bed), and every time I see it, my eyes narrow, and my teeth gnash and grind in mute rage at this travesty. Worse is when this is used in the context of a piece of writing that is supposed to be set in the UK.
In (British) English, when using the present tense, of "to lay", one writes, for example: You lay down a brick wall, or, lay down the law, or lay down your arms; you lay eyes on someone, lay hands on, lay your life down for someone (or something): The past tense of that verb is "laid". For example: You laid your life down for your country, or she laid down the law, or he laid hands on me.
Now, also in (British) English, when heading off to bed, eventually, what will happen (hopefully) is that you (will) lie down on your bed, you lie on the bed, or, he, or she, was lying in bed ("when I went up to see her, she was still lying in bed"). And, the straightforward past tense of this verb, when used in this context, is "lay" - thus, one will write "she or he lay in bed", or, "he lay stretched out".
I have lost count of the number of pieces where I have read "s/he laid down" (on a bed), and every time I see it, my eyes narrow, and my teeth gnash and grind in mute rage at this travesty. Worse is when this is used in the context of a piece of writing that is supposed to be set in the UK.
In (British) English, when using the present tense, of "to lay", one writes, for example: You lay down a brick wall, or, lay down the law, or lay down your arms; you lay eyes on someone, lay hands on, lay your life down for someone (or something): The past tense of that verb is "laid". For example: You laid your life down for your country, or she laid down the law, or he laid hands on me.
Now, also in (British) English, when heading off to bed, eventually, what will happen (hopefully) is that you (will) lie down on your bed, you lie on the bed, or, he, or she, was lying in bed ("when I went up to see her, she was still lying in bed"). And, the straightforward past tense of this verb, when used in this context, is "lay" - thus, one will write "she or he lay in bed", or, "he lay stretched out".
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I'm one of the people who is likely to get that usage wrong. Luckily, I know that I'm one of those people, so I think it through every time.
I always get that wrong, too. I've just stopped caring, unless I'm writing a paper or other important thing.
I've grown increasingly tired of the comment "bro (or someone) fell off"--as in, lost popularity on social media. Hopefully it's just a phase that'll be over soon enough...
Please help me - I think I'm having a stroke.
Roughly translated, it means "no problem, my friend, don't worry". "Fam" is short for "family", but in this colloquial usage it means "friend".
I hate the way some perfectly good words have been truncated and mutilated because people are too lazy to spell out or say the full word! Two examples: "fam" rather than "family" and "vacay" rather than "vacation." Also, another one which really bugs me is "cray-cray" for "crazy." That's longer than the original word!
Yep - why say "vacay" when there's already a perfectly good word to describe such. Hollibobs.
That is fine as long as the intended recipient understands - or, is privy to - the internal private language - or slang dialect - that was used here.
Some families (and friend groups) have their own internal jokes and abbreviations, which will derive from common experiences and a common friend/family culture and context - and will use them when communicating with one another, safe and secure in the knowledge that what they have written will be understood by the recipient.
A problem arises when the recipient isn't a part of the family or friend group, and couldn't be expected to understand what is meant by such a text.
In any case, personally, in general, - as text is a means of communication - I prefer the communication to be clearly expressed in language that is (completely) comprehensible.
I find it odd, if not dumb, that businesses abbreviate SUITE as STE. (with the period). Changing 5 characters of a perfectly good word to 4 characters that can't be pronounced saves you a whopping 1 character.
If I saw "STE." I genuinely wouldn't know what it meant. I've never seen it (or never noticed it).
Here's are some examples. One is calistacorp.com/contact-us/, where the address at the bottom of the page is Ste. 3000. Or go to gmfinancial.com/en-us/contact.html and click the Corporate heading. Their address ends with Ste. 3500.
Lots of other companies use STE (needlessly all caps) without the period, for example the bottom of the page at californiaregisteredagents.net/about-us.
Or how 'bout denco.enterprises/index.php/contact which abbreviates both "Street" and "Suite" to produce ST STE? Are they worried about using up their Wordpress storage quota if they spell out those words?