Phrases and terminology that needs to STOP! (1 Viewer)

[Paul McElligott]

I know what you mean. Makes me want to have a crappy day, just out of spite.

 

[Ravi K]

But if you have a crappy day you'll get satisfaction out of spiting them, thus you'll be happy, and then you've had a great day.

 

[Hunter P]

I hate when people pass you by and say "hi, how you doing?" and keep walking without waiting for your answer.:rolleyes

Just say, "hi," dammit. Don't pretend to care about my well being. I know you don't really care that my house is on fire, my dog committed suicide, I'm wanted by the FBI for a crime I didn't commit and I just got a paper cut this morning.:p)

 

[Kevin M]

One of the early definitions of the word "dude" that I found in an OLD dictionary from circa 1912 is a bull's ass hair....no joke. You'll not find that definition anywhere that I can find today but that is one of the definitions this old dictionary had.....so when you call a person a "dude"....

 

[Lynda-Marie]

Okay, okay, I'm sorry I upset the casual "dude" users on this thread!

I am talking about the extreme overuse that pops up from time to time. Sorry I did not make that clear. :b

Paul do you ever listen to George Carlin? He has a great routine about "Have a nice day," and variations thereof. He said that he wished that someone would say, "Have a crappy day!" That's easy. All you have to do is get up some mornings.

 

[Yee-Ming]

What's curious to me is that you are expected to say "fine", "great" or some other positive answer. Earlier on in my career, when I was still getting stressed out over work and the long hours, whenver anyone asked me this question (we don't use it much as a greeting around here), I'd always factually answer "terrible", "really tired", "sick of my job" or some such variant. So when someone I hadn't seen since college asked me the question, I truthfully answered "terrible" (or something similar), he seemed to take offence and responded "what kind of answer is that?" To which I thought to myself "the truth, or did you expect me to lie?" Can't remember how I actually responded to him though.

 

[RobertR]

But will it still be in use in a decade or two? I seriously doubt it.

It's interesting to me that "cool" has remained in use for so long.

 

[MarkHastings]

What about "Dudes" in reference to people on Dude Ranches? Is that a more recent term? According to Dictionary.com:Perhaps it won't be used as much as we use it today, but considering one of it's meanings isn't 'slang', I'd say it has the potential to have a longer life than most 'catch phrases'.

Party On!

 

[Henry Gale]

People tend to hang onto the language and hairstyle of their youth.
It's quaint, but, Peter Fonda and Ray Manzarek (Door's keyboards) still pepper their conversation with "Man".

 

[RobertR]

But the use of the word "dude" as in "Dude Ranch" is so uncommon in everyday conversation that I don't think it counts. That use simply isn't part of the popular lexicon. "Cool" seems to have survived for at least two generations.

 

[Citizen87645]

I had a couple friends in college taking a sociology class and one of their assignments was to respond to "how are you" with answers like "terrible" and then record the results. It was funny because they couldn't do it with a straight face, so the response was "awful" with a big grin. I don't know if they factored that into their recording of our reactions It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on (one friend would immediately scribble onto a pad of paper), but it was fun hanging out with them for the rest of the week and seeing how others responded. Most of the time it was a moment of awkward silence.

 

[MarkHastings]

I guess what I meant was, the word "Dude" has been used in other decades and in other fashions, so it's popularity may outlast (for instance) "Radical" which was only used for a short period of time.

 

[Tim Hoover]

Whenever some checkout person gives me the vacuous "Have a nice day" at the end of the transaction, I usually like to reply "No thanks, I have other plans."

 

[Kevin Hewell]

But "radical" has usages outside of slang as well so I'm not quite sure I get your point.

 

[MarkHastings]

:b Whoops! That was a bad choice of slang to use in that example...Let's try "Groovey".

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I think 'Groovey' has a history as well, indeed I remember reading about how in ancient times a knight fell from the sky to fight evil, he had with him a long stick that made a loud noise and this great warrior could be heard saying "Groovey".

"Groovey", according to legend, means brave warrior with loud stick.

Oh, wait, am I getting reality confused with fantasy again?

 

[Charles J P]

Especially when you know professionals and contractors buy shit that is 10 times more expensive than the nicest item in the store. Think about it, when you go into Best Buy and see their "Good, Better, Best" display and the "best" is some piece of crap gear that you wouldnt buy for your ex-mother-in-law. Same thing. Whenever I see some kind of statement like that (professional grade) I usually know enough to know its absolutely not.

Also, I find I'm most annoyed by words that ARE actually acceptable and used correctly, but then become so old that there is a huge backlash against them its like so much drama over a freaking word. Narmalcy is a good recent exemple. Sure its a word, and sure it was used right by the talking heads, but I heard normalcy 50 times a day during the months after 9/11 etc.

 

[BrianW]

Actually, the word normalcy is correct only because a US president used it publicly. Before that, it was considered incorrect usage. The correct usage was (and still is, to many sticklers) normality.

The rule here is that if a US president says it, even if it is incorrect usage, it goes into the dictionary. This has happened with several words, including nukular.

Luckily, when Clinton used the word suspicioned (as a verb, past tense, in place of suspected), dictionary publishers drew the line and refused to accommodate him.

 

[Paul Padilla]

OMG!!!

I couldn't believe my eyes and I did a search and found this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nukular

Nucular is an intentional misspelling of the word nuclear which is usually intended to express contempt or amusement towards the commonplace pronunciation of that word.

This pronunciation is especially common in the U.S. Southern states, and the pronunciation is a revealing cultural shibboleth.

It is disapproved of by some who consider it a mispronunciation, although the Merriam-Webster dictionary says: [1]

"Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in "culur" have been found in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, U.S. cabinet members, and at least one U.S. president and one vice president. While most common in the U.S., these pronunciations have also been heard from British and Canadian speakers."
Merriam-Webster receives enough questions about their inclusion of this pronunciation in the dictionary that it is one of two pronuncation which receive particular mention in their FAQ So enough people with enough acronymns at the end of their name f**k something up and all of a sudden, poof......it's a real word.

It reminds me of the episode of Just Shoot Me where Finch and Elliot replace Nina's word-a-day calendar with a gag calendar before she does a radio interview. The interviewer was so taken with Nina that he didn't really care. Or on the Simpsons when "imbiggins" is completely acceptable because Jebbediah Springfield said it. "It's a perfectly promulent word."

 

[MarkHastings]

I usually freak out when I see food items labeled (in big letters) with things like "NOW! Made with REAL Cheese!"

It scares me to think about what it USED to be made with - The sad part is, they are SO happy about using 'real' food items, that they have to display it on the label.

Like when Chris Rock talks about people (who have never been in jail) being proud of it..."You're not SUPPOSED to go to jail!"