words that annoy

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"ORIENTATE." People, the word you want is "orient." I'm not a dictionary crank by any means, but it seems ridiculous that a made up word has slipped into common usage that is LONGER and CLUNKIER than its predecessor.

― rob geary (rgeary), Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

"monetize"

― rob geary (rgeary), Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

(i really like the british "cheers" as "thank you" thing)

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

I often use 'cheers' as my sign off comment in emails, particularly in work emails because I think the phrase 'best regards' is much, much worse. Unless you type it quick and it comes out 'breast dregs'.

― Alfie (Alfie), Thursday, 25 September 2003 07:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Golf"

― Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm with Tom on the foreign words thing. My annoying coworker (TM) is fairly religious, so if she accidently says shit or fuck, she says "Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry." But then she sits at her desk and swears in Spanish all day long, and that seems to be ok. Apparently her god is monolingual and pretty dim.

― NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

....and i detest the word "irregardless". no one uses it correctly...

So what WOULD be a correct use of 'irregardless'?

Furthermore, I DETEST:

'the bottom line'

'flexibility' when used by Human Resources people (not real keen on 'human resources' either)

'mutual obligation'

24/7

'sooner than later' without the rather in the middle,

'at the end of the day'

all SMS shorthand but especially 'prolly'

'would/could/should of'

'traitor' and 'tragedy' used in sporting contexts

'bias' as an adjective (as in 'the ABC is bias', what does that mean: the ABC goes to Mass 12 times a week?)

Most Freudian or postmod jargon

'Go Pies'

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Verdammt doch mal" is my new annoying foreign swearing thing for work. I used to do nothing but swear in Spanish all day at work! But then I decided to do nothing but swear, really loudly and nonstop, in English all day at work. Now I'm trying to work in some other languages to confuse them further.

― Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Swearing in a foreign language is a dud. You just have to admit to yourself that it's not as satisfying.

― NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

I dunno, I kind of enjoy it. It's satisfying in a different way, in that the people you are telling off to their faces just have no idea what's going on half the time. The problem is everyone knows Spanish swear words now, so I have to learn other ones, I'm thinking of learning a pile of Sanskrit curses.

― Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

what abt all the ones used by IT departments?

"Power down" is pretty bad. Why can't they say "switch off" like everybody else?

and what abt outage? Our website was down earlier and I received an email to say that "They" were going to be "investigating the cause of this outage". I promptly sent an email back to say that they'd missed the 'r' out of "outrage".

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

Perhaps they had a problem with their poxy server?

― Alfie (Alfie), Thursday, 25 September 2003 13:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

overly disgusting words like:
booty-juice
pussy-fart

― A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 25 September 2003 14:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Or booty flakes?

― NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 25 September 2003 14:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

'dipshit'

(unless it's the time when Brad Pitt says it on Kalifornia)

― Fuzzy (Fuzzy), Thursday, 25 September 2003 15:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

people using "begs the question" incorrectly. When someone uses it correctly it really makes me want to weep for joy.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 25 September 2003 15:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

That begs the question of a moot point.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 25 September 2003 15:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

'Out the door' and 'out the window'. Unless either are in the closet, there is not need to out them. It is 'out _of_ the door' and 'out _of_ the window'.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm letting you in on the bottom floor of this one. People are always saying this to me.

― David. (Cozen), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

i like everything on this thread and will use it when i choose so f u

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

yeah, i hate that too.

― David. (Cozen), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

pop, as in soda pop

― danny (Oops), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

over-qualified: usually when I get this gem of wisdom, is from a smarmy interviewer. Though I understand that I'm the millionth person you've seen for that job, how qualified must you be to turn a computer on, sell clothes/shoes/whatever? Makes me mad to think the degree I'd worked so hard for is now worth less than the paper tis printed on.

(Pardon the mini-rant. Ahem.)

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

precipice

― danny (Oops), Thursday, 25 September 2003 20:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

supine

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 25 September 2003 23:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

for anyone who's worked w/content management - METADATA. I hate that word.

I picked up swearing in French habits as did many other American students I hung out with in Paris. which is OK around the office in the US because generally nobody understands, but did lead to a rather embarrassing moment at this big francophone party at the French embassy.. drunk friend disappointed at not winning a drawing for a voyage to Quebec yelling oh MERDE! PUTAIN! etc.

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 26 September 2003 00:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

Panties.
It connotes innocence: the "ies" seem to make it child-like. This word is often perverted by its reference to the underwear of grown women; an infantalization, and supposedly 'sexy'. It sounds lecherous.

― jeremyjeremy, Friday, 26 September 2003 04:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm trying to think of a common incorrect usage of "begs the question" and can't. Examples?

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

The common usage is "suggests the question I'm about to say in my next phrase," and it's supposed to be used to mean "you dolt, the thing you said uses as evidence something that has yet to be proven, even though you said it as though it were obvious!"

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

(Usually in strictly correct usage, there won't be anything following the phrase in the sentence; "begging the question" is a logical fallacy, and generally people who realize that will simply say "such-and-such begs the question," period, and go on with their next sentence to talk about the problems in so-and-so's reasoning. When I worked as a tutor, this was something I had to correct all the time because instructors would list "begging the question" on a worksheet of problems you could find with an opponent's argument, without explaining.)

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:20 (twenty-one years ago) link

Which begs the question, why did I just disregard Tep's whole careful explanation and use it wrongly again?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

It must be all those panties sounding so lecherous.

― A Nairn (moretap), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Hmmm. So I've been misusing it all these years, then? I guess I've always thought "begs" in this instance was more or less a synonym for "raises" or "provokes."

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

(Well, and especially since it sounds so idiomatic. I'm actually having trouble figuring out what it would mean to literally "beg a question.")

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's ... hm, my access is limited right now because the IU library is redoing things. The alt.usage.english FAQ entry on it says that it comes from the Greek and offhandedly implies that "begin" and "beg" have a common root (that's one of those things I can't look up right now).

It also mentions the other common usage -- "avoiding the question" (which I don't think I really hear that much) -- as being about a hundred and fifty years old, so the confusion isn't new or anything.

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

Some useful examples are given here:

http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/fallacy/begging.php

Now, if you really want to intimidate people, call it by its Latin name: petitio principii. Remember to pronounce the 'c' hard.

Could it be said to be the same thing as circular reasoning?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 26 September 2003 05:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

i used to hate the word panties too, for the same reasons jeremy cites. only rainy can get away with calling em panties.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Friday, 26 September 2003 07:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Doesn't overqualified just mean that they'd be happier paying someone who won't get a better job or ask for more pay?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 26 September 2003 08:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

I hate the word BUDDY. i don't want to have BUDDIES. it sounds like an illness like shingles or crabs or something. NO BUDDIES FOR ME. i like having friends, thanks

― Vic (Vic), Friday, 26 September 2003 08:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

but what about the snapper song?

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Friday, 26 September 2003 08:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

TS: Panties vs Manties

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 26 September 2003 13:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

Haha, Vic OTM about "buddies." That word makes me think of this hockey-playing riff-raff I knew in college, who'd say things like, "A couple of buddies of mine are gonna go out for a drink later" or "I've got a buddy back in Boston who ..." It has this connotation of a particular kind of male friendship I don't like.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Everyone needs a buddy! Who else are you going to say all of those inappropriate thoughts that have been socialized to the deep recesses of your mind to? (In my case, my "buddy" = ILE HA)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

wherever you go, WE GO!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Use other words please."
Four Words: Use Other Words Please
"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"
Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug you

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Words that should earn the author a slap
dumbest music journalist term
More music journalisms we are tired of hearing

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

Lately I annoy myself by using "as" to mean "because." I have this prejudice that "as" in the United States should mean only "while" or "like" unless you are purposely trying to sound like a ponce.

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

I quite enjoy sounding poncy, as I am a ponce to begin with.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 26 September 2003 15:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Paradigm"
(A meaningless buzzword unless it is followed by the word "shift" and preceded by an ACTUAL Paradigm Shift. Not a corporate hierarchy reorganization. Not a department renaming. Not a change in the color of a letterhead. A paradigm shift is what happens when your entire industry has been instantly rendered obsolete, and you have to do something much, much more drastic that do any of the three things listed above.)

"Synergy"
(Normally a cool word. It even has TWO Y's in it! But its used by the same whistleheaded Brooks Brothers Straightjacketed metadrones that misuse "Paradigm"; and in similarly flawed and sloppy fashion.)

"...On a going forward basis..."
(AAAAGH! As opposed to WHAT!? A Going Backwards Until We All Delolve Back into Monkeys Basis? Every damned thing is on a 'going forward basis'. For mortal humanoids time only goes in ONE direction! You silly, Tassel-loafered dinosaur!)

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Friday, 26 September 2003 23:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

(*Custos vents the remaining steam, and the entire thread suddenly looks like a Turkish bathhouse.*)

I also second that vote for "Touch Base"
Damn that is such an obxious phrase.

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Friday, 26 September 2003 23:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

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