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

Basically I just want to procure all of my food via a touchscreen or from a buffet table

The automat

ah - I’m from Australia so all diner culture is foreign to me

I get using X as a *written* shorthand for "times," as in "increased 10x." But at some point people started to pronounce the X when speaking, and it drives me crazy because it doesn't save you any time! I think it's a Silicon Valley thing, or at least I associate it with tech bros.

like latinx?

There’s also the x for collaborations which I’ve no idea how to pronounce, as seen in usage such as Supreme x Nike.

i always say “versus” but yeah

For what it's worth: we watched Lost in America tonight for the monthly film screenings I've been trying to get off the ground in my town, and--in the great scene where Albert Brooks tries the bribe the hotel desk clerk--he says "I don't do reservations." So "do" as an all-purpose verb dates to at least '85.

the x comes from japanese style mags and is meant to represent “by”

so you’d pronounce “supreme x nike” as” supreme by nike” to mean the shoes are sold at supreme and have supreme specific designs but are manufactured to order by nike

confusingly you’d write nike x supreme or “nike by supreme” if they had been designed by supreme and sold at nike stores even though they’d still be manufactured by nike (supreme has no capacity for manufacturing shoes and supreme generally does not go for diffusing their brand like that)

but you’ll see it used that way for stuff like “carhartt x awake” where carhartt makes standard carhartt jackets and hoodies but then prints graphics on them designed by awake and then sells the product at carhartt stores

of course on the internet most ppl just use it however since most ppl not aware (i think?) of where it comes from

i think it’s based on multiplication: 6 x 8 is pronounced “six by eight” sometimes instead of “six times nine”. that seems more british than american to me so maybe hong kong plays into it somehow? or maybe because a lot of the og tokyo streetwear crew (predating supreme etc) had formative experiences in london and not new york

Using ‘by’ for x is measurement (2x4) not multiplication but otherwise that’s a really good explainer!

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

well we say that too, but i’m sure you’ve heard something like “multiplying three by two gives you six”? i’ve heard it but “three times two gives you six” seems more common to me. idk why i thought the former was more common in non-usa anglophone countries

Yeah "by" means "times" which is precisely why it's used for area etc

tlg otm

In art or fashion, the use of X indicates a collaboration by two or more artists, e.g. Aaron Koblin x Takashi Kawashima. This application, which originated in Japan, now extends to other kinds of collaboration outside the art world.This usage mimics the use of a similar mark in denoting botanical hybrids, for which scientifically the multiplication × is used, but informally a lowercase "x" is also used.

but isn't that different? tlg seems to be saying the name that comes before the x is of a different type than the name that comes after it, "A as interpreted by B" and your graf seems to be saying they're more on equal footing, a collab

i had never heard of tlg's interpretation before, had always thought of it as your graf has it

He was right about the origins of the term and also that it is related to multiplication; the hybrid explanation (and possible origin) seems to factor into this. Basically his second most recent post.

well idk if japanese style mags still follow that
convention. when they were started doing it they were doing it for things that weren’t branded that way. so in ivy style guides you’d see “j. press x alden” to denote the specific alden shoe styles sold at j. press stores. but the shoebox at the j. press store probably didn’t even say “j. press” on it let alone include the “collabo x” tag (“collabo x” sounds like a bad comedy cartoon rap character)

but nowadays that “brand x brand” naming is just part of branding and marketing in general, i’m sure even the deepest cult japanese style mags use whatever name the brand itself uses to promote the product, to make searching easier for readers

Squier by Fender

It'll be dot product next, mark my words
ilx ⋅ kinder

i had never heard of tlg's interpretation before, had always thought of it as your graf has it

― Tracer Hand, Friday, January 13, 2023 2:06 AM (eight hours ago

i have! it's quite common! Like it shows up with Savage Fenty, which is the opposite of cult? see also YMP's post ... another common one though is "designer for brand" like "Christian Siriano for Lane Bryant" or "Betsey Johnson for Torrid"

https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2018/03/30/5abefc2f9f78042734449c5b/m_5abefc358290af1329e6d631.jpeg

lol

whoa that's like the song Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath

or La Dusseldorf

or Focus

Cash, the autobiography of Johnny Cash, by Johnny Cash

"pull your finger out"

like, when you think about what's being said....??!

I assumed it was out of one's mouth, like a baby sucking its thumb. You assumed anus?

Yes!!

https://media.tenor.com/81Qx9-z3yKoAAAAC/pull-yer-finger-out-letterkenny.gif

Yeah that phrase is not referring to your mouth.

Assuming has made an ass out of me.

And u!

https://i.imgur.com/JBoA5QH.jpg

or not: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/186931/origin-of-the-expression-pull-your-finger-out

about 2 seconds after the gun commander shouted at everyone to pull their finger out, rumor has it that one local funny muttered "...out of your ass", and it was one of the best moments of that terrible battle

This may show my naïveté, but why would someone have their finger in their ass?

This may show my naïveté, but why would someone have their finger in their ass?

What I've always wondered about the phrase "sitting around with your thumb up your ass".

Was just about to mention “get your thumb out of your ass” which I’ve seen/heard in US fiction & leaves no ambiguity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_massage

Probably means lazily scratching your arse.

Inclusive for those of us without balls to scratch!

Inclusive for those of us without balls to scratch!

Inclusive for those of us without balls to scratch!

thanks zing, point made

I have never heard that phrase without the ass part.

And of course, the inverse:

https://y.yarn.co/a4e8c55d-3ec0-4400-9b92-c027e0015e53_text.gif

It's a very very common British phrase. Without the ass/arse that is.

I know and it’s….. pretty gross!