Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Recent Comments:
Noisiest places in the world {Gadling}
Apr 17th 2011 4:15PM Atlanta airport-and inside more than out. City of Atlanta; Airport Authority and TSA PSAs are nonstop and overlapping, with long windups which trumpet 'no, WE are in charge here." Delta overcomplicates boarding with redundant and mostly unneeded announcements. Carts blare by. CNN thunders from tightly spaced tvs. Touts shout out. Pages pound the ears. Big brotherly bombast blasts from overhead. Often three announcements play at the same time, a cachophony of mostly needless noise which other airports do well without.
The Most Irritating Phrases in the English Language {Lemondrop}
Sep 23rd 2009 12:38AM Here are my top ten:
1. Worst-case scenario: "case" and "scenario" mean the same thing. Newspeakers add "scenario" because they love Latinate words with dipthongs and lots of extra syllables.
2. This particular [pick your noun]: "tic" is usually emphasized. "The" is more specific than "a", "this" is more specific than "the". "Particular" adds no specificity to "this", only four syllables and conceit.
3. "Not necessarily": Newspeakers love needless adverbs (simply, actually, absolutely, literally). This weasel word has quickly become almost as popular as the big five. At best it's five empty syllables; at worst, it adds ambiguity. I don't necessarily like this word...See?!
4. "Do have", "do have available": retailers have taught their employees to add the helping verb "do" before "have" at every turn, often with "available" thrown in for good measure. I always want to say, "I never said you don't."
5. "Every single": broadcast English loves intensifiers ("very first", "single greatest", "very latest"). This is an example of the intensified version rapidly replacing the plain English form as the most common use. Anyone young enough to have heard cable in the cradle will say "every single" instead of every--every single time!
6. "First-ever": Sportscasters love this new hyphenated phrase. For me it's their worst-ever invention. Unless qualified by an expression of time, "first" means "first." If you must emphasize it, then "ever" comes after the noun, like any other expression of time. You wouldn't say, my first-today shower, right?
7. "This past week": who started this and why is this wordier, vaguer phrase replacing "last week"? This construction may be clear and grammatical in Spanish, but in English it's confusing and contrived. Sometimes it means last week; others it seems to mean "in the part of this week that has passed". I heard it several times this past day and this past evening, and cringed.
8. "Going forward": this is D.C. speak that is catching on outside the Beltway. It's the verbal equivalent of pointing in the distance on camera--dynamic in intent, tiresome to the beholder.
9. "This particular individual" -- Come on!
10. The "A team": for some reason Newspeakers cannot resist replacing the old, plain English term with a longer (and often much longer) word, usually Latinate. If the multisyllabic monster starts with "a", all the better. Examples: "absolutely" (for "yes", and to pad adjectives); "additional" (for extra, more or further), "available" (for open, spare, vacant, here, usable, for sale, optional and many others), "ahead of" (for before), "as well as" (for "too" or "and", though it's original and literal meaning, "equally well", is quite different), "anticipate" (for foresee, expect); "actually" (for even, really); "area" (e.g., "forest area" instead of "forest"). These aren't so much phrases as words, but they are worth mentioning because they have come into the language so quickly, and are part of a trend toward a new Supersized English. Don't believe me? Then do a word search in the King James Bible (even the New Version) for "additional", "actually", "area", "as well" (as a replacement for "too"), "absolutely" and "available". You'll find plenty of timeless lessons, but none of these overwrought, overused words. So let your yes be yes, and remember that just as "less is more", "additional" is less.
