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

there's a sports media story today on which hockey players are 'most unique' and i had to restrain myself

if a person by some criteria is one in ten thousand and another person by some different criteria is one in a million, the latter is arguably more unique. you'd expect to hear this from a sportscaster, since they spend all their time ranking athletes according to arbitrary criteria.

if a person by some criteria is one in ten thousand and another person by some different criteria is one in a million

unique means one of a kind, not one in some finite number. use 'unusual' or some other more suitable term

there's a bit in the radio version of Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge when he is interviewing an immensely annoying child prodigy who corrects him on his use of "unique" and I have never been able to listen to complaints about it without hearing him saying "one cannot have gradations of uniqueness, one either is, or is not unique" - for this reason I have never corrected anyone on this in my decade and a half teaching English.

LOL that is a classic episode.

Cringe as an adjective is a pretty decent playful shortening of cringeworthy, which feels rather old fashioned, no? Having said that, I heard an American politician on the news earlier describe the current situation as "troublesome" and even "worrisome", both words that I feel must be on their way out, esp. the latter; I can't imagine anyone here in the UK using it.

Troublesome will be around for a while yet.

there's a bit in the radio version of Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge when he is interviewing an immensely annoying child prodigy who corrects him on his use of "unique" and I have never been able to listen to complaints about it without hearing him saying "one cannot have gradations of uniqueness, one either is, or is not unique" - for this reason I have never corrected anyone on this in my decade and a half teaching English.

lol, yes me too. Whom!

unique means one of a kind, not one in some finite number. use 'unusual' or some other more suitable term

Uniqueness always has a context, otherwise everything would be unique. "Unusual" also doesn't work, only "more unique" conveys both the uniqueness in that context and the rarity of that uniqueness in a larger context. Also "unusual" has a lot of connotations.

Someone ought to tell that prodigy that a synonym for unique is singular. Consequently, to say "one is either is, or is not, unique" is equivalent to saying "one is either is, or is not, singular". However, by definition, one is always singular, therefore your statement contains a logical error. Take that, you snotty kid!

None of my posts are unique Worst TV adverts of the moment

xp IS! I meant "None of my posts is unique!"

Someone ought to tell that prodigy that a synonym for unique is singular. Consequently, to say "one is either is, or is not, unique" is equivalent to saying "one is either is, or is not, singular". However, by definition, one is always singular, therefore your statement contains a logical error. Take that, you snotty kid!

― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, April 21, 2020 10:47 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

If you listen to the episode you will find a very satisfying conclusion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AknwHCIzhg

on the topic of disgraceful comma usage:

We talk on the phone, with Jamil calling from her home in Los Angeles, which she shares with her boyfriend, the musician James Blake and three friends.

yes, there is some ambiguity there, yet you seem to have figured it out.

i get annoyed when ppl take issue with hyperbolic use of "literally" (multiple times in this thread) esp when they say it's used to mean "figuratively" which it's not it's literally just an intensifier

& idc how well established it is now sneery use of "woke" is still gross & often seems to be a way for ppl to complain about SJW/PC culture w/o sounding like mail readers or alt right types

I'll have to encounter some of these before they begin to annoy me--haven't thus far.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-22-2020-1.5540906/covidiots-quarantinis-linguist-explains-how-covid-19-has-infected-our-language-1.5540914

"gross"

Dumb, quotidian things that apparently 'hit different', plz just fuck off.

these x times, where x is extraordinary, unprecedented, difficult etc

first responders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiuf8y7SHss

this song really do be hittin different in 2020 doe

first responders

Yes, I'm not fond of this either.

we could refer to firefighters, police, and emts collectively as firpolemts.

'in anger' to mean 'in earnest'

these x times, where x is extraordinary, unprecedented, difficult etc

"Amidst this clusterfuck" covers it better.

'in anger' to mean 'in earnest'

"I feel seen / feeling seen / I see you" must stop

xp I haven't encountered it too often but in tech "when x is used in anger" typically means used by real life customers not just devs and testers.

Don't look back in anger.

yes i've usually heard it in a UK tech context i.e. "in june we'll be in a position to start phase 2 in anger" or "once we start really coding in anger"

it would be funny as a throwaway, but it's become A Thing

I notice there's also a military expression 'fire in anger,' meaning to fire for real, not in practice. I wonder if that's where it originated.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fire_in_anger

I don't know who needs to hear this but

don't look back in earnest

jmm thats where ive always seen it used

the move from practice/training to competition or whatever, sports context or etc

"in anger" is an accurate and descriptive term for using modern computer hardware and software

Directed by Kenneth Anger.

https://i.imgur.com/lgMMdlS.jpg

"ecofascism"

coming on 2 months since a half dozen likely 22 year olds made a half dozen dumbass tweets and the nation's smug are still in a frenzy about it

until donald trump and mitch mcconnell start advocating genocide for sake of dear mother gaia i think i'm going to keep the threat level at green

the front lines, the frontline workers

not everything is a (great) war

If I could sum up everything that grinds my gears about blitz spirit, real england, nostalgia for imperialism, colonialism, dying in the thousands in war and endless unquestioning love for the royal family in one word it would be

BUNTING

http://dearsportsfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Bunt-2-1.jpg

Also hate bunting in baseball and I know next to nothing about baseball. Feels like a heel play.

Walking as well. Fuck that coward move.

heel plays are the best plays :D

my dad's always held that home runs should be considered foul balls as the ball has been put outside the bounds of play

Calling a thing a "so-called" thing when it's just the name of the thing, just like all the other things.

Been hearing a lot of "the so-called R number" this week.

Spelling "never mind" as a single word when it is not a proper noun referring to the title of a Nirvana album. I don't actually think anyone did this pre-1991. I also always assumed that the title meant more than just "never mind".

I guess that means it offends me as both an English speaker and a Nirvana fan.

ugh wrote out a response to this but...... nv m

this [album / movie / book] "slaps"