A while back we talked about BS Bingo. We are talking about nomenclature that drives us crazy in another thread. What are some of the new banalities that just absolutely drive you up a wall?

My favorite, (or is that least favorite:confused: ) are:

"It's all good." Oh, come on. If it was all good, you wouldn't be talking about it!

"It's a beautiful thing." It might be, but this phrase is SO overused that it makes me want to upchuck.

And my personal pet peeve phrase...."It is what it is" Well, if it was something else, we wouldn't be having this little discussion, would we?

I get a kick out of clichés that are based on stale metaphors, such as "toe the line." You'll often see this written as "tow the line," which is evidence that the person writing it isn't thinking about what he's writing. A similar construction is one a former coworker of mine used often: "Powers to be" rather than "Powers that be."

I get a kick out of clichés that are based on stale metaphors, such as "toe the line." You'll often see this written as "tow the line," which is evidence that the person writing it isn't thinking about what he's writing. A similar construction is one a former coworker of mine used often: "Powers to be" rather than "Powers that be."

Good ones, Jim! :agree1:

I also have a pet peeve with misspelled words. Can't stand to see them!

Jim, it gives me a visual of some poor little "ziggy"-like character with a huge tow-line over one shoulder eternally marching off into the distance.:)

Someone I know always says "I'm just talking out loud." when he means "thinking" out loud. It doesn't annoy me at all - it just makes me giggle.:D

I have two that popped into my mind.

1- "It's common sense". Well if its so common then how come more people don't have it.

2- "He/She's Good People" Need I say more...:rolleyes:

We have a hearing impaired person here, he always catches someone on their way through to tell them that he needs to go to their area, and needs their assistance with whatever task he's got in mind. Without fail, they tell him "sure, I'd be happy to help you, just give me call when you are ready":bonk:

We have a hearing impaired person here, he always catches someone on their way through to tell them that he needs to go to their area, and needs their assistance with whatever task he's got in mind. Without fail, they tell him "sure, I'd be happy to help you, just give me call when you are ready":bonk:


:lmao: :bonk: :rolleyes: :applause: :thanx: That made my day!

These are not cliches, but these misused words set my teeth on edge.

Formally, when what is meant is formerly
and
Confirmation, when what is meant is conformation

I see this last set frequently, as I raise sheep in what I laughingly call my spare time. Folks are always talking about the "confirmation" of the sheep, making me wonder if they baptised the sheep also.

Gail

:lmao: :bonk: :rolleyes: :applause: :thanx: That made my day!

Oh, I have a ton of hearing impaired lines. It's a regular laugh riot. He reads lips, and will not sign. I know some ASL (american sign language) and sometimes when I get frustrated trying to talk to him I'll sign something. "I'm not listening" he replies. Or, if you are having a private conversation with his office mate, he'll chew you out for turning your back and standing between him and the other person. "How can I see what you are talking about if you turn your back? You are just so rude!"

Gail, you mean you don't take your sheep to confirmation class? So, I guess you don't believe in taking them to communion either? LOL!

"We do this for ISO"

Ranked the same as

"Craig, what does ISO say about_____" How about we figure out the best way to do it and to heck with ISO. I'll make it work. That's what I do.

And, the all time loser (drum roll please):

"ISO requires us to do it this way" When it is not even mentioned in the standard. And this by a "manager" who passes himself off as an ISO 9000expert.

Sheesh.

Good ones, Craig, I forgot all the "you are the ISO coordinator, how do we take care of this" moments!

Last time I took a lamb to church, she made an offering on the carpet :o

Gail

I absolutely cannot stand to hear my 14 year old and her friends describe something really cool as "pimpin'".

Here's one that I here on Television quite often. At the end of the show the host will say, "Until next time I'm (fill in host name)." I wonder who he/she is going to be after that???

James

"QC/QA is just overhead."


It's not really a cliche but I know several people who pronounce "faux pas" as "foopah". I want to correct them every time.

"QC/QA is just overhead."


It's not really a cliche but I know several people who pronounce "faux pas" as "foopah". I want to correct them every time.

Hey, well here in the south we call it "fox pass":notme:

Or, if you are having a private conversation with his office mate, he'll chew you out for turning your back and standing between him and the other person. "How can I see what you are talking about if you turn your back? You are just so rude!"

Hence "Private Conversation":frust:

Hey, well here in the south we call it "fox pass":notme:
<<choking on my coffee, trying to keep it from spraying out my nose>>

When someone is telling a story and throw in....
Yea he was telling me about his new car blah, blah, blah

Hey, well here in the south we call it "fox pass":notme:

Is it a faux pas to nosedive into the hors d'oevures?

or

Is it a fox pass to dive into the horse doors?

I love mixed metaphores unless someone else is saying them.:rolleyes:

Hey, well here in the south we call it "fox pass":notme:This, I suppose, is simultaneous with passing cocktails and "horse's doovers" and "can o' peas" snacks :tg:

Amusing thread :lol:

As you know, English is not my mother tounge, but I have noted that this strange phrase is in frequent use: "I resemble that remark". I do wonder in what way? I would resent being accused of resembling a remark... ;)

/Claes

Amusing thread :lol:

As you know, English is not my mother tounge, but I have noted that this strange phrase is in frequent use: "I resemble that remark". I do wonder in what way? I would resent being accused of resembling a remark... ;)

/ClaesI can see where this usage might give an ESL some reason to pause.

A speaker using this phrase is being ironic, sardonic, AND trying to defuse a tough situation by acknowledging some foregoing remarks by others have a kernel of truth and making himself a butt of the humor.

The original phrase, often delivered in a haughty tone, is,
"I resent that remark!"
intended to make others stop verbal attacks. Usually the effect is just the opposite, drawing more "slings and arrows.

By saying,
"I resemble that remark!"
the speaker hopes to calm a rowdy session by injecting self-directed humor. It cedes knowledge to the audience by assuming they recognize the jest is a lampoon of the haughty phrase and, as such, may be delivered in a haughty tone to inject more humor at the preposterous tone.

It's almost like saying "Uncle" to a bully to indicate surrender.

The English tongue certainly allows much more humor in the form of puns and other wordplay simply because it has a wider vocabulary than any single European or Asian language and, therefore, more opportunity.

I can see where this usage might give an ESL some reason to pause.It certainly threw me off when I first saw it, :confused: but the reason you describe soon became obvious.
The English tongue certainly allows much more humor in the form of puns and other wordplay simply because it has a wider vocabulary than any single European or Asian language and, therefore, more opportunity.Yes, there is a lot of fun to be had twisting a language around, and the English vocabulary is at least twice as large as my native Swedish.

/Claes

"Its not my job!!!"

Amusing thread :lol:

As you know, English is not my mother tounge, ...Not my language either, but I'm learning some of it here at the Cove. Believe me, I didn't know what the following meant before I read them here:

-Thanks for the heads up
-Jumping the gun and Shooting from the hips
-I've got your back on this one

possibly :topic:
Many of us non-English speakers have difficulties with spellings, pronounciations and construction of sentences.. More so if you start using phrases from French, German and other languages. I have heard the following:

O' reservoir
of wider Zen

and I am not even talking about ..
raison d'être
bourgeois or
rendezvous

'nuf said...buy for now!:)

Not my language either, but I'm learning some of it here at the Cove. Believe me, I didn't know what the following meant before I read them here:

-Thaks for the heads up
-Jumping the gun and Shooting from the hips
-I've got your back on this one

possibly :topic:
Many of us non-English speakers have difficulties with spellings, pronounciations and construction of sentences.. More so if you start using phrases from French, German and other languages. I have heard the following:

O' reservoir
of wider Zen

and I am not even talking about ..
raison d'être
bourgeois or
rendezvous

'nuf said...buy for now!:)Those darn Frogs!:lmao::lmao: It seems their whole "reason for being" is to make life difficult for us "average, middle-class people" who only want to arrange a "meeting."

Which is worse - trying to SPELL or trying to PRONOUNCE a French word? Some Brits adopt the word, but then create an "Anglicized" pronunciation.

I heard one on TV last night continually pronounce "valet" (a "gentleman's gentleman") as "VAL' ETT" to rhyme with "Bet" instead of "VAL AY'" (to rhyme with "May")

"buy for now" is NOT about "purchasing only for the present need" but simply a corrupted contraction of a blessing - "God be with ye, now [while we are apart]" sometimes seen as "Good-by for now." The usage was to avoid the seeming blasphemy of using the name of God.

Whilst discussing a problem supplier (that we were about to discard) with one of my German colleagues recently, I was advised "do not spend too much time inside a dead horse".

This is good advice.

Whilst discussing a problem supplier (that we were about to discard) with one of my German colleagues recently, I was advised "do not spend too much time inside a dead horse".

This is good advice.

That's an interesting image; I don't think I'd want to spend a lot of time inside a live horse either, though.

I was advised "do not spend too much time inside a dead horse".

This is good advice.

:lmao: :lmao: Good advice indeed.:D

Whilst discussing a problem supplier (that we were about to discard) with one of my German colleagues recently, I was advised "do not spend too much time inside a dead horse".

This is good advice.

I've spent a good share of my life on the outside of live horses, but thanks, I'll pass on this opportunity!

EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW

Not my language either, but I'm learning some of it here at the Cove. Believe me, I didn't know what the following meant before I read them here:

-Thanks for the heads up
-Jumping the gun and Shooting from the hips
-I've got your back on this one

possibly :topic:
Many of us non-English speakers have difficulties with spellings, pronounciations and construction of sentences.. More so if you start using phrases from French, German and other languages. I have heard the following:

O' reservoir
of wider Zen

and I am not even talking about ..
raison d'être
bourgeois or
rendezvous

'nuf said...buy for now!:)


I can understand your frustration.
The fact is that, as a language, English (particularly American English) is a terrible thief of a language. We steal terms from other languages, change pronunciation, change the meaning around, in general just do whatever we feel like with it. In all I suspect that it's part of the "melting pot" syndrome. Well that and the fact that we are a rather boastful and irreverent lot. But we have so many different folks with so many different languages, that it's impossible to prevent "cross pollination".

James

But we have so many different folks with so many different languages, that it's impossible to prevent "cross pollination".On the other hand: Why prevent it? You just provided a very accurate description on how languages evolve. Expressions that make us cringe today will be accepted as absolutely normal tomorrow...

/Claes

... in general just do whatever we feel like with it.
Yeah, like add "irregardless" to the dictionary just because it is so frequently mispronounced regardless :D of the fact that it is a double negative.

Yeah, like add "irregardless" to the dictionary just because it is so frequently mispronounced regardless :D of the fact that it is a double negative.

Another couple of interesting examples of the phenomenon are unravel, which means the same thing as ravel, and, in a different sense, inflammable, which means the same thing as flammable. (It's different because the prefix "in" doesn't have the same negative meaning as the "in" in invariable; it refers to something capable of becoming inflamed, in its sense of catching fire.)

What about "My name is xxx, and I approve this message".

Wouldn't you think that if they were starring in their own campaign commercial, they would approve it?

Yeah, like add "irregardless" to the dictionary just because it is so frequently mispronounced regardless :D of the fact that it is a double negative.

Cari, it is in the dictionary. See my post here:

http://elsmar.com/Forums/showpost.php?p=165250&postcount=22 :)

Cari, it is in the dictionary. See my post here:

http://elsmar.com/Forums/showpost.php?p=165250&postcount=22 :)


I think Cari is acknowledging that fact.

Cari, it is in the dictionary.

That was my point.:rolleyes:

I think Cari is acknowledging that fact.

You are most likely right.

Shooting from the hips
TeeHee - I can only imagine what you might have been thinking...:D

Irregardless if it's in the dictionary, it probably should not be used. :whip:

:lmao:

A hard row to hoe?
A hard road to hold?
A hard row to hold?

"One of the best movies of the year!"
"A must see!"

"A must see!"
That always makes me think "Or what?":tg: :lol:

How about when someone uses the phrase "Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout", when they see something that noone was talking about?
And then there's "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." What if it maims you or drives you completely insane? Or lesser ills, of course, but bad things that happen don't necessarily make you stronger.
Sorry - two pet peeves.:mad:

Well there are so many sayings that drive me nuts that I couldn't possibly note them all here..... Instead I will pass on a wonderful saying that I have used on many occasions here at work..."Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of the field in hope that the cow will back up to them.":lol:

Another couple of interesting examples of the phenomenon are unravel, which means the same thing as ravel, and, in a different sense, inflammable, which means the same thing as flammable. (It's different because the prefix "in" doesn't have the same negative meaning as the "in" in invariable; it refers to something capable of becoming inflamed, in its sense of catching fire.)

What about unthaw. If you unthaw something would it then be frozen?:confused:

Someone I know always says "I'm just talking out loud." when he means "thinking" out loud. It doesn't annoy me at all - it just makes me giggle.:D


Is he a supplier quality guy from a Tier 2 auto company? If so, we know the same guy.

I love 'yadda yadda yadda' - it means hopefully someone figured out they were talking too much and are ending the story.

Others I don't particularly like:

"MOM" from 3 rooms away
and...
"We are out of toilet paper!"

I guess it's not a cliche' which is the thread. But I hate when it's said.

While not exactly cliches, we have a manager who constantly come out with "oddities". Here are a few of my favorites:

"It's time to put a new car on the road"

"Perception is 90% of the law"

"I'm not going to blow sunshine" (Which makes me wonder, who is he going to blow?)

"We're building the wrong sh*t at the right time" (there's a right time to build sh*t?)

"I can only dance to one piece of music at a time. I can't do a bug and a jig at the same time"

"I'm just trying to go to bed with the person I was with yesterday" (???)

and my personal favorite:

"We're in f**king sh*tsville, people" (Ah, just another beautiful day in sh*tsville!)

It get me through meetings. :D

"I'm just trying to go to bed with the person I was with yesterday" (???)
Just wondering..... Is this usually a problem for him/her?:lmao:

A couple of expressions that drive me nuts:

"perception is reality". Not really. If perception was reality, we would not need the concept of perception.

"So and so is arguably the best golf player in the World" Does it mean that we could argue about it, or not?

Thesaurus
Adv.1.arguably - as can be shown by argument; "she is arguably the best"

how bout the blind leading the blind.
or I can't believe that you thought honesty was the correct approach to this.

Words of "wisdom" from my mother (otherwise known as "What was yelled :mad: at me and my 5 other siblings growing up....")

"Believe you me..." (This is one that I have never understood):bonk:
"Do as I say....not as I do" (Are we not supposed to lead by example?)
"Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about" (That usually stopped the waterworks!):mg:
"Clean your plate...there are starving kids in Africa" (If every kid in North America mailed their leftovers to third world countries we could solve world hunger)

Not cliche's but peeves, never-the-less.......

"Off of........." As in "this car is built off of the XXX platform". (it's a redundant 'of')

"Walla" - when what is meant is "Voila" the French for "Here it is" (well almost)!

"Your" instead of "You're" - you are

I could go on.......

Andy

While not exactly cliches, we have a manager who constantly come out with "oddities". Here are a few of my favorites:

"It's time to put a new car on the road"

"Perception is 90% of the law"

"I'm not going to blow sunshine" (Which makes me wonder, who is he going to blow?)

"We're building the wrong sh*t at the right time" (there's a right time to build sh*t?)

"I can only dance to one piece of music at a time. I can't do a bug and a jig at the same time"

"I'm just trying to go to bed with the person I was with yesterday" (???)

and my personal favorite:

"We're in f**king sh*tsville, people" (Ah, just another beautiful day in sh*tsville!)

It get me through meetings. :D

All I can say is ....:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

One I love is when you come up behind someone and startle them and they say, "Don't scare me like that". I will respond, "Sooo - How would you like me to scare you?":biglaugh:

James

"I'm just trying to go to bed with the person I was with yesterday" (???)
Just wondering..... Is this usually a problem for him/her?:lmao:

You know, I don't even know what this person is trying to say half the time. Thankfully no one else seems to either. It's "analogies gone wild" time. But they're so amusing, that I have started to keep a log.

My Grandma used to always say "Oh, for crying in a bucket!"

My Grandma used to always say "Oh, for crying in a bucket!"

My Dad used to say "Oh for crying out loud!" and "Yowzer" Which were probably one of those contextual things that made sense to people in his generation but makes no sense to later generations. Like: "Keep the faith, Baby" (or conversely, "Keep the baby, Faith) from my youth, and "Snap!" from my kids'.

We understand the overall meaning of the phrase, but don't understand it literally.

Ok this is not a cliche but it is a stupid thing that I say.

My parents have one daughter - me! Yet every time I ring them I will say "Hi Mum, it is Nette" Which other female is it going to be calling her Mum? Why do I have to tell her my name? :bonk:

I can understand your frustration.
The fact is that, as a language, English (particularly American English) is a terrible thief of a language. We steal terms from other languages, change pronunciation, change the meaning around, in general just do whatever we feel like with it. In all I suspect that it's part of the "melting pot" syndrome. Well that and the fact that we are a rather boastful and irreverent lot. Not so much a frustration, James. Nothing about American or any other English either...just a few new things I get to learn here.

But we have so many different folks with so many different languages, that it's impossible to prevent "cross pollination". On the other hand: Why prevent it? You just provided a very accurate description on how languages evolve. Expressions that make us cringe today will be accepted as absolutely normal tomorrow...Cross Pollination is right. That happens a lot here. For example, when I am speaking with a colleage, it is not uncommon for us to use three languages. At times, all three in a single sentence! We even use the English suffixes (like -fy or -able) with local language words to modify their meanings in a way similar to English. The results can sometimes be very funny. We even have our own Hinglish (Hindi + English) and a Bombay dialect that is a curious mixture of several languages, dialects and accents!!!

---
For those who are not Dilbert Newsletter (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/html/read_the_newsletter.html) subscribers, here is one sample from the 'INDUHVIDUAL QUOTES' that appeared in the May 2006 issue (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/html/newsletter63.html).

"…too many cooks in the broth."
"The short answer is 'Yes.' The long answer is 'No.'"
"You're barking up a dead tree."
"That's not his cup of cake."
"That raised a human cry."

TeeHee - I can only imagine what you might have been thinking...:DSsshhh! You know, you are most likely right. :)

Just thought I'd throw in another one, compliments of my "Daily Dilbert" desk calendar today...

The Pointy Haired Boss states, "Remember, if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes."

...now there's a graphic for you :bonk:

Not so much a frustration, James. Nothing about American or any other English either...just a few new things I get to learn here.

Cross Pollination is right. That happens a lot here. For example, when I am speaking with a colleage, it is not uncommon for us to use three languages. At times, all three in a single sentence! We even use the English suffixes (like -fy or -able) with local language words to modify their meanings in a way similar to English. The results can sometimes be very funny. We even have our own Hinglish (Hindi + English) and a Bombay dialect that is a curious mixture of several languages, dialects and accents!!!

---
For those who are not Dilbert Newsletter (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/html/read_the_newsletter.html) subscribers, here is one sample from the 'INDUHVIDUAL QUOTES' that appeared in the May 2006 issue (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/dnrc/html/newsletter63.html).

"…too many cooks in the broth."
"The short answer is 'Yes.' The long answer is 'No.'"
"You're barking up a dead tree."
"That's not his cup of cake."
"That raised a human cry."

Ssshhh! You know, you are most likely right.

Those are Great - Thanks :biglaugh:

Again not a cliche, but has anyone else heard some one say "That sounds like a good ideal !" ? Of course they mean idea!!I wish I could break them of that habit - That would be ideal!

Amusing thread :lol:

As you know, English is not my mother tounge, but I have noted that this strange phrase is in frequent use: "I resemble that remark". I do wonder in what way? I would resent being accused of resembling a remark... ;)

/Claes

The strange culture of "The Three Stoooges" may be a possible source for that phrase. The "Stooges" are a fertile source for many cliches used by their fan sub-culture (mainly men). "All you gotta do is pull the string":lmao:

While not exactly cliches, we have a manager who constantly come out with "oddities". Here are a few of my favorites:

"It's time to put a new car on the road"

"Perception is 90% of the law"

"I'm not going to blow sunshine" (Which makes me wonder, who is he going to blow?)

"We're building the wrong sh*t at the right time" (there's a right time to build sh*t?)

"I can only dance to one piece of music at a time. I can't do a bug and a jig at the same time"

"I'm just trying to go to bed with the person I was with yesterday" (???)

and my personal favorite:

"We're in f**king sh*tsville, people" (Ah, just another beautiful day in sh*tsville!)

It get me through meetings. :D

Rosie!!!
:lmao:

This one makes me want to slap people when they say it......

"I could care less".....

when they mean to say....

"I couldn't care less"

The first one defeats the statement itself. lol.

There's quite a difference between the two, don't ya think?

This one makes me want to slap people when they say it......

"I could care less".....

when they mean to say....

"I couldn't care less"

The first one defeats the statement itself. lol.

There's quite a difference between the two, don't ya think?

That always gives me a visualization of "I could care less, but just because it is you, I choose not to care less." "Maybe next time I will care less than I care right now." or "You want me to care less?, Ok, I care less, as a matter of fact, just for you I am now at the point where I couldn't care less, even if I wanted to care less." :bonk:

Cliches that drive you crazy. Enough said.:cool:

"Value added", I wonder if its on the BS bingo game?

This isn't really a cliche, just a horrible misuse of the English prepositional phrase. This one was started by professional football announcers that should know better. Probably it was Brent Mooseburger, I blame everything bad about sports announcers on him.

Here goes:
Announcer: "That's a fantastic 24 yard scramble by Troy Smith. He's across the 20 and it looks like a first down."
Brent: "Yes, the Buckeyes quarterback has racked up 120 yards rushing ON:mad: the day".

"ON THE DAY!!!" How does one rack, stack, pile up, have, posses or otherwise generate anything ON, IN, FOR, etc. a day. Or ON a week, or ON a season for that matter. Why do you feel the need to toss in a totally useless preposition?
ARRRGH!
Try this you useless ID-10-T "Yes, the Buckeyes quarterback has racked up 120 yards rushing TODAY." Please note that this sentence is blissfully preposition free! Never mind. I've turned the sound of and I'm listening to a Sammy Hagar CD while watching the game.

:whip: "work smarter not harder", what comes to mind is that most of the guys who say that actually push people to working overtime for non-value adding activities or just to simply impose their opinions, picture a graphic designer sitting at 9pm in his office with a color palette open in adobe photoshop and a pointy haired boss right behind him, asking him to change the color from off-white to caramel white instead because it looks smarter:whip: :frust:

"ISO is very important to us" and with that, they mean the ISO9001:2000 standard which they used, not the iso organization itself

"So will we get the ISO certificate now?" which is sometimes said jokingly but other times seriously following a training session or an audit, sometimes i'm asked "do you have it in your briefcase?":notme:

whenever an audit is performed, it drives me crazy when there's too much weight put on lunch, "when do you want to have lunch?" "where would you like to have lunch?" "one hour left then we go for lunch" "Let's wait for the manager so he'd come with us" "do you want to have lunch here as well tomorrow" ..........................for god's sake!!!!!!!!!!! it doesn't matter! .... and what really pisses me off, is when the lead auditor actually gives too much weight to it, which sometimes gives the impression to the client that, if they treat the auditors to a nice lunch everything will be ok!:mad:

:topic: Mirrorcrax, with regard to your signature, please see the attachment.:D