Banished Words for 2020

[AuntShecky]

Once a\again, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Here's the link:

https://www.lssu.edu/banished-words-list/

The top choice for banishment is "quid pro quo." Know why that's the term preferred over "tit for tat?" That's so we won't be confused with that other scandal of last year, if you catch my drift.

I'n glad "quid pro quo" was chosen. Same with "Ok, boomer." But hey, what's good for the goose is good for the gooses. Millennials, am I right? How about you,"snowflakes"?

As in the posting for last year, please feel free to post any words or phrases that you wish would be exiled. First and foremost, I'm opting for "first and foremost."

And despite my reprimands, folks still insist that there's no majority other than a "vast" one, and they won't make a move unless it's "moving forward."

[MANICHAEAN]

Hi Aunty

I’m worried that I’m sinking fast, in so far as I’m getting flashbacks of having contributed something similar before. But at the risk of repetition, my six pence worth, mainly based on trendy effusions from politicians and corporate career types is as follows:

To have skin in the game. (Latest by one of our UK contenders for the upcoming Labour leadership position.)

Not a team player.

Let us be quite clear about this.

I done nuthing.

It's all about perceptions (My ex-employer.)

U’mm ah. (Current PM whilst tousling blond locks.)

[AuntShecky]

I’m still wondering if there is some kind of law that requires all public discourse to include the phrase “going forward.” Yours fooly had begun noticing this ubiquitous phrase years ago. As long ago as 2017, a minor character in a Debi story (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?87757-Debi-Goes-to-MARS&p=1343565#post1343565) devised a drinking game in which he’d pop a cold one every time anyone uttered the noxious phrase.



More observations (not necessarily complaints):

“Waiting in, waiting on”

When finding oneself in a queue, he or she might say, “I’m waiting in line.” In certain regions of the Eastern USA, one might say “I’m waiting on line.”

Yet I’ve also heard the latter phrase in contexts of anticipation, when I would say, “waiting for.” Yet others might say, “We’re waiting on the check to arrive,” or “We’re waiting on the horses to be loaded into the gate.”

If that’s the case, how to differentiate the phrase in a retail or a dining situation? “The clerk is waiting on the other customers first.” Or “Who is waiting on Table Four?”

The phrase “I’ll take care of it” seems to have disappeared. Now it’s “I got this.” “I got your back.” Gee, that’s great. But what about the rest of me? And what do you plan on doing with it?

You may have noticed TV or movie dialogue in which one character offers another a drink or something. The reply is often “I’m good.” Whatever happened to “No, thank you”? Must have gone the way of “You’re welcome, ” which of course has been replaced with “No problem.”


http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?87757-Debi-Goes-to-MARS&p=1343565#post1343565

[AuntShecky]

The words in the following pairs do not share the same meaning and are thus not interchangeable:

further/farther

perimeter/parameter

reluctant/reticent

transpire/happen

incredible/incredulous

[Ecurb]

In "The Last Battle", as the characters romp into the "Real Narnia", they cry, "Further up and further in!" The literal meaning is that the characters should continue to race up the mountain, but I always suspected that C.S. Lewis (who was a literature professor, after all) used "further" instead of "farther" intentionally, to suggest the philosophical bent of the word.

My pet peeve is "comprise", which used to mean "include comprehensively". This would make "is comprised of" as idiotic as "is included of". However, a glance at a recent dictionary shows that this battle has already been lost, as, I'm afraid, have some of those for the words you mention. Dickens and Hawthorne (by the way) both used "transpire" to mean "happen" -- and I believe that battle has been lost as well. Unfortunately, many use the words "transpire", "comprise" or "parameter" in a laughably failed attempt to seem erudite.

My pet peeve about "incredible" is when people (including many politicians) use it to mean "excellent" --as in, "I've done an incredible job at improving the economy." Yes, sir, I do indeed fail to believe that your efforts have improved anything. Another battle that has been lost: "superlative" vs."superb".

[AuntShecky]

One more time:

It's "Between you and ME."

[AuntShecky]

It's "toe the line," not "tow."

Also, the expression is "one and the same," not "in."