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

What is 'Shitposting'

The collected works of Morbius, basically

xp software lends itself naturally to verb conversion because it's something you use to do other things so "can you please use spotify to play vampire weekend" is more intelligible and brief as "can you please spotify vampire weekend." "can you use google to search for pictures of naked mole rats" "can you google naked mole rates." in general actually i think this thread is wrong bc the only criteria for whether a word is good is whether it's a. intelligible & b. terser. i understand there are aesthetic objections (tho aesthetically speaking brevity is the soul of etc) and also sometimes these things represent bad thinking but I can't think of good ideological reasons to oppose "impact" as a verb. "I am going to have an impact on this project," as "i am going to impact this project," maybe you don't like using impact to mean having a strong effect on something but once you accept that definition (I'm not dragging out my OES) who cares if it's a verb now?

oh we lost that battle years ago

my theory: people didn't know whether to use "affect" or "effect" the same way you hear "John and myself went to a movie" (i.e. the speaker doesn't know whether to use subjective or objective case).

if anything using it as a noun tends towards passive verbs and using it as a verb is instantly active = maybe that's the objection? it's a sneaky end-around strunk/white?

I have a bigger problem with "impactful."

I'm reading Huey Long by T. Harry Williams. It's a well-regarded book and all, but Williams keeps saying things like "Huey Long effected the state's policies...."

He also uses lowercase letters for parish names, as in "Union parish", "Orleans parish", "Jefferson parish", etc. It's annoying.

English is very forgiving of shit like that. once my brother played the word "unrewaxed" during a scrabble game and I had to allow it, because of course it's a word, even if it was a word no one had ever used until the moment he laid it on the board.

There's also the fact that 'Spotify' seems to be a nominalized verb, albeit a made-up one. If you accept it as a proper name, the verb use seems inevitable.

the same way you hear "John and myself went to a movie" (i.e. the speaker doesn't know whether to use subjective or objective case).

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 17 January 2017 13:20 (thirty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this riles the living shit out of me. 'myself' is a reflexive pronoun with one clear purpose that doesn't include being jammed at the beginning of sentences.

Mordy and burrito of ennui OTM because impact.

^

THIS

There's also the fact that 'Spotify' seems to be a nominalized verb, albeit a made-up one. If you accept it as a proper name, the verb use seems inevitable.

lol was gonna say, this is a terrible example

"Spotify" as a verb doesn't bother me at all. I'd never feel the need to use it myself, but I was referring more to someone getting worked up over "impact" as a verb on the one hand but being okay with "Spotify" on the other. I find in general there are people who are very attentive to one set of rules, but they're okay with every internet cliché and acronym going.

otoh "because [blank]" is a perfect example of poor language covering for poor thinking - sure you get to drop an "of," but adding the "of," makes all the difference bc once put into proper grammatical form you start to feel obligated to actually explain why [blank] explains the thing you're discussing whereas leaving it in the 'because [blank]' formulation tonally suggests that you probably shouldn't question me bc it's clearly obvious from my snark what i'm insinuating.

mordy otm, 'because blank' as ive seen it used is just an appeal to a false first principle assumption and not an actual reason for anything and should result in permaban from everything because reasons

why because she look interesting

Agree on 'because' disagree on 'impact', which makes me hurl.

I thought that "because reasons" was compelling when it was fresh, but currently risks being dulled by overuse. Note that I am referring here not to any old usage of the "because ___" formulation, rather specifically "because reasons."

Its best use was always to mock someone who holds a position that they believe they arrived at by the cold light of pure rational thought, but is actually just a tribal emotional cudgel.

Government spending is inherently wasteful except for defense spending, because reasons. The Constitution is sacred except for the First Amendment, because reasons. Government spending is theft except for my Social Security, because reasons. Black people shouldn't get welfare but corporations should, because reasons. The phrase concisely indicates the empty space where the speaker's reasons ought to be. It simultaneously establishes (a) that he believes he doesn't need to support his view, and also (b) that he doesn't really have any good reasons.

The old way to write this was to try to typographically indicate that the speaker was apocopating or stammering or spluttering or trying to misdirect, or something. "Government spending is theft except for my Social Security because, uh, um, LOOK OVER THERE! [ducks, runs away]." Not only are those less concise than "because reasons," they say a different thing. They indicate that the speaker believes it to be a mark of shame that he can't defend his position.

That's pre-Trump thinking. Nowadays, people who hold wrong and/or repugnant opinions aren't embarrassed. They just hold them out for the world to see, loud and proud, GET A BRAIN MORANS GO USA.

On that note I might also accept other satirical uses like "because freedom," which has a similar rhetorical purpose: "We needed to invade that country and kill all its people because freedom!"

That's pre-Trump thinking. Nowadays, people who hold wrong and/or repugnant opinions aren't embarrassed.

"Because reasons" replaced by "Because fuck you"

granted it is a particularly pithy way of glibly strawmanning. pithier to stfu though.

"Because fuck you" works as well, as its use is satirical, again highlighting that the putative speaker doesn't have an explanation and doesn't believe he needs one.

Using the "because ____" formulation in a nonsatirical ways, like "Trump won because racism," is different. And, in my view, unnecessary, because racism is a real and justifiable reason. It doesn't need the catachresis or the cutesy usage, and it in fact detracts a bit from the impact of an actual, well-supported statement.

One could use it in a gently self-mocking way too, I guess, like "I am eating bacon right now and therefore my day is better than yours because bacon."

that is a really long-winded way to say "i am eating bacon"

A locution most often heard on political talk shows: prefacing statements with "The question is..." – an unsubtle way of hiding an opinion

insisting that rationality is a precondition for being taken seriously and included in the conversation doesn't sit that well with the old trick of parroting a caricature of someone's views back to them in a funny voice imo

"so important"

all intensifiers are terrible

Its best use was always to mock someone who holds a position that they believe they arrived at by the cold light of pure rational thought, but is actually just a tribal emotional cudgel.

also this is the problem; instead of being forced to contend w/ whatever [odious] thinking underlines the sentiment being mocked (and surely there's something beyond just a tribal emotional cudgel - people always consider their own positions reasonable & well justified) it just hand waves it away. it fails to comprehend the position it's critiquing and fails to represent its own position so it functions entirely as content-free snark. this is why btw it is at risk of being overused (and in fact was overused the day it began). since it can only function as an idiomatic snipe it became cliche immediately.

post-truth era

all intensifiers are terrible

first, "so" alone is not a legitimate intensifier; it is a stranded fragment from a "so X that Y is true" statement that stupidly drops everything after the X.

second, Twain wrote that every time he was tempted to use the word "very", he substituted the word "damned", so that his editor would be sure to remove it.

p.s. "altogether" is not altogether bad as an intensifier. it has a quaintness the others lack.

"Important" kinda gets overused right now.

what is 'Shitposting'

i think i already posted this itt

but still

"carte blanche" when used in the workplace (elsewhere I'm not bothered by it)

Answered:

What is 'Shitposting'

― flappy bird, Monday, January 16, 2017 11:52 AM

it's a metaphor

― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, January 16, 2017 11:53 AM

where did it come from & how did it become so ubiquitous so quickly

ilx first mention:

frogbs wrote this on thread Clusterfuck Summary Corner on board I Love Everything on Apr 7, 2011

dude if shitposting was a bannable offense like 95% of this forum would be gone

Presuming it came from reddit or 4chan.

how did it become so ubiquitous so quickly

he who smelt it dealt it

'we the people'

gift as a verb

any attempt at shortening the word "sandwich"

sammich
sammie
sandie
i literally saw "wiches" recently

dane cook's best bit was saying 'chicken sangwich'

sarnie
ˈsɑːniː/
nounBritishinformal
noun: sarnie; plural noun: sarnies

a sandwich.

hate that too

butties for all

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/what_can_you_learn_from_the_jeely_piece_song.shtml

Which Wich is a franchise

http://www.whichwich.com

woke

oh cool everyone else is asleep solid rhetorical base give yourself another congratulation en route to wherever the fuck youre headed hi five fuck off

like i know its been done itt but ppl still using it so

I thought people only used "woke" to make fun of people? Like "sjw" tends to be.