So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Edward]

That's another word my mother drawls. She'll yell it out the window at people who cut her off in traffic: YOU SON OF A HOE-WAH!"

In Belfast it's pronounced "HOOR" - one, sharp syllable.

 

[Trenchfriend]

From german "Hure"??

 

[tonyb]

Now there's a term that has disappeared: "whoreson." It was thought so vulgar that it was euphemised to the much less offensive "son of a bitch." Of course that in turn became a vulgar expression. Sometimes you just can't win.

Such was literally true of one of the kindest, most generous people I've ever known. I'm confident he loved his mother, and vice-versa.

With advancing years my sympathies grow more for the "whore" than for those who would condemn her (or him, for that matter). What sets my blood to boiling are those who disparage hookers from the pulpit (or the dais at a political gathering) and then avail themselves of the hooker's ministrations. Indeed, the louder the railing against such "sinners," the more suspicious I become.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Indeed, the louder the railing against such "sinners," the more suspicious I become.

Always gets my radar up.

 

[Fading Fast]

The fast-and-loose way Walgreen's pharmacy advertises its discounts. In particular, they loudly advertise "50% off" on a specific items, but you have to buy one item at full price and then you get 50% off on the second item only (you still pay full price for the first item) if you purchase a second of the exact same item.

Hence, you have to buy two of the same item and the net result is 25% off the combined purchase. It is disingenuous and insulting to bolding print "50% off" when the effective discount is 25%. Hiding behind the fig leaf of "50% off the second item" is obnoxious.

Of course, there are many examples of the above everyday. One of my "favorite" is the "up to 70%" off, which is technically true, but in many cases most items are discounted meaningfully less than 70%, but one or a few will be 70% off so the fig leaf of "truth" stands.

 

[Hercule]

Every time I break a shoe lace (once, maybe twice a year) my wife's response is "because you tug on them." Apparently I don't know how to use shoe laces.

 

[tonyb]

Every time I break a shoe lace (once, maybe twice a year) my wife's response is "because you tug on them." Apparently I don't know how to use shoe laces.

I can't say it had ever before occurred to me that tugging too vigorously on shoelaces might lead to their premature failure, but now that it has been mentioned, I gotta concede that it is worthy of consideration.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Cotton shoestrings used to be much more prone to this than the nylon ones that are common now. On the same subject, I hate that it's almost impossible to find flat shoelaces except for boots and sneakers. I don't like round waxed shoestrings at all -- they don't stay tied -- but I've had to resort to buying cases of thousands of pairs of old-store stock to get the kind I like.

 

[tonyb]

... I hate that it's almost impossible to find flat shoelaces except for boots and sneakers. I don't like round waxed shoestrings at all -- they don't stay tied ...

Yup. I no longer wear "dress" shoes on a daily basis (nor neckties, nor ... ), so this isn't the annoyance it once was.

 

[Fading Fast]

Cotton shoestrings used to be much more prone to this than the nylon ones that are common now. On the same subject, I hate that it's almost impossible to find flat shoelaces except for boots and sneakers. I don't like round waxed shoestrings at all -- they don't stay tied -- but I've had to resort to buying cases of thousands of pairs of old-store stock to get the kind I like.

I have had some success finding the not-common-anymore shoelace here:

http://shoelacesexpress.com

 

[Trenchfriend]

The average shoes are abrading earlier than their shoelaces, so it was just only one time over the years, that I have to go to the remaining stock-market, just around the corner, to buy a pair of new shoelaces, costing 50 Cent.
Maybe, I could be the only one in the last five years, buying a pair of new shoelaces, here in my little-town.

But, these classic flat, solid and brown ones from the remaining stock-market are better than the cheaper made ones on the shoes ex factory.

 

[Zombie_61]

Years ago my former physical medicine doctor suggested I try hiking shoes or boots (i.e., something that would provide more stability than whichever shoes I had been wearing at the time) to help alleviate my back problems. The boots I chose have indeed helped, but the laces provided by the manufacturer are horrible--round, but thick (I'd describe them as "puffy"), don't stay tied well until they're broken in, and generally last only a few months before they break. You would think finding replacements would be relatively easy considering how many people are wearing shoes/boots of this type these days, but most of the time all I can find are laces that are too long or too short, and have given up on the idea of finding any that match the color of the boots.

 

[sheeplady]

I re-encountered a phenomenon I dislike.

Where I used to live was the "testing grounds" for a lot of manufacturers. You'd see a new product, but it (say plastic wrap), it would be pulled six months later wither forever (flop) or to reappear (success) in a year to two years, often with totally different branding.

Annoying when you start to like something and realize you've been a guinea pig and can't get it anymore!

Also annoying: when you buy a product from the vending machine that looks like a regular old bag of skittles or a snickers bar, it drops down, you pull it out and realize it says, "try out new flavor and give feedback at www...."

AND to add insult to injury, only half the time is it good. Btw, the "ice cream" and "sour" skittles aren't good, the "ice cream and sour skittle mix" is awful. The new sour ones that came out a few years ago are an improvement to the tricks played on me by a vending machine back in 2006.

 

[GHT]

With advancing years my sympathies grow more for the "whore" than for those who would condemn her (or him, for that matter). What sets my blood to boiling are those who disparage hookers from the pulpit (or the dais at a political gathering) and then avail themselves of the hooker's ministrations. Indeed, the louder the railing against such "sinners," the more suspicious I become.

Many years ago, I heard such a 'sermon.' Those who preach such, fail to remember that one of the Christian church's greatest saints, Mary Magdalene, sold her body for money, a prostitute in other words. Everything that I have ever read, or heard, of Mary has been highly sanitised.
Some weeks ago, a pretty young woman came up to me as I was sitting in the car and asked if I wanted sex. I didn't hear her clearly at first, she had an accent and I'm hard of hearing in my right ear. When it became clear what she said I simply said: "No." I hadn't the heart to tell her that at my age, I consider a hard on a result.

 

[Trenchfriend]

From german "Hure"??

Ah, now I found it out. And relate to "hobo".

 

[Edward]

The fast-and-loose way Walgreen's pharmacy advertises its discounts. In particular, they loudly advertise "50% off" on a specific items, but you have to buy one item at full price and then you get 50% off on the second item only (you still pay full price for the first item) if you purchase a second of the exact same item.

Hence, you have to buy two of the same item and the net result is 25% off the combined purchase. It is disingenuous and insulting to bolding print "50% off" when the effective discount is 25%. Hiding behind the fig leaf of "50% off the second item" is obnoxious.

Of course, there are many examples of the above everyday. One of my "favorite" is the "up to 70%" off, which is technically true, but in many cases most items are discounted meaningfully less than 70%, but one or a few will be 70% off so the fig leaf of "truth" stands.

The UK used to have this sort of thing too - I remember a shop here in London which was "Closing Down - Last Few Days!" for at least a decade.... Among the worst offenders were the budget airlines, who used to advertise the likes of "Fly to the moon for ten pence!", but when you got to the website, the retur flight was a grand, or it would be dirt cheap right up until the very last stage, then suddently "Taxes and other [unspecified] sundries: £400". The EU-derived Misleading Advertising legislation, backing up the Advertising Standard Authority, has seen off the worst of it, though.

Cotton shoestrings used to be much more prone to this than the nylon ones that are common now. On the same subject, I hate that it's almost impossible to find flat shoelaces except for boots and sneakers. I don't like round waxed shoestrings at all -- they don't stay tied -- but I've had to resort to buying cases of thousands of pairs of old-store stock to get the kind I like.

Indeed. I have a pair of flat, white trainer laces in my saddle shoes; they work okay, except for having to double-bow them because they're too long, and not available any shorter....

Many years ago, I heard such a 'sermon.' Those who preach such, fail to remember that one of the Christian church's greatest saints, Mary Magdalene, sold her body for money, a prostitute in other words. Everything that I have ever read, or heard, of Mary has been highly sanitised.

I've heard conflicting theology on that. There's certainly a contemporary strain of argument which insists that the 'whore' story was made up by the Church in the middle ages, keen to prevent a woman from having too much influence.

Ah, now I found it out. And relate to "hobo".

A tramp in the UK is a hobo in the US. A tramp in the US is something quite else!

 

[Fading Fast]

...Also annoying: when you buy a product from the vending machine that looks like a regular old bag of skittles or a snickers bar, it drops down, you pull it out and realize it says, "try out new flavor and give feedback at www...."

AND to add insult to injury, only half the time is it good. Btw, the "ice cream" and "sour" skittles aren't good, the "ice cream and sour skittle mix" is awful. The new sour ones that came out a few years ago are an improvement to the tricks played on me by a vending machine back in 2006.

Just to flush this out a bit, do they show the regular bag of Skittles and then deliver a the "new flavor" bag or do they not highlight that it is a new-flavor bag - and make that bag look close to the regular bag - but if you look closely at the display bag, you'd see it's a new flavor bag?

Both show bad faith by the company and you're right, IMHO, to be peeved either way, but if they did the first - show a regular bag and deliver a new-flavor one - that seems like they'd actually be breaking a law as I remember it from my retail days (in NJ, in the '80s, so hardly definitive to today).

 

[sheeplady]

Both tramp and hobo mean someone who lives on the street in the US, but tramp is more deragatory. Buy I haven't heard either for present homeless in a while.

Tramp also refers to a loose woman, although honestly I haven't heard tramp used like that in a while. It seems to have been replaced with the s-word.

 

[sheeplady]

Just to flush this out a bit, do they show the regular bag of Skittles and then deliver a the "new flavor" bag or do they not highlight that it is a new-flavor bag - and make that bag look close to the regular bag - but if you look closely at the display bag, you'd see it's a new flavor bag?

Both show bad faith by the company and you're right, IMHO, to be peeved either way, but if they did the first - show a regular bag and deliver a new-flavor one - that seems like they'd actually be breaking a law as I remember it from my retail days (in NJ, in the '80s, so hardly definitive to today).

If you look closely at the wrapper, it will usually have something on it that indicates "new flavor!"

The skitties one was the typical red package. If you looked closely enough, the skittles colors were "off" and one looked like a blue speckled egg, one was a pink, the green was lighter, etc. In the corner of the bag there would be a little swish-y triangle and it would say, "new ice cream flavor!"

So it *did* look different, but in a vending machine was difficult to see (they are sort of dark). On the skittles they often put the little triangles on for promotions, like "you could win" so I had always ignored them. On the single serve bag you had to get your nose up to the glass to read it, and pretty close to see the colors. I notice that the new flavors in the store are much more obvious than any of the test ones. I only got stung on the skittles 6 times, and I'll admit, some of those times I was tired and saw the red bag and didn't bother to get 5 inches from the glass to look for the speckled one.

That said, I became an expert at recognizing test products I didn't like.

 

[Fading Fast]

If you look closely at the wrapper, it will usually have something on it that indicates "new flavor!"

The skitties one was the typical red package. If you looked closely enough, the skittles colors were "off" and one looked like a blue speckled egg, one was a pink, the green was lighter, etc. In the corner of the bag there would be a little swish-y triangle and it would say, "new ice cream flavor!"

So it *did* look different, but in a vending machine was difficult to see (they are sort of dark). On the skittles they often put the little triangles on for promotions, like "you could win" so I had always ignored them. On the single serve bag you had to get your nose up to the glass to read it, and pretty close to see the colors. I notice that the new flavors in the store are much more obvious than any of the test ones. I only got stung on the skittles 6 times, and I'll admit, some of those times I was tired and saw the red bag and didn't bother to get 5 inches from the glass to look for the speckled one.

That said, I became an expert at recognizing test products I didn't like.

Absolutely bad faith, but probably not illegal. As you note, in the stores, they all but scream at you "new flavor, try me," but that biases the selection to those who want a new experience; the vending machine almost switcheroo provides a more neutral sample set of testers (obtained in a sleazy way).

I've worked on and off in Corporate America for a long time and have seem the inside of these decisions: I've seen some very honorable behavior around all of this stuff - when it's done honorably, we don't complain so it tends not to get the attention - and have seen all the sleazy stuff we talk about here. I will go to my grave arguing that honorable is not only better because, well, it's honorable and allows everyone involved to feel good about their work, but I also believe it builds good faith and better loyalty from your customers which, ultimately, feeds the bottom line.

But as in every organization - companies, charities, government agencies (I've been involved in all) - some subset will always look for shortcuts and other tricks to succeed and they'll have some "justification" for doing it their way and, at times, the power to drive the decision. The, IMHO, impossible-to-solve challenge is not how to implement good policy - I've seen it done and seen it work - but how to sustain it over the years.