"100 Words and Phrases that Ticked You Off in 2012"

[AuntShecky]

Courtesy of Richard Nordquist, my Language Maven (I was going to say "guru," but I haven't heard that term since '79!)

Some of the following words may last, others will mercifully fade away. Which ones irked the hell out of you? Any others not listed here?


http://grammar.about.com/b/2012/12/12/100-words-and-phrases-that-ticked-you-off-in-2012.htm

[Shevek]

- "Going off of" or "to go off of." I heard this way too often.

- "Swag," but not instead of "gift." I don't care when the word is used that way. I hate it when it's used to refer to something that's "cool" or stylish. Also "swagger" when it's used in the same way as "swag."

- "Utilize" makes me cringe.

- "The economy" or "the market," as if these things are self-operating agents. "The economy did this" or "the market is behaving poorly."

- "Society says" or, even worse, "society thinks" for the same reason as above.

- "That's just subjective."

- "Put it in quotes" referring to quotation marks.

- "Tax hike."

- "Awks" or even "awkward" as a universal descriptor for anything unpleasant.

- "I got some emails," as opposed to "I got email."

[Calidore]

Self-impressed memes/catchphrases used by people who 99.9% of the time aren't living up to their own hype.

"Yeah, I said it" after saying something not at all daring.

"See what I did there?" when it's very obvious what you did there. Also, its passive-aggressively boastful little brother "I see what you did there", which is invariably used not to mean "Hey, that was clever of you", but rather "See how clever I am spotting how clever you are?"

[Charles Darnay]

How is YOLO not on this list. I can't stand that.

Also, some of these seem strange. I have not come across a plethora of "amazing" (particularly out of context).

[Sancho]

So, I've been noticing that a lot of people will answer a TV news interviewer's question with, "So, blah blah blah..."

So, has anybody else noticed this?

[Shevek]

I once came across an editorial in my city newspaper that began with one sentence: "So." I didn't read the rest.

[qimissung]

Everything nowadays is "curated." Aaargh! I say, no it's not, not unless it's in a museum.

[cacian]

The word EPIC and PLEB. You would not hear the last of them.

[AuntShecky]

How is YOLO not on this list. I can't stand that.

Had to plug that one into the Google machine. A new one on me (Yours fooly must lead a sheltered life.)

"You only live once," huh? Tell that to Shirley MacLaine.



So, I've been noticing that a lot of people will answer a TV news interviewer's question with, "So, blah blah blah..."

So, has anybody else noticed this?

I noticed your use of "so." So--


"I see what you did there", which is invariably used not to mean "Hey, that was clever of you", but rather "See how clever I am spotting how clever you are?"

(Yours fooly's comment on the Nordquist webpage complains about "so" with a different, equally irritating use.)

I also agree with you on the "blah blah blah." It's not only a cliché, it's shows the speaker is too lazy to think up a concise way to summarize whatever it is he's talking about. Sometimes "blah blah blah" is an insult; I actually heard some so-called "news pundit" use the expression while quoting the person who happened to be sitting right in front of him!

A variation on "blah blah blah" originated from an episode of Seinfeld: "yada yada yada" ( not to be confused with Fred Flintstone's catch phrase.)

Maybe instead of "blah blah blah" we should just say, "and so and so and so."

[Paulclem]

Had to plug that one into the Google machine. A new one on me (Yours fooly must lead a sheltered life.)

"You only live once," huh? Tell that to Shirley MacLaine.



I noticed your use of "so." So--



(Yours fooly's comment on the Nordquist webpage complains about "so" with a different, equally irritating use.)

I also agree with you on the "blah blah blah." It's not only a cliché, it's shows the speaker is too lazy to think up a concise way to summarize whatever it is he's talking about. Sometimes "blah blah blah" is an insult; I actually heard some so-called "news pundit" use the expression while quoting the person who happened to be sitting right in front of him!

A variation on "blah blah blah" originated from an episode of Seinfeld: "yada yada yada" ( not to be confused with Fred Flintstone's catch phrase.)

Maybe instead of "blah blah blah" we should just say, "and so and so and so."

Do you use "so and so" as a polite insult? You can also emphasise it with "he's a right so and so". It used to be used a lot in the UK. I think I heard it in the North more.

[DocHeart]

HAIRCUT, when referring to writing off part of a debt.

[AuntShecky]

Yeah, besides "haircut," other financial catch phrases such as "kicking the can down the road," and "going over the fiscal cliff/curb/ bump." Speaking of the latter, I was waiting for somebody to make the gaffe, and yesterday I did hear it on TV: ". . .going over the physical cliff."

Speaking of which, yesterday I heard a "high-ranking official" (itself an irritating phrase) talk about "a 'Teutonic' shift in public opinion." Ach! Mein Gott!

Another phrase that gives me the shivers like the proverbial fingernail on the blackboard: "Is everybody on the same page?" The variant, "the same piece of music," is just as bad.

[Delta40]

Booyay. What the hell is that? Seems to be a new expression. 'I was doing so well, nailing everything as I went along and I thought, booyay! I'm going to get this promotion.'

I'm not sure but I think the term can be used both positively and negatively. 'I was doing so well, nailing everything as I went along and then booyay! My boss fired me.'

Anyway, it makes me cringe.

[MementoMori]

Surely 'hater' or 'hating' should be on the list. Terms used by terrible musicians/actors/celebrities to evade genuine criticism. Maybe they're pre 2012 words.

[qimissung]

Surely 'hater' or 'hating' should be on the list. Terms used by terrible musicians/actors/celebrities to evade genuine criticism. Maybe they're pre 2012 words.


hater.

[jajdude]

I have no idea where YOLO came from.
task instead of ask
functionality -- function
utilize -- use
it's and its (too late for that one)
proactive -- useless word


A bit unrelated maybe:

Guess another one that has kinda bothered me for years, and many other people I'm sure, is the use of "lucky" for someone who survived something awful. It's an old and common cliche in TV shows and movies, haven't really heard it much in real life. I was just reminded of this by a TV show about killers, where some guy describes a victim as "incredibly lucky" to have not died at the hands of her rapists and torturers, but to have been let go and able to live with that for many years to come. Lucky indeed.

[cacian]

''ménage a trois'' is an expression that ticked me off much earlier then that but I thought I will put it on anyway.
I find it interesting in an odd way.

[FenwickS]

The inconceivable amount of like's people can say in a sentence (in my language the equivalent is "ke'ilu" and it sounds just as bad).
When I catch myself saying it I just stop mid-sentence, and correct myself: "I apologize, it's not like, it actually is...), goddamit I'm in a freakin' bad mood and I feel like punching someone in the face.

[Paulclem]

One of our bosses likes the old corporate garbage, as do some others. A word I particularly disliked for some reason was "realia" which simply means real stuff you use in the lesson.

"Moving forward" was in an e-mail from the boss this week, and another one I don't like is "moveable feast" which means, (if anything at all), that you get different things depending upon conditions.

Having sid that I don't like these phrases, I have to add that I like it when they are used because I can go on about them in a variety of ways - grumpy, amused, cynical etc.

[qimissung]

Lol. Realia sounds particularly annoying. I don't think I'd like moveable feast either, but maybe because I'd want it to be used in a more poetic manner. I used to feel the same way about sea change-why are all these corporate types using it? It's not their word!

[tonywalt]

Green Jobs

[faithosaurus]

How is YOLO not on this list. I can't stand that.(particularly out of context).

I cannot stand YOLO. Just because some rapper used it in a song, it's all of the sudden the coolest thing ever.