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

rather, only the most privileged among us can afford not to care

a friend was trying to figure out how to explain to her coworker, a young man in grad school, that he was in fact partially responsible for our current political situation because "voting for Trump for the lols" meant he did, in fact, vote for Trump

What a tool

what a fool!

the voting booth doesn't care about your feelings

"on team <whatever>" as a term of support

like when the hell did everything become something you have to root for

Yeah I'm not such a fan of that

There was a good article about the 4chan style of anything-goes/you-mad-bro banter / humour and how toxic it has been to discourse ever since it leaked out of that environment, but fucked if I can find it now, does anyone know where it is?

lol wins

My first awareness of "Team _____" was when it leaked out of Twilight fandom.

“it’s just like inception” whenever any situation is slightly unusual and nothing at all like inception

imo the worst (best?) is when you proclaim you're on a team for something that has no opposition? or at least not an obvious polar opposite

I was reminded the Team Whatever thing irritated me when looking at a poorly-constructed defense of some Canadian musician accused of assault over on ilm. The writer was "Team <Bandname>". Like, who is the other party, here? Bands without rapist lead singers?

I guess it's just time to throw in the towel on cliché-as-adjective?

I'm going to die a bitter old crank.

Don't know if we've had this already, but people replacing "literally" with "figuratively" - have come across this a couple of times in the last week.

hahaha

Oh no

Hadrian, the noun derives from an adjective (it's an adjective in French - a past participle, as denoted by the accent).

If you don't like it I can't convince you otherwise. But I don't think it's much more barbaric than thousand other similar forms. One might call something a waterproof, a built-in, a submersible, a dirigible, a mobile, a paperback, a hardcover, a fleece. Woolens, silks, satins. We say of a guitar that it is an acoustic or an electric. We say of a wine that it is a red, or a white.

I think of cliché-as-adjective as a synonym of overused, which is what it means. "That has become cliché" is the same as saying "that has become overused." We would never say "that is an overused."

This is English dammit! We also say "the hoi poloi" when in Greek hoi is the article. I am holding out hope that this will revert to its status as solecism and is just millennial-symptomatic.

Anyway it means *more* than merely "overused," right? Which is maybe why it grates so much on these ears, double-misuse flag.

btw I came here to complain about "folks"—why the fuck is every group of people suddenly "folks"?—and just overheard someone w/ "so cliche"

“folks” is growing popular because it’s unquestionably gender-neutral. Perceived marking of “guys” and “dudes” varies from speaker to speaker. “You people” sounds rude. “Y’all” is too regional/marked to start saying on purpose. Hence, “folks”

I'm talking about straight swap "folks" for "people." Not in the second person as a term of address.

It strikes me as pol-speak designed to ingratiate that has leaked into the general population.

I’ve been at a training this week where one of the facilitators uses “all the things” constantly and it’s been driving me up the wall.

Yeah I'm not such a fan of that

*so* not a fan

bobby spirals has convinced me that you lot > y'all

Don't think I could straight-facedly say that as an AmE speaker

i've lived in the south, but as someone not born there i am unable to say y'll

it seems like an effort to remain detached, untouched, unaffected
only we have never been able to afford being that detached so the detachment is poisonous/bad

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Thursday, 22 March 2018 15:54 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

rather, only the most privileged among us can afford not to care

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Thursday, 22 March 2018 15:54 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

irony still has aristocratic associations for a lot of ppl, I see ppl react like it's an extravagance to be played out to the court, a piece of out of touch tyranny of a piece with nero fiddling while rome burns, but I don't think it's true. ime the awareness that drives detachment comes through bitter experience. there's a great james baldwin bit on the irony in the blues in the fire next time but I can't find it

there's a particular type of bright-eyed earnestness/engagement that feels intrinsically (upper-) middle class to me, a certain sense of security and not having to be on your guard at all times?

the word "bias" used as an adjective

imo the worst (best?) is when you proclaim you're on a team for something that has no opposition? or at least not an obvious polar opposite

I was reminded the Team Whatever thing irritated me when looking at a poorly-constructed defense of some Canadian musician accused of assault over on ilm. The writer was "Team <Bandname>". Like, who is the other party, here? Bands without rapist lead singers?

I like this because it's a good example of semantic broadening... the phrase has gone from declaring allegiance to one side to simply indicating you support someone or something. A very reasonable interpretation, as being on a team is as much a declaration of identity as it is one of conflict. Also illustrative of the fact that meaning arises from the ongoing parsing of utterances by all speakers, which often ends up different from what the speaker meant. Like, this is not signal degradation or corruption, simply that the act of people hearing you say something always involves acts of bespoke definition. And the valence of what you say is mainly a function of the experiences of the people that hear you, and never exactly what you meant. Civilization overloading human language itself with more semantic discretion than it can bear being something of a privileged act, and the resulting judgements that arise from it. Makes for some really good novels though.

excuse my rambling there is work I don't want to do

the word "bias" used as an adjective

― Number None, Monday, 9 April 2018 08:19 (seven hours ago) Permalink

I didn't know that this was happening. Gross.

Where did "it me" come from?

http://www.papermag.com/an-interview-with-pastaversaucy-the-inventor-of-the-it-me-meme-1427658503.html

might even be true, I think "on fleek" has a similarly attested online origin

"erasure" gets tossed around too much these days

considering they haven't had a decent hit since the mid '90s

they still have a right to be tossed around dammit

f hazel otm como siempre

Also illustrative of the fact that meaning arises from the ongoing parsing of utterances by all speakers, which often ends up different from what the speaker meant.
esp when the utterance is loaded with references that carry meaning, which is why you should try to avoid using references to indicate anything important because not everyone even knows what you're referring to. assuming comprehension of a message containing a reference is a recipe for misunderstanding. if that's your aim, go for it. if you aim to communicate clearly, avoid using references to imply anything you truly want your audience to understand as you intend. that is why we have words, no?

'Friend' as in 'acquaintance'.

This has probably been mentioned but I find the rhetorical flourishes of "I'm really glad there's...." (when the writer isn't glad) or "It's almost like there's..." (when something is obvious I guess) hard to parse and quite annoying to read. It gets widely used here and on twitter.

"we don't deserve ___"

"___ is the ____ we deserve"

heard a girl say v card the other day which i haven't heard for so long i figured its use was over

Should we really be teaching our children that losing their virginity involes punching something?

We shouldn’t be teaching our young people that “virginity” is a real thing tbh.

"what were you thinking"

pointless expression as it usually implies you weren't thinking at all

xp otm, get rid of the concept

otm get rid of the concept -- it's a cudgel for the oppressor if i am being grandiose

OTM the whole concept is ridiculous.

Keep it for olive oil, though. I ain't eatin' no slut-ass olive oil.