The "Annoying Phrase" Thread

[jamespowers]

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Three more annoying words/expressions:


"methinks"

"greetings and salutations"

"old sport"


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Methinks the man doth protest too much?

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I played at what I thought was a Halloween Party............

The phrase is now "Harvest Party" . It seemed so wrong. People were not dressed to harvest their crops they were dressed in costumes like vampires and witches....

I am waiting to have my Christmas play-list edited for the "Winter Solstice Party"..

 

[Viola]

I am waiting to have my Christmas play-list edited for the "Winter Solstice Party"..

You don't have Holiday/Winter Parties where you are?

 

[Dr Doran]

I am waiting to have my Christmas play-list edited for the "Winter Solstice Party"..

That phrase is big where I live.

I'm an atheist and even I hate it.

While we're on the "egregious dechristianization" topic ...

Another thing I don't much like is the replacement of BC and AD (I am an ancient historian after all) with BCE and CE, standing for "before the current era" and "current era."

Give me a break. Whether you think Christ was really a divine being or just an influential teacher, why bother forcing people to change BC and AD to something that just sounds funny and that you know won't ever really catch on?

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Yep. Changing the words doesn't change the meaning for those to whom such things have meaning. Keeping the original, authentic words doesn't force belief upon anyone who doesn't believe.
I hate word games.

(Except for the NYT crossword, which I don't hate. Except on Saturdays and sometimes Fridays.)

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

BC vs. BCE - what exactly defines the Current Era? Wait, you mean it's the same thing? [huh]

 

[Dr Doran]

BC vs. BCE - what exactly defines the Current Era? Wait, you mean it's the same thing? [huh]

Yep. The year formerly known as 371 BC (battle of Leuktra when the Spartans finally got their butts kicked but good by the Thebans) is the same year as 371 BCE.

The year formerly known as 14 AD (death of Augustus Caesar, accession of Tiberius) is the same year as 14 CE.

And the year formerly known as 2009 AD (first black US president) is the same year as 2009 CE.

The numbering system didn't change -- that would be too much of a hassle. (Besides, whomever you might wish to honor by renumbering ALL the years in his/her name might offend some future regime who declares him/her an enemy of the state, requiring a new stupid numbering system.)

They only changed (slightly) the names. But if you want to be a smartypants, you can always say "BCE? Doesn't that mean Before the Christian Era? And doesn't CE really mean Christian Era?"

What's next, renaming San Francisco to Francisco, San Diego to Diego, etc.? Reminds me of the Stalinist renaming of entire cities.

Again, I do not oppose the attempted rename of BC/AD to BCE/CE because I'm a Christian. I'm not. I oppose it because I think it's egregious and otiose. As well as silly.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Exactly. What you said.

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

what you all said.

I'm reasonably sure we could find something more productive to spend our time/money/effort on if we thought about it for 2 minutes. sheesh.

 

[Dr Doran]

OK, now that we all agree, how about other annoying phrases:

1.) "that's what SHE said." Used whenever someone says anything that can be (lamely) twisted by another person into a vaguely sexual innuendo or double-entendre. This can get really, really dumb, like if you say innocently at a restaurant something like "That's an awfully big [insert foodstuff name]" and then your (soon to be erstwhile) friend tries to sound smart and says "That's what SHE said" with a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge as though it's clever or funny.

2.) Or, how about "The Chinese word for crisis is ALSO the word for opportunity." Is this supposed to sound deep? Or is it supposed to compliment the Chinese for their curious, yet brilliant, take on existence? In any case, it's overused and lost long ago whatever cleverness value it once possessed. Boy do I hate hearing that. (funny thing is, in ancient Greek the word kairos can also mean both crisis and opportunity!)

 

[Widebrim]

That phrase is big where I live.

I'm an atheist and even I hate it.

While we're on the "egregious dechristianization" topic ...

Another thing I don't much like is the replacement of BC and AD (I am an ancient historian after all) with BCE and CE, standing for "before the current era" and "current era."

Give me a break. Whether you think Christ was really a divine being or just an influential teacher, why bother forcing people to change BC and AD to something that just sounds funny and that you know won't ever really catch on?

Agreed. Jesus is arguably the most important/influential person in human history, even if one denies his divinity. And just why, does the "Current Era" happen to start at 1 CE? What happened then that supposedly transported us into another age, if not the birth of Jesus (although he was likely born c. 4-6 "BCE")? :eusa_doh:

 

[Dr Doran]

More annoying phrases/terms/guttural cries :



"Woo hoo!"


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That, accompanied by a fist pumping upward in the air is just ... intolerable.

 

[Widebrim]

OK, now that we all agree, how about other annoying phrases:

1.) "that's what SHE said." Used whenever someone says anything that can be (lamely) twisted by another person into a vaguely sexual innuendo or double-entendre. This can get really, really dumb, like if you say innocently at a restaurant something like "That's an awfully big [insert foodstuff name]" and then your (soon to be erstwhile) friend tries to sound smart and says "That's what SHE said" with a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge as though it's clever or funny.

Very coarse and offensive. (And it's probably NOT what she said!)

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Because 'you' don't agree with a particular viewpoint, what right do you have to demand the whole world change to suit you? We are all free (at least in the US, and at least in theory) to think and believe as we choose. Let others do the same thing.

And as for teeth-grindingly annoying phrases, how about 'oh no she dint' or however stupidly you would spell it? I suppose it's not as effective without the accompanying wobble head, but still annoying.

 

[Viola]

I use C.E. and I always have. The problem is mostly that A.D. means "Our Lord" not that people who use B.C.E. and C.E. don't know the numbering is the same and that it is still based off the Christian calender.

I don't see why anyone would get offended by C.E. it doesn't ask for any sort of conversion system like imperial/metric.

 

[Dr Doran]

I don't see why anyone would get offended by C.E. it doesn't ask for any sort of conversion system like imperial/metric.

Oh, I didn't mean it that way. Sorry. I am not at all OFFENDED by CE, only slightly annoyed, since it only gums up the works when it's hard enough to get people to care about history and to get them to understand what happened.

You have every right to use it, and some of my favorite people use it.

 

[Viola]

Fair enough, Doran. Yeah I don't know that it will ever get popular or anything. I don't really use it to convince other people to use it. I just use it myself and I saw it in "annoying" and I was like is it really THAT egregious?

I care a lot about history, if that helps! lol

 

[Widebrim]

More annoying phrases/terms/guttural cries :


"He's cool people."
"Jumped the shark."
"Right on!"
" 'Later."
"Woo hoo!"

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What the heck does "Jumped the shark" mean? I don't think that I've ever heard it explained (and I'm no "hick").

Now about, "He's cool people," that may have come over from the Spanish language, where "Es buena gente" (He/she is good people) is acceptable.

Don't be hard on "Right on!," Marc; it has that '60s/'70s Black Power background to it...and it evokes images of Pam Grier as Foxy Brown...

I must admit to having used "Later" with my friends from East L.A., but "Woo Hoo!" (with the arm extended vertically, as Doran pointed out) is intolerable. There is a teacher at my school who does it at almost every assembly (she is the obligatory leader of such events), and it drives me crazy...:eusa_doh:

Sorry for ranting.

 

[Tomasso]

You go girl!

 

[Dr Doran]

"Woo Hoo!" (with the arm extended vertically, as Doran pointed out) is intolerable. There is a teacher at my school who does it at almost every assembly (she is the obligatory leader of such events), and it drives me crazy...:eusa_doh:

Sorry for ranting.

Ranting is what we do best! We the Young Curmudgeons!