Bad English 101: Hackneyed Phrases (1 Viewer)

[Jon_Are]

I attended a conference a few years back in which the speaker continually made reference to a sea change coming in our profession. Each time she said it, she made this dramatic wavy motion with her arm. It became such a joke, my co-workers and I refer to sea changes - always with the wavy-arm motion - to this day.
touch base, already mentioned, has long been an annoyance to me. As has 24/7 and been there, done that.
Here is my entry: when someone, usually a sportscaster, refers to a single person in the plural. Example: "Ya got yer Kalines, ya got yer Mantles, then ya got yer DiMaggios."
Jon

 

[BrianW]

In addition to not having a clue about the use of the subjunctive mood (I’m the Subjunctive Mood Lone Ranger), most journalists I read/hear don’t have a clue about the use of infinitives. Everybody says “try and” do this and be “sure and” do that. It seems that nobody ever tries to do anything anymore.
If I was a journalist, I’d try and do a lot better.
(Ugh! It hurt just to write that last sentence.)
-------------------------------------------------------
Does anybody here remember "No Fake"? No? Well, then, that makes me the oldest, doesn't it?

 

[Carl Miller]

Isn't it "sea of change?"

Chad, a linguistics enthusiast I know says that the sea change phrase comes from "sea of change".

While we're at it:

Athletes, and anyone else referring to themselves in the 3rd person drives me nuts. Carl doesn't like that. It makes Carl upset.

And finally, "thinking outside the box". I interviewed a guy for a promotion a month ago who said, when I asked him why I should promote him, "I can think outside the box".

I was so annoyed with this guy and his catchphrase answers , I actually asked him to jump back inside the box and give me a straight answer.

 

[Brian Perry]

If I was a journalist, I’d try and do a lot better.

You mean, if you were a journalist...
(See, that's why I hate subjunctives.)

 

[Christ Reynolds]

"Not!" (early nineties)

i think you forgot another word from the early 90's, and it works exactly like 'not'. i'll use it in context...

person 1 - "hey are you coming to my party this weekend?"

person 2 - "yeah i'll be there.....psych!"

hope you remember that one, it seems only a select age group remember it.

CJ

 

[David Von Pein]

What drives me nuts is "Hard work is key." "That is so key" "That's key to this" Off with the head...

I'm curious as to why this would get anybody's bowels in an uproar??
But, "Ya Know" or "Like" being uttered 168 times within a twenty-second conversation....now THAT'S cause to call for the hangman!!

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

What about "Dope"? How often must we hear that abomination before it goes away? It would be dope, yo!

Bruce

 

[Rob Tenniswood]

"Eh."

I'm Canadian...we say it a lot, eh?

Oh, and for you Yanks out there, 'hunh?'. Same deal...

 

[Michael Reuben]

The true and fantastic origin of the term "sea change". (And yes, "sea change" is correct.)
It's from Shakespeare. The Tempest, Act I, Scene II. Ariel sings to Prince Ferdinand about his father, who is believed to have drowned:

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange.

A "sea change" connotes not just change, but a total transformation from one state of being into another (as in the transformation of a drowned body into elements of the seascape). Like many catchphrases, its meaning has been worn down by overuse.
Here endeth the lesson.
M.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Leila:

If something--anything--has generated controversy yet turns out not to be worth the breath it takes to mention it, you're talking about a non-issue. In other words, this hypothetical situation appeared to some to be an issue, but it turns out not to have been an issue after all. There are appropriate uses of the phrase "non-issue." Perhaps the "Y2K" controversy can best be described as a non-issue. Western Civilization survived the clock turning over to two 0s and computers continued to function, but it sure seemed like an issue in the months building toward it. And it made for fun news copy.

JB

 

[BrianW]

You mean, if you were a journalist...

Don't tell me that's the only thing you found wrong with that sentence. I thought my expression of pain in writing that sentence would have been enough of a clue that I intentionally screwed up the two very things I was talking about.

But then, when I intentionally screw up a sentence, I guess I'm hoping for too much when I expect it to communicate effectively, even if only for humorous effect. Next time, I'll use a smiley!

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Michael Reuben wrote:

Not quite. It could well, but need not, be so. It is not valid to conclude that, because some phrase or expression is found in Shakespeare or some other famous literary source, that Shakespeare (or whoever) originated that expression. Shakespeare, too, actually had to inherit his language from somewhere, just like the rest of us. Ordinary everyday language is full of metaphors. Poets seize upon that fact and often make use of older ones for their art, as well inventing new ones. First written attestation is not to be confused with actual "invention", since, in olden days, by the time things got written down they probably had been around a good deal of time already.
Sea change is a compound noun (N+N) and I very much doubt that Shakespeare invented (or "coined") it. Sounds like a term of seaman's origin to me.
Thus, your statement may be true, but your conclusion is invalid.

 

[Adam Barratt]

Me head sore. Words big.

Adam

 

[Brian Perry]

Brian,
I did catch your intentional mistake on the second part of the sentence, but wasn't sure if you purposefully avoided the subjunctive in the first part. I had re-read the beginning part of your post, and since you said you had no idea how the subjunctive worked, I erroneously concluded that your non-use was actually a coincidence.
I should have known better!

 

[Michael Reuben]

Sea change is a compound noun (N+N) and I very much doubt that Shakespeare invented (or "coined") it. Sounds like a term of seaman's origin to me.

I'm sorry if you took my tongue-in-cheek title as a claim that Shakespeare "invented" the phrase. As with many of his phrases, it's almost impossible to know what was invention and what was creative borrowing. Nevertheless, I think there's general agreement that Shakespeare's use of the phrase is what put it into common parlance, as is true of so many catchphrases (e.g., "in my mind's eye").

M.

 

[Mike Broadman]

"You have to give 110%"

"We're really pushing the envelope / breaking new ground."

Misusing the word "literally" bugs me.
"He is literally the biggest jerk there is."
Really? You mean there are, in fact, no physically larger jerks in the whole world?

 

[Mitty]

I have the pleasure of working behind the scenes on a local sports news show, and you've insulted my talented and hard-working friends who appear in front of the camera.

You're right, my comments were unkind. Broadcasting is a difficult job. Believe me I know. However, I HATE, HATE, HATE that sports news shows have become such circus acts, in which the anchors bear more of a resemblance to jesters than journalists. Of course this is not the fault of the on-air personalities, but a conscious decision made by program executives believing that this is how sports fans want their news delivered. Maybe they do. I don't know. I just can't stomach it.

 

[Thik Nongyow]

"My two cents" is a hackneyed phrase I have problem with, especially on the Internet. Does one have to pay two cents to provide an opinion?

 

[Dome Vongvises]

You know there's something wrong with After Hours when the HTF runs out of things to complain about. Hackneyed Phrases? C'mon!!! You all can come up with something better than that. Complain about the weather, taxes, or tow trucks.

 

[Kenneth]

Although they can be good phrases in the right context I find these two are overused to the point of becoming annoying:

"make a paradigm shift"

"think outside the box"

Cheers,

Kenneth