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Any words or phrases that you can't stand?

(330 Posts)
Dinahmo Mon 10-Feb-20 18:05:23

An early phrase that I loathe is "can I get" but a more recent one is the word curate which is used in place of collect, or select etc. Recent examples:

The Guardian" the BBC's failure to curate some news event responsibly"

A description of someone's collection of china pig money boxes (once given away free) as being "carefully curated"

A delicatessen which provides "a perfectly curated picnic"

To my mind the misuse of the word devalues the work of museum and gallery curators.

f77ms Wed 12-Feb-20 09:25:34

People, including TV presenters, who say haitch instead of aitch. The worst one for me is "as a family". We ate as a family, we watched TV as a family...... It drives me bonkers.

Saxon17 Wed 12-Feb-20 09:54:15

And why does everyone start a sentence with ‘so’ now!! ?

sodapop Wed 12-Feb-20 12:18:53

"Its a bit unique" No - it's either unique or it isn't. There are not degrees of uniqueness.

Witzend Wed 12-Feb-20 14:13:21

‘Give your head a wobble.’ Ugh.

Beswitched Wed 12-Feb-20 15:45:00

People on programmes such as Location Location Location talking about the 'property' instead of 'the house'.

Happysexagenarian Wed 12-Feb-20 15:58:57

My pet hate is people beginning every sentence with 'So....'. I watched Pointless recently and every contestant did it several times.
Also MANY of the aforementioned language horrors.

soldiersailor Wed 12-Feb-20 16:31:35

The use of the word 'impact' instead of affect, which I assume must be because so many people these days don't understand the difference between affect or effect.
And I don't care for the the word 'ongoing'! Where on earth did THAT come from? I'm sure it didn't exist when I left school nearly 60 years ago when we used the simple word 'continuing'. I'd love to know how you might use it in the past tense... 'Onwent' perhaps??
I also strongly agree with the comments about starting a reply with 'So', regularly to be heard on BBC Radio 4 on the Today Programme, usually by the so-called 'woke' (aaaargh!!) bunch. A synonym of 'so' is 'therefore' which would sound very odd if they were obliged to use that instead.

fluttERBY123 Wed 12-Feb-20 16:36:05

Think of so as a bit like alors in French. One criterion, several criteria, likewise one phenomenon, several phenomena. I started making list of people on tv who should have known and didn't but got bored. The shop opens at 12 am, pm? That's midnight either way. It probably opens at 12 noon.

sodapop Wed 12-Feb-20 16:36:50

Not heard that one Witzend what does it mean ?

Hutcho Wed 12-Feb-20 17:04:52

'hotting up'
'try and' instead of 'try to'
bespoke - usually used to justify high prices
likeminded
the overuse of 'amazing'

GrammaH Wed 12-Feb-20 17:37:43

"I'm on it"
The word "snug" when used to describe a small sitting room
"It is what it is"
"Back in the day"
"Can I get"
"Hubby/hubster"
"Wifey/little woman/The wife"
And plenty more!!

rosenoir Wed 12-Feb-20 17:48:17

Abbreviations on here,have you really not got time to type the whole word!

Strikethrough, either say it or dont.

Wheniwasyourage Wed 12-Feb-20 17:52:33

Five-year anniversary - no it isn't, it's the fifth anniversary.

Even worse is the five month anniversary!!!

I like the abbreviations on GN, and I think that the strikethrough can be funny. So there.

Wheniwasyourage Wed 12-Feb-20 17:57:09

Suck it up, which I find a disgusting expression.

ananimous Wed 12-Feb-20 18:43:07

Gee tough crowd...

wink

Hate the term "ankle-biters"

Callistemon Wed 12-Feb-20 18:58:54

What's wrong with that?
Having had my ankles bitten by a friend's small dog with needle sharp teeth wasn't pleasant but it seems a good description.

Winniewit Wed 12-Feb-20 20:20:12

Very much so
Mindset
Hubster
Gobsmacked

Alishka Wed 12-Feb-20 20:54:55

Currently it"s 'kids'
And every time I hear it I remember our elocution teacher telling us that a kid is a baby goatgrin
Mind you, she also disapproved of the word 'bus' instead of 'omnibus'
Yes, I'm really that oldgringringrin

CocoPops Thu 13-Feb-20 06:00:09

"I feel your pain".

GrammaH Thu 13-Feb-20 08:39:25

I was reminded of another pet hate as I skimmed my newsfeed this morning.."rocked" as in "she rocked a pink flowered mini dress". What on earth does that actually mean??

Nanny27 Thu 13-Feb-20 10:58:23

Every time we have a thread like this, which I love btw, I post that mischievous pronounced"mischeeveous" sounds dreadful to me. I don't think anyone on GN has ever agreed or disagreed so must I assume I'm on my own with this one?

Grammaretto Thu 13-Feb-20 11:07:42

I'm sure you have already had this but yesterday a woman serving me in a tea shop said "no worries" as she took my order.
I actually queried what the worries might be, but got no reply. It must be an automatic response. She was pre-programmed.

winterwhite Thu 13-Feb-20 11:35:35

Come back on here - fascinating thread - and find I've been challenged over 'discombobulated' (you're welcome!)

But what does fur baby mean?

And what's so very wrong with 'hun' and 'babe'?? confused Hun isn't meant to be written down of course but I think I use it quite often, say in a vague way to DH or one of the children. And DH similarly says 'babe' to me. I hadn't realised they were so frowned on. Perhaps time to pull up our conversations socks. grin

SisterAct Thu 13-Feb-20 11:52:04

At this moment in time !
It’s at this moment or at this time

Dinahmo Thu 13-Feb-20 11:53:43

As well as "rocked" - nailed it and smashed it - as so often heard on the Voice and other "talent" shows.