Words And Phrases That Bug You

why do politicians and journalists say what they say?

[lawman]

Is it possible for a politician or news analyst to speak without using the word "fundamental" or other form of the word? And why do they have to emphasize each syllable with special emphasis on the first one?

I've got a bunch more, but rather than post a long list, how about we limit ourselves to one or two per post.

[Mark_A]

Going forward..

[Rugles]

Yes, it is a similar varition of "on a go forward basis"

[Old_Honky]

There is a rhetorical question that I keep hearing that really drives me up the wall.
"How cool is that?"
There is an add on one of the satellite channels for an on-line gambling company which is currently a persistent offender. Do people really use that phrase? It sounds so pathetic. The only time I would ever use it would be if I was buying a refrigerator or freezer, or perhaps in relation to a weather forecast.

[Mark_A]

" To be honest "

[Matthew1980]

Hi all,

"Glass ceiling" seems to be making a come back, and "when all is said and done", "singing from the same hymn sheet" and "too many irons in the fire" are a few that come to mind.

>>" To be honest "

Yep, this one implies that up-until this point in the conversation the person has been less than truthful

Cheers,
MRb

[jsinger]

Space

"We're going to enter the ecommerce space."

Mercifully, that MBA-ism seems to be dying as fast as it came into use a decade ago.

[encyclo]

Lying Politicians And Words [youtube.com] :)

(I posted this link a couple of days ago but it subsequently disappeared, I think due to today's "server issue".)

[dibbern2]

"No problem" as in "Thank you for helping me." "No problem."

I always think "Who's talking about problems? All I said was a sincere thank you." This also occurs in response to apologies, as in "I'm sorry." "No problem."

Also, another vote for "at the end of the day."

[Matthew1980]

^^^
>>Also, another vote for "at the end of the day."

Makes me want to say "Sick as a parrot" whenever I hear that said on the TV, that seems to be the extent of a footballer/football managers vocabulary.

@encyclo, That video is excellent, I have watched some of the associated ones that were with it, and I must admit I had forgotten about him.

Cheers,
MRb

[ken_b]

Don't get me wrong, but make no mistake, to be honest, at the end of the day, it's no problem!

Having said that ... this could be fun!

[Rugles]

Another one I really hate and you hear it in sports usually.

"The Wayne Gretzky's of the world"
"The Tiger Woods of the world"
"The Beckhams of the world"

There is only on Tiger Woods, stop making it sound like their is more than one if you can only think of one.

[dibbern2]

Here's another one, strictly political I believe:

"Let me say this about that..."

AND
the idiotic referring to your arch opponent accross the aisle as "My good friend..." C'mon, they're not friends.

[lawman]

Isn't "good friend" congressional speak for "that asshat over there"?

[milosevic]

@rugles

"The Wayne Gretzky's of the world"
"The Tiger Woods of the world"
"The Beckhams of the world"

The other thing I don't like about this is that only two of those players really are/were a generational talent in their sport.

Beckham is a good player but he's not even the best player of his generation in England, let alone the world. He just happened to be fantastically good looking, get into male modelling, marry posh spice and be plastered over Hello magazine every month.

If he had an ugly face he would have just been a decent player that would be quickly forgotten about like Peter Beardsley or Chris Waddle.

Probably not considered better than for example Pierre Van Hooijdonk or Juninho Pernambucano, both contemporaries with better free kick scoring records.

[Rugles]

Beckham is a good player but he's not even the best player of his generation in England

Ya, I am not an expert in Football (or soccer as I call it) but I wanted a European example for my post. Considering a sizable chunk of the audience here at WebmasterWorld is European. He is the most famous so I used him as an example.

By the way, is that a phrase Europeans use? Or is it a dumb North American thing?

[Matthew1980]

@lawman: Isn't "good friend" congressional speak for "that asshat over there"?

At last an honest translation! In parliament they refer to each other as "The Right Honourable gentleman..." so I guess as that can also translate the same.

Cheers,
MRb

[SevenCubed]

"The Right Honourable gentleman..." -- lol, they use that prefix to a lambasting here in the Canadian parliament too.

[kaled]

"Right Honourable" is an official term of address for a member of the UK Privy Council. In Parliament, MPs traditionally refer to each other as "The Honourable Member for [constituency]". Similar rules and traditions probably exist around most of the planet.

I think it's a stretch to complain about traditional and official terms of address, etc. They might seem silly (or ironic) but if you stand back, traditions often look stupid. I think people here are complaining about stupid new words and phrases used by stupid people, often to try to appear intelligent. For instance...

In almost every instance, "leverage" [verb] can be replaced by "use". At some point in history, some idiot in an office meeting introduced "leverage" to his audience in order to try to appear clever. Like sheep, people followed.

Personally I also hate meaningless junk words such as "actively looking for a solution". I also hate made-up words such as "Proactive" and "Proactively". Again, people use these terms either because they are sheep or because they are trying to appear clever. Either way, the more someone uses these terms, the more stupid I think they are and I am usually right.

Kaled.

[jsinger]

Word of the week after the Giffords shooting: Civility.

My, how that is affecting the language. "Cross hairs" (except those on surveyor's transits LOL) and "Take aim" have fallen into disuse.

[engine]

Yet another vote for "At the end of the day"

I like the way the English langauge is easily adaptable to changing trends in words and phrases. Sometimes, those words and phrases get overused and out of hand.

The word "absolutely" is overused when the word "yes" or "yes, I agree." could be used. A long time back, I did go out with a very attractive and very posh girlfiend that used to say "absolutely" in conversations all the time she meant yes. It was a very strange feeling as I heard her speaking to other people. I decided to bring it to her attention, in the nicest possible way. She was such a nice person and took it very well, laughing at the idea of her repeating herself that way. She continued to overuse the term as she didn't realised she was saying it. She was out of my league, and the relationship ended not long after her "daddy" bought her a lovely new car and a trip to a ski resort that I couldn't afford to accompany her on.

I dislike the use of text speak in forums and blog comments. Use it on a phone when sending texts, by all means. Folks that type text speak should try and speak it out loud and they'd soon realise how stupid is sounds.

[Matthew1980]

>>I dislike the use of text speak in forums and blog comments. Use it on a phone when sending texts, by all means. Folks that type text speak should try and speak it out loud and they'd soon realise how stupid is sounds.

I only send texts in plain, punctuated, English, you would be surprised how many people don't like it as it "takes too long to read"!

@kaled:-

>>"Right Honourable" is an official term of address for a member of the UK Privy Council. In Parliament, MPs traditionally refer to each other as "The Honourable Member for [constituency]". Similar rules and traditions probably exist around most of the planet.

I am well aware of that, I was merely pointing to the fact that a lot of these 'so called' Rt. Hon. people are anything BUT honourable, only today on Sky news a lib Dem has been caught out. The expenses scandal is another 'case in point'.

"For the greater good" is one that has been banded around the table today - BSI/ISO meeting <YAWN>

Cheers,
MRb

[kaled]

"Gutted, I was absolutely gutted" (or worse still, "gu'ed" because so many people find difficulty pronouncing the letter T).

No one is ever "disappointed" these days.

Kaled.

[TypicalSurfer]

"real" and "really"

I watched a congressman last week who said he was going to have "real" committees. How about "it really works", "real science", "real change"...blah blah...it's like an admission of past fraud.

[milosevic]

Ya, I am not an expert in Football (or soccer as I call it) but I wanted a European example for my post. Considering a sizable chunk of the audience here at WebmasterWorld is European. He is the most famous so I used him as an example.

By the way, is that a phrase Europeans use? Or is it a dumb North American thing?

Don't worry, Beckham worship has been a phenomenon for years here, with generally only people who are mad into football challenging the idea that he's such a good player.

I think people do say phrases like this in the UK just like in the states.

Something that bugged me this week was "aligned" instead of "changed".

Eg "we have decided to align our contract by implementing a fair use policy"

[Matthew1980]

>>Gutted, I was absolutely gutted

I always end up thinking of fish when people say that to me, the other day I was told by someone that they were "gutted" as they were no longer on the same lunch break as me; I resisted the urge to correct and just replied "Oh well".

Ha, this is fast turning into a "grumpy old men" type of thread (TV show in the UK for those who are not aware of it)

Cheers,
MRb

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Due Diligence

...and its overuse.

"We must practice Due Diligence"

What happened to "check" or "investigate"?

[Shaddows]

"I'm not racist, but..."

To my British ears, the concept "unamerican" is becoming overused by US politicians, who aim it at anyone they disagree with.

Is it unamerican to impinge on First Amendment rights by criticising opinions as unamerican?

Apologies, Lawman, if I'm sailing a bit close to the wind

[kaled]

Risk assessment

If someone is so dumb that they can't figure out that, for example, walking on hot coals might cause injury, why are we to believe that filling in a form will suddenly increase the intelligence of said individual.

In the UK, "risk assessment" has become a disease and yet, I have seen no evidence of it saving lives and if common sense ends up being diminished (as seems likely) it will end up costing lives.

Risk assessment should be the domain of professionals in industries where is matters. For teachers organising school trips or office supervisors wondering whether to install a drinks machine, it's just plain dumb.

Kaled.

[kaled]

"I'm not racist, but..."

Everyone has prejudices - it might even make for an interesting thread in itself. I will happily admit to the following
1) Facial piercings - I don't even like pierced ears, especially in men.
2) Excessive tattoos - have you seen David Beckham lately?
3) (C)rap music. They talk about respect whilst disrespecting my ears!
4) Stupid people in positions of authority. Politicians are often well educated and good at speaking but are as thick as sh**. Also journalists that like to appear clever but are as dumb as the politicians they report on.

And despite the fact that I'm usually stubbly myself, I also hate beards and hypocrites!

Kaled.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

You're on a roll Kaled!

ON A ROLL? ;)