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?"

'sound design' is a funny one, it sounds a little like a chapter in an audio engineering book, but with a lot of electronic music it's what people are literally doing, designing sounds.

There’s an old interview somewhere with Kraftwerk where they said “we spend a month on the sound and five minutes on the chord changes” - it’s great and I try to use it as a parable for other stuff I have to deal with

well, designing and composing are different words to describe the same kind of activity

they are not but OK

no, they are not. even limiting things to classical music there’s a meaningful difference between eg composition and orchestration

This is bugging the shit out of me so final word

brimstead: uses the phrase “guitar tone” in a post

NA: posts like an hour later that he hates “gatekeeper-y” terms like “guitar tone” in the “words that annoy”

brimstead: gets really mad at that because I assume they’re talking about me? is that not a reasonable thing to get upset about or am I just being too Californian?

Again, I’m gone, don’t worry, not even lurking, just not sure if people thought my shit came out of complete nowhere or something

i guess id invite you to ask yourself whether a poster is entitled to post a phrase in this thread independently of whether you used it or not

then whether their having done so, even if you had used it, was them posting "about you"

most of what is posted itt is complete projection anyway.

a teenager just told me that my dog was “so aesthetic”

absolutely (but also i secretly enjoy it)

weatherman says it’s gonna be warm all week at altitide

amazon.com referring to christmas as “gifting szn” — even spelled “season” it would still be gross

It's giving gifting

Tranche

in his battleship speech, Trump claimed to be a very aesthetic person

most of what is posted itt is complete projection

Otm

lol

Maybe not the exact thread for it but... when clothing manufacturers use non-descriptive words such as "regular" / "original" / "classic" / "natural" (all employed interchangably) to name certain fits unhelpfully.

(Specific example: Blundstones have a line of boots called "Classics" and another called "Originals".)

classic Kim Kimberly post

boneless couch

On the topic of "classics" vs "originals" I do a lot of shopping in Primark. I remember seeing a Happy Mondays t-shirt in Primark recently. I wasn't sure what to think. Did Shaun Ryder die this this? And I mean technically he's not dead, but the point stands. Does Shaun Ryder mind, given that it's Primark, or does he not mind, given that it's Primark?

But anyway I remember being mesmerised by a store display of all the different types of jeans:
https://www.primark.com/en-gb/a/inspiration/styling-and-outfits/the-womens-jeans-fit-guide

I remember standing there, on the ground floor, pondering the difference between the different types of jeans. There are so many. There's a type called palazzo that, as far as I can tell, appears to be another name for flared jeans, but obviously it can't be because Primark also sells flared jeans. There are baggy jeans and wide leg jeans, which appear to be the same except that the baggy jeans are slightly longer. If you buy baggy jeans with a 29" inseam are they actually 29", or does Primark add a couple of inches so that they're baggy? Are they 29", or 32"?

They also have barrel leg jeans which bulge out at the knees, which is handy if you have arthritis. Do you know how many types of jeans they list on that page? Ten types of jeans. That's how many. Ten types of jeans. I've managed to understand the difference between standard jeans and slim jeans, e.g. mid-2000s jeans, but that's not enough. Now there are ten types of jeans.

And yet a part of me wonders if cowhands back in the 1800s also had a big range of different jeans, given that they were hand-made and agricultural workers tended to be drawn from a diverse pool of people from all over the planet. Did jeans slowly consolidate into the handful of styles that existed when I was young? Are they now expanding again to meet consumer demand? Thus the range of possible jean designs resembles a light cone, wide then narrow then wide again. Society in general has progressed from the organic diversity of chaos, to the managed regularity of mass-production, and now to the artificial diversity of super-advanced mass production.

From cars that were hand-painted, to cars that were only available in black, to cars that were all the colour of the rainbow, and now to cars that are mostly only available in black or silver because they are the only two colours people actually like. The dust mites have been hoovered up, compressed, and now released, but with the edges smoothed off. Could it be that jeans are merely a mirror of human progress. Is the future contraction, or will jeans simply cease to matter.

satisfying post really, i am there. not sure if on topic, but close enuf.

also i have jean ennui

To understand the jeans department you have to know that for a solid fifteen years or so, women's jeans all fit like leggings, and you really had no choice but to go around with every contour of your lower body visible to all. What you are seeing in the women's jeans department is the long-awaited backlash to the Skinny Jeans trend.

they're all so wide I look like a toddler though. i can envisage my perfect cut but they have never materialised!

"so it begins" LotR movies came out like 25 years ago, give it a rest

been hearing 'kinetic' a bunch in a military strike context... Hegseth, Leavitt, different DC talking heads: "A kinetic strike" or a "kinetic action"

They all seem to be using it so they sound smarter or more authentically militaristic

they’re morons playing dress-up

"so it begins" LotR movies came out like 25 years ago, give it a rest

I had no idea this phrase was associated with LOTR.

This /s nonsense simply will not do. If you feel compelled to use sarcasm you should be able to live with danger, accept that some might think you're serious.

That's how I often feel about emojis in general - if you have to put a smiley at the end of every few sentences to indicate you're just joking/not serious/etc., you probably should rephrase your post so it can't be so easily misunderstood.

feel like "per say" has steadily got worse recently

some American dictionary's gonna claim it as a legit usage soon

They'll really hone in on that particular usage

"colourway" - no idea why it annoys me other than maybe sudden usage everywhere; with the implication that if i dont know what it means / don't use it i must be out of the loop ? maybe i am now old.

I don't like /s either because it's more or less like a comedian explaining the joke afterward but it's kinda like "calling bank" I guess when compared to people claiming sarcasm after the fact when it's obvious they weren't or don't know what the word means

maybe people in certain positions need to stop being sarcastic so habitually and stop blurting political brutalisms online where ppl might not understand. or do understand agree.

and agree, that is

Down with glibness imo
It’s too late for that

Gliberal

Glibtard

GlibDem

Lol I kinda like gliberal

Glove me, I'm a gliberal

lol

and well, as BY FAR the most instinctually sarcastic person in my family and circles, i am one to talk here right? <
but still some positions and venues point to a need for much greater care.

sometimes sarcasm helps to illustrate the problem with something better than speaking direct does. however, that takes art and deft skill to wield properly - nowadays most people take sarcasm to mean "saying the opposite of what I mean in a really funny voice"

oh— i have explicitly told people to whom i’ve been directly sarcastic that my arch sarcasm is intended to shame them, having reached a suspicion or certainty that sincere presentation of facts cannot move them. it is often a clear shaming mechanism.

well it can be fun to use in that way, most definitely.

What do you get from shaming someone?

you hope they will reach understanding or they will tell you are an ass

if you are trying to shame someone who should not be ashamed you need to reach your own better understanding.

it is helpful to be told. it’s been done to me on ilx and was useful.

Sarcasm. Wow, so original.

just read some of the lux aeterna post and we may be heading there

lux aeterna “thread”

that sounds bad is it bad i shut up