Posted on 01/19/2018 7:47:16 AM PST by Salvation
We all have certain phrases that annoy us; oddities creep into the language that invite comment or could use correction. To that end, I propose below a list of ten annoying and/or misused words and expressions.
Please accept this list in the humorous vein in which it is intended. I am playing the role of an irritated curmudgeon, but it’s just my shtick. Have some fun with me as I complain and then feel free to add to my list.
So, can we talk? He’s my list of annoyances.
1. “With all due respect …” – This phrase is typically followed by something that isn’t going to respect the recipient at all! When you open an e-mail and it begins, “With all due respect, Mr. Jones, …,” don’t you just wince at what you just know is coming? In a way, the expression is a form of lip service. It’s a way of saying, “I want to dispense with that silly tradition of having to accord you a modicum of respect and get on to what’s really on my mind, namely, that you’re wrong and probably clueless as well.”
2. Decimate – Today the word has come to mean “to destroy completely.” For example, “Our culture has been decimated by no-fault divorce.” The original meaning, to reduce something by a tenth, has been relegated to a secondary definition in many dictionaries. The word came from the Roman practice in which, after conquering a town that was guilty of some sort of uprising, the Romans would line up all the men of that town in the public square, and kill every tenth one. In effect, the message was, “This is what you get if you mess with us. It’ll be worse next time.” Alas, trying to recover the original meaning of this word may be a lost cause at this point. It may be destined to go the way of other Latin-based words such as “manufacture,” the literal meaning of which is handmade (manu = hand, facere = to make). Today something referred to as manufactured is typically not handmade. There are other English words that seem to have reversed meanings. For example, we drive on parkways and park on driveways.
3. Service – There is a tendency today to take the noun “service” and turn it into a verb. It is common to hear someone say, “We service our clients.” or, “We serviced fifty people last month.” No! People are served, not serviced. Perhaps you may speak of a car as being serviced, but people are served. It’s hard to know where this manner of speaking came from, but I suspect it crept in from the world of prostitution, where prostitutes often speak of “servicing” their “Johns” (i.e. clients). We do not service people, we serve them; people are not serviced they are served.
4. Not unlike – This strange expression, in a way, cancels itself out as a double negative. For example, someone may say, “This car is not unlike that one.” If you put a few of those sorts of expressions into a sentence, trying to figure out exactly what the sentence means can make your head explode. In fact, it strains the meaning of the word “sentence,” which refers to a string of words that makes sense. Unless the person misspoke, this seems to just be a fancy way of saying, “This car is like that one.” Try to avoid making heads explode by not using the expression, “not unlike.”
5. Proactive – This is another strange word that has crept into our vocabulary. How is “proactive” different from active? One might argue that there’s a temporal dimension here: one who is “proactive” is one who is ahead of his time. To be honest, I’m not sure what is meant when someone is called “a proactive person.” I think it is a compliment, in that the person is “ahead of the curve” or something, but it’s just not all that clear to me — but maybe I’m just being reactive.
6. Utilize – Why not just say “use”? This oddity seems to be waning in usage, and not a moment too soon as far as I’m concerned. I live for the day when we no longer use “utilize” things.
7. Intellectually dishonest – How is being “intellectually dishonest” different from being just plain dishonest? Is not honesty or dishonesty rooted in the intellect and manifested in speech? I’ve never heard other qualifiers attached; I haven’t heard of physical dishonesty or verbal dishonesty. “You’re being intellectually dishonest” seems to me to be just a highfalutin’ way of saying “You’re being dishonest.”
8. Dialogue – Why not just say “discussion”? Instead of saying, “I’m having a dialogue with him,” why not just say, “I’m having a discussion with him”? An even more egregious abuse of this word is to “verbify” it: “Let’s dialogue about this problem.” Why not just say, “Let’s discuss this problem?” Even worse is “We’re dialoguing about this issue” instead of “We’re discussing this issue.” Turning nouns into verbs or verb forms generally produces strange results. To quote a classic line from Calvin and Hobbes, “Your verbing is weirding me out.” So, let’s talk; let’s have a discussion, but let’s limit our usage of the noun “dialogue” and certainly avoid using it as a verb or using the strange construction “dialoguing.”
9. Using “so” as an interjection – I have seen this most often in academic settings. Typically, the word “so” tends to be placed at the beginning of the answer to a question. For example, “What do the data show in relation to this problem?” The response might be, “So … the data seem to indicate that things are going to get worse.” (People sometimes use an interjection as a delaying tactic while feverishly formulating an answer in their head, but that’s not the usage to which I’m objecting.) In this case, though, I’m suspicious that it is emblematic of the relativistic climate that pervades today’s academic settings. The interjection “So …,” expressed gently and slowly, seems rather more designed to make the person seem thoughtful and somehow not arrogantly certain of what he is about to say. So … I don’t want to come off is too nasty, but would you please stop saying “so” all the time?
10. “Are you suggesting …?” – This is a preamble to a question and is often used by members of the mainstream media to indicate incredulity at an outlandish statement or position. A reporter writing a piece on the Catholic Church might ask me, “Are you suggesting that people who don’t follow the teachings of the Church are in error?” There’s a part of me that wants to answer, “I’m not suggesting anything; I’m saying it outright!” Here, too, the relativistic climate rears its head. People don’t say things or claim things; they “suggest” them. Let me be clear: as one not heavily influenced by relativism, I can say that when I am asked a question, I state an answer. I do not “suggest” an answer—and neither should you, at least when it comes to faith or morals. Do not suggest the faith, say it. Say what you mean and mean what you say, but don’t say it mean.
OK, can we talk? This is my short list; what do you want to add?
How about “iconic?” Really sick of that one.
And “Hildabeast.”
It’s a pun on the word “wildebeest.” Unless it’s spelled “Hildebeest” it makes no sense.
“Reality is real, yes, but what you perceive is not necessarily reality.”
Reminds me of that awful movie, “Short Circuit.” Airhead mistakes robot for alien, and how does she react? “I knew you’d contact me.”
She alone among all of humanity is so special that aliens making contact with humanity would choose her for first contact.
God communicates with people. He reveals his existence to people fairly often. Nobody knows how often because people are often very reluctant to discuss it. Pearls before swine, and all that.
There are a lot of people who refuse to accept even the possibility of such a thing. Most of them have no grounds to reject this a priori except their conviction that if God hasn’t spoken to wonderful, intelligent, perceptive them, then He surely hasn’t spoken to anyone.
most normal non OCD people see the 2o at the beginning and that starts the centruy starting with that 2.
I hate corporate buzzwords and acronyms and the expectation every employee just knows them all! I had a supervisor give me an assignment to write a “Methodology” for our department (she had been given this assignment by her boss). “What is a ‘Methodology’?”, I asked. She said she didn’t know. “Can you tell me what it is supposed to accomplish?” No. “Can you point me to one someone else did for their department so I can have some kind of outline or idea to go by?” “You’ll have to ask around.”, was her response. Most worthless lazy supervisor I ever had!
Been there. I can see it. Here’s the methodology. That’s not a methodology. You said you didn’t know what a methodology is. i know but that’s not it. Very scott Adams.
I don't know, it's kind of humorous. I don't think the user of "prolly" actually believes probably is spelled that way. It's more of an affectation than a misspell. On the others I agree with you.
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34866
METHODOLOGY
Definition
Either a system of principles and procedures applied to a given study or discipline, or the underlying principles that govern a certain activity. Methodology is an essential part of the Christian religion, which not only teaches the faithful what they are to do to gain eternal life, but also tells them how and why they are to save their souls.
“Methodology” = process, I guess. Can’t they just say, “process”? They think it sounds more intelligent to go all bafflegab.
I’m convinced Scott Adams worked for the same company. ;o)
It turns out what the director wanted was what every other department was required to have that year (we’re talking the late to mid-80s) - as mandated by the TOP boss. So, yes, it was basically a “process” but one that was standardized across the company - meaning it followed a basic outline visually - but then specialized down to the individual divisions and their responsibilities. Trouble was, everyone was still working on theirs and few had been finished to be held up as the methodology for a standard Methodology. :o)
It’s not really OCD, although I do have that “disorder.”
It’s a desire to have things be clear, for people to conceptualize things the way they really are.
My mother always wanted her daughters to be teachers, and none of us were, but I do it sometimes outside the classroom. I hope she approves.
I’m surprised that no one mentioned ending a sentence with a preposition.
What are you looking for?
What was he thinking of?
“I’m surprised that no one mentioned ending a sentence with a preposition.
What are you looking for?
What was he thinking of?”
When we first moved to
(in Bill Murry’s voice from Ghostbusters II)
Southern California’s beautiful San Fernando Valley,
our new friends would say something like the following...
“Clean up your room already.”
When speaking to their sister.
Ending a sentence with “already” sounded so funny.
We were from Texas.
Word.
Empower women is really giving external power to something that should be internal.
Right. Which is why the vagina hats are worn on the head. To get that external power.
This book I am annotating (published in 1977) says ending a sentence with a preposition is OK. I mostly disagree with him about things that he says are NOT OK, because the language has moved on since then. Even in the last few years, I have had to give way on lots of language issues.
I think of ending a statement with “already” as a New York City thing. It’s kind of short for “Okay, okay. You convinced me already.”
Southern California has a few ex-New Yorkers, I’m sure.
Once heard an actor (can’t remember who or what play) use it incorrectly on purpose, putting it in the wrong place in the sentence. The way he said it showed he was trying to copy someone but not quite getting it right. Nobody laughed but me. Mostly tourists, I guess.
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