What phrase do you hate?
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Projo Subterranean Homepage NewsBottom-up journalism from the pros: News, tech and culture by Sheila Lennon |
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What phrase do you hate?. Chris of Cambridge's http://www.cynical-c.com/ asked that question a month ago, and by now more than 100 people have chimed in. He led off, and updated: I have two candidates.
I grew up with a teacher father who winced at any qualification of "unique" -- like pregnant, it is or it isn't. On the Journal desk as a baby editor I learned that the whole comprises the parts, so "It's comprised of... " has it backwards. Fortunately, "tickled to death" -- extremely pleased -- seems itself to have died out in the last century. But the phrase that controls my off switch is "At the end of the day..." I simply won't hear whatever your point is after that. I'm all squinched up, cringing. ",,,in any way, shape or form" is its thoughtless ancestor. What scrapes your insulation away? 5 CommentsLeave a comment |
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I very much like "It is what it is" and don't consider it verbal fluff. I think it's a oft-needed reminder that we have a choice to accept what is happening rather than out a lot of energy into resisting it, explaining it, justifying it, attacking it, running from it, etc.
Like your teacher father, I hate hearing "unique" qualified, and if you spend any time watching HGTV, you will, incessantly. It's much more unusual these days, anywhere, to hear it unqualified.
One phrase I hate hearing is "It's a sign." It's a precursor to "It was meant to be."
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M Wms, how do you feel about "Manny being Manny"? Is that the same idea?
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Sheila,
Thanks for the link. Chris does good work. Sometime when you have a moment, I'd like a list of your favorite sites, too.
Continued best wishes.
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Look to the corporate world for the most egregiously stupid expressions. Where else can you hear someone say they will 'verbally talk' with someone.
When that conversation takes place, it will almost certainly be in a pro-active manner to ensure a robust exchange as they reach out to one another.
Too much of that stuff and a whole bottle of Carter's Little Liver Pills won't cure you. (This is not a testament to Carter's Little Liver Pills as I have no idea if they ever cured anything.)
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Silas, Carter's Little Liver Pills advertised on the radio soaps when I was tiny. I couldn't figure out why people just didn't eat liver like my daddy 'stead of take pills.
Corporatepseak is a dialect of its own. I've tried to read some stories in which I only vaguely know the meaning of anything in the lede... vertical market, psychographic attributes, pureplay. Medical "lit" is like that, too.
Maybe "verbally talk" is special when it's mostly TTYL.
John, my bookmarks file is 2728k and goes back 15 years. I start with my friends among the early bloggers -- Doc Searls, Shelley Powers, Tom Matrullo and then it's whatever comes to mind next. I trust that intuitive sifting, kind of a tag cloud from the cloud. When the words start to blur, I change focus at VVORK, which has few.
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