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

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?"

As used to describe a footballer running into a streak of good form

When used in phrases like "a raft of policies" or "a raft of new measures" - why?!?!??!!?

Or a colon.

COINKY-DINK, "guestimate," and any time someone ends an interrogative sentence with "at," as in "Where's my keys at?" or "Where's your head at?"

"hating on"

"Action" used as a verb. (Especially with regards to some annoying little thing I had already been doing.) "Can you please action this?" Actually, no I can't. Action is a noun. If you would like me to DO it, then just ask. Argh.

Especially when coming from the same irritating marketing bods who last week asked me to "manage the relationship" with one of our suppliers. Fuck. Right. Off.

A term of address directed at Turkish shopkeepers by 13 year old boys and directed by Turkish shopkeepers at everyone else. The most annoying ever.

DON'T MADAM ME, YOU LITTLE...!!! OK, according to Watching The English, this means that they have socio-status assessed me as middle class or higher. But it irritates me because it makes me feel old.

'Whilst'

I wouldn't call it a tornado.

Have I previously complained about “noshing”? Crops up regularly on the NYT crossword and makes my skin crawl every time. Sounds like one of the trend words that Seattle scenester made up to spoof a newspaper which called to get the lowdown on grunge in the 90s.

Noshing as in eating? That's very outdated Brit slang!

Oy vey, ‘nosh’ is Yiddish.

it's not gnosh?! i always assumed it was the gnash relative.

No, gnash is Nordic.

The top Jewish delicatessen in Minneapolis had ‘Kibitz and Nosh’ as its advertising slogan (‘kibitz’ is Yiddish for sitting around and chatting). This is giving me Lincoln Del hiraeth and now I want a corned beef on pumpernickel experience that’s been unavailable since 2003.

Yeah, my grandma used to say nosh...

south coast of UK in 90s... noshing was schoolboy slang for oral sex - so even now i will always have that come to mind when i hear it elsewhere

Didn't realise it was Yiddish! I associate the word with The Beano.

lately I've noticed people on the internet using the term "instrumentals" to just mean...music. Not like, a track that is completely sans vocals, but just the parts that are not vocals. I suppose this is like 'vinyls' where I probably jut have to accept that common usage is evolving the language, but I don't like it.

OED says that the English verb "nosh" derives from Yiddish and originally meant "to nibble a snack, delicacy, etc." It later expanded to mean "to eat, have a meal."

The verb also led to a noun form, but there is a transatlantic difference. In North America, "nosh" as a noun retains the original limiting sense of "food which may be nibbled as a snack or delicacy," while the more general sense of "food, a meal" is chiefly British.

As an American, I'd say "nosh on some crackers" sounds quite common, "have a nosh" is recognizable but has a distinctly Jewish feel, and "have some nosh" is unfamiliar.

xp

i saw this on the Steely Dan sub recently, someone was looking for Steely Dan instrumentals and way too many people were just answering w/parts of songs where they weren't singing.

Can't hear 'nosh' without thinking of that Giles Coren rant

Same, alas.

Neurospicy

amazeballs, awesomesauce

i respond to apologies with "you're good" all the time

or more precisely "ah you're good"

Ok, this is more of an annoyance at my sister, but others have used it. I’ll tell her I’m going to a gig or have bought a record. She’ll ask who it is and then without fail she’ll go ‘never heard of them’.

Fair enough, but try showing some curiosity as to what they sound like instead of coming across as pig ignorant.

who said that? your sister? never heard of her

i think my reflex is “all good” or “we’re good,” which is likely exactly the same but maybe is my effort to take agency not sure

"It's all good" became so overused among hippies in my area in the early 2000s, that one of my friends would snap back at them, "No, some of it sucks!"

I really dislike people saying "does it pass the sniff test". Just feels gross and inappropriate for talking about a piece of software or a technical idea in the workplace, which is where I hear it most. I guess it comes from checking food in your fridge but even then it conjures horrible images of someone very carefully smelling a rancid piece of meat.

i use the sniff test on my armpits

I don't even like people doing to sniff test on milk

sure beats putting foul chunky milk in your mouth

“cuck”

It’s such a right-coded insult, usually coming from guys who totally want to watch their wives getting nailed*. It popped up in a thread on here recently and I wrinkled my face and said “ew” out loud.

No problem with the kink, just it’s use as an insult in the past few years.

“Getting his/her flowers”

I’m just sick of this. I see it constantly now. It’s over, come up with another phrase.

Cuck is also over.

xp: Yes! Still bugging me.

Gave them their flowers/gave him his flowers/gave her her flowers

Been hearing this crop up a lot lately. My understanding is that it means to give public praise and acknowledgement, perhaps to someone whose work has gone unrecognized. I don't know the origin. It just irritates me.

― peace, man, Tuesday, February 4, 2025 10:57 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink