The Figure of Speech That You Dislike The Most

[King_Oni]

I hate when people use the phrase, "My Bad" in response to a mistake. Did we not all go to school to learn to speak, write and spell properly? I do not care if people do not speak eloquently, but at least use proper English.

But with this you expect everyone to be willing and interested in speaking proper English. The controversial term "ebonics" comes to mind as well as plenty of other forms of slang, not to mention region specific words (or even regional preferred words; Coke vs. Soda vs. Pop). To certain groups certain only certain forms of language are being perceived as "proper" English. And one can even argue how there's British English vs. American English and people might debate how proper English is the British variant.

Plenty of factors why someone doesn't use what you describe as proper English. Some might be nurture and external influence, some might be choice. And choice is a tough one; it's not like they can deport me from the country I'm born in for speaking a terrible derivative of my native language.

Though the best way to quit using "My bad" is to never apologize at all always blame someone else.

 

[dragonwolf]

I hate when people use the phrase, "My Bad" in response to a mistake. Did we not all go to school to learn to speak, write and spell properly? I do not care if people do not speak eloquently, but at least use proper English.

You think that's bad? My sister (and I assume her friends) uses the phrase "oh, just kidding" when she says something, but then it proves false or something changes. I.E. - Her: "We're doing X this afternoon." Me: "No, that's tomorrow afternoon. Today's only Friday." Her: "Oh, just kidding, we're doing Y today and X tomorrow."

I love her dearly, but I want to smack her every time she does it, because it bugs the crap out of me!

Another thing I hate is "irregardless." I even had an English teacher that would say that one!

 

[I am Matt]

You think that's bad? My sister (and I assume her friends) uses the phrase "oh, just kidding" when she says something, but then it proves false or something changes. I.E. - Her: "We're doing X this afternoon." Me: "No, that's tomorrow afternoon. Today's only Friday." Her: "Oh, just kidding, we're doing Y today and X tomorrow."

I love her dearly, but I want to smack her every time she does it, because it bugs the crap out of me!

Another thing I hate is "irregardless." I even had an English teacher that would say that one!

It's frustrating hearing people use an insult and follow up with just kidding. I have asked people why they have to say just kidding and I've gotten "I'm not mean" or "it's just what your say"/ "how you prove you're joking". I believe in that "there's some truth behind every just kidding" so the fact that insults come to mind must mean you weren't completely kidding.

 

[Tarragon]

To certain groups certain only certain forms of language are being perceived as "proper" English. And one can even argue how there's British English vs. American English and people might debate how proper English is the British variant.

I will take you to task on this one Oni!

English is a language spoken by the English, who live in (surprise surprise) England!

Now, America....


Well, North or South? Either way "American" is a term for many languages spoken by the indigenous population.

Indigenous languages of the Americas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, most people who currently live in what is now called "America" are all, by definition, immigrants. They speak English. Which is a language BROUGHT OVER to the continent when people from, surprise again, England came over!

Australians speak English, not Australian versions. Any mutation of the language is allowed because Australians have a proper sense of humour and I like Dame Edna!


(edit:- I was doing quite well until I got sidetracked by Australia I think! )[/QUOTE]

 

[KassieMac]

Often someone will say very unique. I heard a retired university professor say it today. Unique means one of a kind so very unique is redundant.

Probably the only thing that really bugs me is the use of the term "VIN number".

A VIN is a vehicle identification number. No need to say "number" twice.

Tautologies from the Greek "tauto" meaning the same and "logos" meaning "word".

CD-ROM disc, GPS system, HIV virus, RAM memory, SARS syndrome, PIN number

How about ATM machine?

ABS brakes? We could have an entire thread just on these!

Also, my doctor told me yesterday "you have TMJ" ... I wanted to say "Oh no, only one! I'm supposed to have two, right?"

 

[KassieMac]

You think that's bad? My sister (and I assume her friends) uses the phrase "oh, just kidding" when she says something, but then it proves false or something changes. I.E. - Her: "We're doing X this afternoon." Me: "No, that's tomorrow afternoon. Today's only Friday." Her: "Oh, just kidding, we're doing Y today and X tomorrow."

I love her dearly, but I want to smack her every time she does it, because it bugs the crap out of me!

Another thing I hate is "irregardless." I even had an English teacher that would say that one!

"Just kidding"? Umm, that's not a figure of speech, that's a half-assed excuse people use when they get caught in a blatant lie. And if you call them on their lousy excuse, they'll say you have no sense of humor. Umm, how was that funny?

And "irregardless" ... not a word, but if you break it down into its parts, it would mean "with regards to", just another case of people using the exact opposite of what they mean, and not even realizing it.

Tech FAQ: I know how to teach my spellchecker a word I know to be correct but it doesn't recognize ... so how do you teach the spellchecker that something IS NOT a word? It didn't ping on that one ... I've just lost my last bit of faith in humanity.

 

[dragonwolf]

"Just kidding"? Umm, that's not a figure of speech, that's a half-assed excuse people use when they get caught in a blatant lie. And if you call them on their lousy excuse, they'll say you have no sense of humor. Umm, how was that funny?

And "irregardless" ... not a word, but if you break it down into its parts, it would mean "with regards to", just another case of people using the exact opposite of what they mean, and not even realizing it.

Tech FAQ: I know how to teach my spellchecker a word I know to be correct but it doesn't recognize ... so how do you teach the spellchecker that something IS NOT a word? It didn't ping on that one ... I've just lost my last bit of faith in humanity.

She doesn't generally use it for actual lies, but rather for statements that happen to be incorrect, when she gets corrected. But yeah, it irks me to no end.

As for un-teaching a spell-checker -- spell checkers need dictionaries to check against. They're going to be huge, but if you really want to, you can find the file (exact location depends on the application and the operating system), find the word, and remove it. It may be easier said than done, though, as some applications put even things like that into files that editors can't open, but you can always try opening the file in Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (? I think that's the name; Mac).

 

[KassieMac]

But with this you expect everyone to be willing and interested in speaking proper English. The controversial term "ebonics" comes to mind as well as plenty of other forms of slang, not to mention region specific words (or even regional preferred words; Coke vs. Soda vs. Pop). To certain groups certain only certain forms of language are being perceived as "proper" English. And one can even argue how there's British English vs. American English and people might debate how proper English is the British variant.

Plenty of factors why someone doesn't use what you describe as proper English. Some might be nurture and external influence, some might be choice. And choice is a tough one; it's not like they can deport me from the country I'm born in for speaking a terrible derivative of my native language.

Though the best way to quit using "My bad" is to never apologize at all always blame someone else.

Ok, you just hit on two sore spots:
1) Pop, soda, soft drink, cola ... all fine. Coke is a brand. If you ask for Coke, you should get Coke. It drives me up a wall to ask for a Coke and they say "What kind?" ARGH! Which reminds me of ordering coffee in a drive-thru and asking for sugar packets (before I realized the evils of sugar) ... the girl tries to give me a handful of Sweet'n'Low! I just looked at her and carefully enunciated SU-GAR!! Ok, this tangent could go on for days ...

2) I confess, I do say 'my bad' in casual conversation. I know it's not proper English ... but don't they want us to learn their ways & try to fit in? Isn't that part of how we'll be 'cured'? But you're right ... not apologizing at all is the more common behavior in the world. I may go with that from now on (except here).

 

[KassieMac]

I will take you to task on this one Oni!

English is a language spoken by the English, who live in (surprise surprise) England!

Now, America....


Well, North or South? Either way "American" is a term for many languages spoken by the indigenous population.

Indigenous languages of the Americas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, most people who currently live in what is now called "America" are all, by definition, immigrants. They speak English. Which is a language BROUGHT OVER to the continent when people from, surprise again, England came over!

Australians speak English, not Australian versions. Any mutation of the language is allowed because Australians have a proper sense of humour and I like Dame Edna!


(edit:- I was doing quite well until I got sidetracked by Australia I think! )

[/QUOTE]

Love you to bits, but 'American' is not a language.

My sister: What's Mexican for coat? (trying to name her chinchilla, but that's another twisted story)
Me: 'Mexican' isn't a language.
Peruvian friend: Yes it is!!

And while my uncle teases me mercilessly for 'erbs, one of my cousins went on a rampage because he didn't understand how I pronounced 'pecan'. Blah blah blah "King's English" blah blah ... while he uses 'me' instead of 'my', adds an 'r' to the end of my name, and ... oh yeah, England doesn't have a king!

All in good fun, I'm a hopeless Anglophile!

 

[exactlyloved1]

It have never understood the phrase "in a pickle." I remember my second grade teacher introduced us to idioms the first time and asked us to tell her what we thought that meant. I raised my hand and asked how she was able to fit in a pickle. What does a pickle have to do with a problem? But now every time I see her I imagine her in a pickle costume.

 

[exactlyloved1]

I also think the greeting "hi how are u?" "Oh fine." Is a waste of time. If u don't really want to know how om doing u can still he polite by saying "hi have a good day! " if we are supposed to be honest to people and not lie, then y do we have lie in any social situation? Sorry for any typos, my phones autocorrect is bad and I can't fix it.

 

[King_Oni]

Love you to bits, but 'American' is not a language.

My sister: What's Mexican for coat? (trying to name her chinchilla, but that's another twisted story)
Me: 'Mexican' isn't a language.
Peruvian friend: Yes it is!!

And while my uncle teases me mercilessly for 'erbs, one of my cousins went on a rampage because he didn't understand how I pronounced 'pecan'. Blah blah blah "King's English" blah blah ... while he uses 'me' instead of 'my', adds an 'r' to the end of my name, and ... oh yeah, England doesn't have a king!

All in good fun, I'm a hopeless Anglophile!

As much as I agree that "american" is not an official language, then at best, it's a dialect, spoken by a vast majority on the globe. And thus it is often referred to as "American English". Whether that's official is a different issue all by itself. Fact is one can distinguish between Brits and Americans by their vernacular, while they're both speaking English (though I guess the same can be said about the folks down under)

Luckily I don't have to bother with either; I'm not a native English speaker, so I won't refer to my English as either British or American, lol.

Pop, soda, soft drink, cola ... all fine. Coke is a brand. If you ask for Coke, you should get Coke. It drives me up a wall to ask for a Coke and they say "What kind?" ARGH! Which reminds me of ordering coffee in a drive-thru and asking for sugar packets (before I realized the evils of sugar) ... the girl tries to give me a handful of Sweet'n'Low! I just looked at her and carefully enunciated SU-GAR!! Ok, this tangent could go on for days ...

So, apparently, and I just read that on wikipedia (so that it with a grain of salt; or sugar if you will); Coke actually actually used in (I'll assume) mainland Europe (where English isn't a native language in most countries, secondary at best) over soda or pop to refer to any fizzy softdrink.

I use them interchangeably; sometimes I'll use soda, sometimes coke, I think I've used pop once or twice. I do remember using pop once and people here had no clue what I was talking about.

 

[gonzerd]

And while my uncle teases me mercilessly for 'erbs, one of my cousins went on a rampage because he didn't understand how I pronounced 'pecan'. Blah blah blah "King's English" blah blah ... while he uses 'me' instead of 'my', adds an 'r' to the end of my name, and ... oh yeah, England doesn't have a king!

All in good fun, I'm a hopeless Anglophile! [/QUOTE]
The King's English was a book on English usage and grammar, published in 1906, when King Edward VII was wearing the funky furs.

The phrase itself is a lot older though. Here's some more: Shakespeare and "The King's English". Writing William used it in The Merry Wives of Windsor, written ca 1597 when Queen Elizabeth was playing around with Lord Blackadder, but the play itself is set in the time of King Henri IV.

The first recorded instance is in The Art of Rhetoric, by Thomas Wilson, published in 1553, the same year King Edward VI became Ex-King Edward VI and began pushing up the daisies.

"And I dare sweare this, if some of their mothers were aliue, thei were not able to tell what they say: and yet these fine English clerkes will say, they speake in their mother tongue, if a man should charge them for counterfeiting the Kings English."

PIN number, GPS system, etc... are examples of RAS syndrome.
And while I'm busy procrastinating I might as well make mention of Ed Byrne explaining the difference between metaphore and simile.

 

[IContainMultitudes]

It have never understood the phrase "in a pickle." I remember my second grade teacher introduced us to idioms the first time and asked us to tell her what we thought that meant. I raised my hand and asked how she was able to fit in a pickle. What does a pickle have to do with a problem? But now every time I see her I imagine her in a pickle costume.

It's a phrase originating from the 16th or 17th century that's become a bit confusing in contemporary English, it doesn't refer to a pickled cucumber but to the process of pickling (and possibly drunkeness):

Origin of the Phrase "In a Pickle" - Bon Appétit

If I had to pick a phrase that I have a bit of a peeve with, it would be "There are plenty of fish in the sea," many people live nowhere near the sea, and there are lots of fish in the sea that you probably don't want to catch (like, say, a poisonous fugu blowfish). Also, there's something a bit predatory about that saying that I'm not comfortable with.

 

[KassieMac]

As much as I agree that "american" is not an official language, then at best, it's a dialect, spoken by a vast majority on the globe. And thus it is often referred to as "American English". Whether that's official is a different issue all by itself. Fact is one can distinguish between Brits and Americans by their vernacular, while they're both speaking English (though I guess the same can be said about the folks down under)

Luckily I don't have to bother with either; I'm not a native English speaker, so I won't refer to my English as either British or American, lol.



So, apparently, and I just read that on wikipedia (so that it with a grain of salt; or sugar if you will); Coke actually actually used in (I'll assume) mainland Europe (where English isn't a native language in most countries, secondary at best) over soda or pop to refer to any fizzy softdrink.

I use them interchangeably; sometimes I'll use soda, sometimes coke, I think I've used pop once or twice. I do remember using pop once and people here had no clue what I was talking about.

Sorry, I was being pedantic, because there are so many languages spoken in the Americas … which is how I got on that tangent about speaking 'Mexican'. I agree about American English … it's a vernacular or a dialect … that's how my pedantic Aspie brain gets around arguing right & wrong with the Brits in my family. Now we just do it to have fun. That 'pecan' episode though, he was really angry … but it was a long time ago.

And it's true, a lot of people in the US also say Coke for any soft drink … it's just one of the things that irk me. 'Pop' or 'soda' are regional here, but I couldn't tell you what's said where … I just say specifically what I mean.

Once I was in a grocery store with friends, we were going to one house (not mine) to fix dinner & I offered to make cheesy garlic bread. In the store I asked if she had butter at home & she said yes. So we're all in the kitchen, each doing our own thing, but I couldn't find any butter. I asked her, she looked at me like I was stupid & handed me the Country Crock (o'****). Seriously? You said you had butter!! Don't hand me this plastic-nuclear-waste-won't-even-melt-under-the-broiler crap!! I couldn't say anything because she was dating a dear friend of mine, but I'm sure he got an earful later about what an idiot I am. Yeah, she puts that crap in her body & thinks it tastes good, but I'm the idiot! Ugh. </end rant>

Once when I worked in retail they started putting flags on our nametags to specify which languages we were fluent in … unless you only spoke English, then you didn't get any flags. So I was partially annoyed that they equated languages with countries (not a 1-to-1 correlation) & partially disappointed that I didn't get a flag … I started lobbying for the British & Australian flags! The first time I visited England I had to translate for my mother, and she used to live there!

 

[IContainMultitudes]

Re: the "Pop"/"Coke"/"Soda" thing (interesting how "Coke" is what it's called in nearly the whole American South, probably related to the Coca-Cola company being based in Atlanta):

The Pop vs. Soda Page

 

[dragonwolf]

Love you to bits, but 'American' is not a language.

My sister: What's Mexican for coat? (trying to name her chinchilla, but that's another twisted story)
Me: 'Mexican' isn't a language.
Peruvian friend: Yes it is!!

And while my uncle teases me mercilessly for 'erbs, one of my cousins went on a rampage because he didn't understand how I pronounced 'pecan'. Blah blah blah "King's English" blah blah ... while he uses 'me' instead of 'my', adds an 'r' to the end of my name, and ... oh yeah, England doesn't have a king!

All in good fun, I'm a hopeless Anglophile!

To be fair, like King_Oni pointed out, it is a dialect. Other languages are the same way, too. Some are so different from each other that one wonders if they are, in fact, speaking the same language. No joke, get an Australian going in their local vernacular and you can't help but wonder if they don't secretly have a second language and just claim English as a cover or something.

As a person from the Great Lakes region of the US, I'd still love to get a deep southerner, a Brit, and an Aussie in the same room, just to see how long we're actually able to understand each other. (For those not familiar with the dialects, go find videos of Drew Carey (Great Lakes accent), Jeff Foxworthy (deep south accent), Hugh Laurie (Brit), and Hugh Jackman (Aussie), and you'll get a tame version.)

Oh, and I avoid the pop/soda/Coke thing by just ordering iced tea or water.

 

[KassieMac]

Ok, for everyone slagging on me for saying American isn't a language, here's a quote from the post I was replying to:

Now, America....


Well, North or South? Either way "American" is a term for many languages spoken by the indigenous population.

Indigenous languages of the Americas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The reference is to the Americas … "North or South" … that includes a French dialect (in parts of Canada), many dialects of Spanish (in Mexico & South America), and Portuguese (in Brazil). The reference wasn't to 'American English', it was to 'American' … which isn't a language. Americans speak many varied dialects of many different languages.

I have no argument at all with 'American English', so please stop correcting me while you're repeating what I just said.

And dragonwolf, can we get a Scotsman, a Yankee, & a Canadian in that conversation? Too much fun!

 

[Tarragon]

I go away for a few hours and miss all the fun!!

 

[KassieMac]

I go away for a few hours and miss all the fun!!

Yeah, but nobody laughed at my jokes.

Glad you're back!