What’s wrong with ‘contacting’?

I'm not a fan at all. Sounds ridiculous.

I always start singing The Four Tops song, Reach Out, I'll be There

Which I'm doing right now

‘Take Care’ and Have a Good Evening’ .. Enjoy The Rest Of The Day are expressions that I hear every day now! It’s not sincere at all - just formulaic … or am I a grumpy Welsh Granny!

I tend to disagree with broken, Jaxie.

If you say your alarm clock is broken, I would assume it is not working at all. If you said it was inefficient or malfunctioning, I would assume it was still working but not well.

And I know there are many here that hate the use of passed away for dying, but it is common use here in Canada. I think the difference is dying is used for a sudden death, but passing away is used for a slower death. You would die in a car accident, but pass away with cancer. The use of 'died' is a bit more harsh, if you can see what I mean.

No, they don’t mean the same thing, Oldnproud.

Once again, OED is the source here.

Written examples for broken, when an object breaks into pieces, date from the 1400s. Chances are if something isn’t working it’s because a part has broken or worn out. Worn-out of material things: Injured, damaged, defaced by wear, usage, attrition, or exposure esp. to such a degree as to be no longer of use or service dates from the 1600s.

Malfunction is from the 1940s. The earliest written example cited is from an American book about automatic weapons.

Interestingly, OED only describes inefficient thus: Of a person: Not effecting or accomplishing something; deficient in the ability or industry required for what one has to do; not fully capable. In other words, it is not correct to use it to describe an inanimate object. The inefficency always derives from animate beings.

Suck and suck up to mean a parasite or toady, or their behaviour, can be found in the early Victorian dictionaries of slang compiled by both John S Farmer and John C Hotten and derives from the language of British public schools and universities. It is not an Americanism.

To suck it up meaning to to work up one's courage or resolve in order to persevere through discomfort or adversity is first cited in an 1967 American newspaper so that has come from America but has been in use for almost sixty years.

Jaxie

The expression “broken” of inanimate things. Malfunctioning, inefficient, better surely. Horrible Americanisms eg “sucking it up”. Beginning answers with “So”.

May I ask why you think them better, Jaxie?

Personally, I can't see anything wrong with used 'broken' for inanimate things that are not working or not working as they should, and to me the alternatives you prefer sound rather too formal for most everyday situations. In fact, do 'inefficient' and 'broken' even mean the same thing?

The expression “broken” of inanimate things. Malfunctioning, inefficient, better surely. Horrible Americanisms eg “sucking it up”. Beginning answers with “So”.

Nanny27

Ali08
I find it sad when people criticise the term ‘lost’ when someone is commiserating over a death. Lost doesn’t always mean mislaid. It can also mean to not have anymore. ‘ I’ve lost my mojo’. ‘ they lost their home’.

Surely the point of the spoken word is to ensure there is no misunderstanding in tne words you choose?

Recently, I left my OH in A and E waiting for a bed and went home.
In the morning, I rang the switch board to find out where he had landed.

Good morning I said chirpily, I have lost my husband. As in I don't know where he is.

I found myself rapidly transferred to the Bereavement Officer.

Usage expands, sometimes from a one specialised field to another, then into general business and everyday use.

Lomo123 mentioned cascade in a business context - cascade to your team.

Cascade is used in computing. The computer language behind a webpage is HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). It means to mark up text so that users can jump from one place on a page to another or from page to page.

We’re familiar with hyperactive to describe behaviour that is over-energetic - jumping around. As a medical term, hyperactivity dates back to the late 1800s. Mark up comes from printing and proof-reading. Terms from medicine and printing have been taken up by the computer industry.

CSS is programming language that sits alongside HTML. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. CSS separates the presentation style of a website from its content. One CSS file is written which describes layout, colours, fonts etc and this style cascades throughout all of the HTML pages of content to give the website a uniform look.

Shizam’s example swapping out (and swapping in) are also used in computing. They describe moving data from one memory storage area to another.

Swapping in and out are distinct from the swap function in programming which swaps one variable for another. Every time you write something and replace one letter or word with another you are using swap. Every time you save or retrieve a file you are swapping out or swapping in.

Swap out is also used to replace something no longer useful or valid for something that is.

In the military: Those men are tired; let's swap that unit out.

Royal Mail used swap out to describe the scheme where it exchanged old stamps for the new barcoded stamps.

On modifying unique, the OED has this to say:

Use in the comparative and superlative and with modification by words such as absolutely, fairly, quite, thoroughly, very, etc., has been criticized on the grounds that an adjective meaning ‘that is the only one of its kind’ should not be not gradable, but in many contexts this meaning is not readily distinguishable from the extended use.

1871 A thing so totally unique The great collectors would go far to seek.
B. Taylor, translation of Goethe’s Faust

1908 Toad Hall, said the Toad proudly, is an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence, very unique.
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

2015 Spotted nutcrackers are fairly unique, even among seed-caching birds, because they rely on the seeds from just one kind of tree.
Scientific American (U.K. edition)

Teaching at all levels , and in particular, students with a good grasp of english vocabulary, but not understanding the body language and the use of engish in a social manner I heard all sorts. Most of which I can tolerate, but the one that makes me cringe and grind my teeth is " Oh that is pretty unique" or " thats quite a unique place" etc. Either something is unique or it is not !! But new words can sometimes add to the language and as children are beginning to understand the grammar they often make "good" mistakes , where they apply the grammar they have learnt to something that does not follow the rulse. But you can have some lovely new words you could add to your language. My son aged about three said one day "Mummy that is my flavourite dinner!" Which we thought was lovely and still use to this day!

Caravansera - Those are interesting facts.

Urmstongran

I just think ‘reaching out’ sounds so supplicatory. It irritates me. Bit false as you say Casdon. I seem to be hearing it/reading it a lot recently. It’ll pass eventually I dare say!

I just had to look that up....new word for me!

Swearing is the worst though ....and it's so common

For BigBertha1, the "Can I Get" (sometimes "Can I Grab"?!) is an Americanism, yet another attack on English!

I recall when I first went to the States (80s I think) being utterly appalled with restaurant customers snapping "Give me a . . ." at waitresses, but it was (sadly) quite normal to them.

The same waitresses seemed quite stunned when a British voice used Please and Thank You!

The one I hate is touch base! Let's just get in touch.

‘Swap out’ instead of just ‘swap’ irritates me. But guess I’m just showing my age!

Milest0ne

I dislike the interchangeability of" can "and "may" "Can" is a physical ability but "may "is a legal permission. I have been known to explain that to walkers who want to walk through my garden because there is a footpath nearby.
Where does that horrible word WOKE come from? what does it mean?
The other word I dislike is gotten although I understand it is an old word,-- it sounds too american for my taste.--

One of my granny’s sayings when asked, ‘ Can I…..’, was ‘ You can, but you may not’.

Sixty odd years on, I still think of my teacher saying there was never a time to use ‘get’, and I’ve always found another word she would have allowed!

tictacnana

I’ll say it again … Starting the answer to a question with “ So” . What’s getting on my nerves lately is the number of people on tv unable to pronounce TH and replacing it with F or V . Consequently, we now get the WEVVER forecaster telling us that it will be raining in the NORF or that SOVERN areas will be cloudy. My step daughter does it. Despite having two degrees she talks about FINGS having been good or FINKING she’s like a pudding. 😱

That is one of my pet hates .tictacnana. along with firty free fousand pounds

I dislike the interchangeability of" can "and "may" "Can" is a physical ability but "may "is a legal permission. I have been known to explain that to walkers who want to walk through my garden because there is a footpath nearby.
Where does that horrible word WOKE come from? what does it mean?
The other word I dislike is gotten although I understand it is an old word,-- it sounds too american for my taste.--

I agree paddyann. I could cite almost every example given here and show, courtesy of the OED, its long roots in England, some words and expressions in use before Columbus and Vespucci even set foot in the Americas.

I think the Victorians have a lot to answer for in suppressing language in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England. Watch David Olusoga’s new series Union and see how the 1847 Blue Books describe the Welsh language as evil. Legions of children taught by rote to arbitrary Victorian standards of what was right and wrong as well as forced to abandon their native languages.

Just a few examples touching on previous posts.

loss: The being deprived by death, separation, or estrangement, of (a friend, relative, servant, or the like). Often contextually, the death (of a person regretted).

Earliest recorded use 1450 in J Myrc Instructions to Parish Priests. He was canon of Lillishall Abbey in Shropshire.

To pass as an alternative to die was used by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Tennyson.

In Henry VI Part 2, the Earl of Salisbury is with the King at the deathbed of Henry Beaufort, Cardinal and Bishop of Winchester. He says:

Disturb him not; let him pass peaceably.

Tennyson. In Memoriam A.H.H.

LX
He past; a soul of nobler tone:
My spirit loved and loves him yet,

Neither term comes from America. They were already here.

American spelling is to do with the work of 18C lexicographer Noah Webster of Merriam-Webster dictionary fame. He sought to simplify English spelling to make it easier for new settlers to learn e.g. by removing superfluous letters and French spellings. Politically, it marked America’s newly-won independence. It was also a means to stimulate America’s own print industry. Before independence, printed matter was largely imported from Britain.

I’ll say it again … Starting the answer to a question with “ So” . What’s getting on my nerves lately is the number of people on tv unable to pronounce TH and replacing it with F or V . Consequently, we now get the WEVVER forecaster telling us that it will be raining in the NORF or that SOVERN areas will be cloudy. My step daughter does it. Despite having two degrees she talks about FINGS having been good or FINKING she’s like a pudding. 😱

Another saying which is even worse is when a stranger says to you “see you later” when saying goodbye. No you never going to see me again so goodbye or bye would suffice

What really annoys me is when people start a sentence with 'Yeah, no'.
Ir is soooo irritating

Deedaa

If people aren't "reaching out" they're "opening up". Whatever happened to talking?

or confiding, which I assume is what people mean when they say they opened up about something.

Thank you all for "sharing" so much with us!

I once offered to help my American son-in-law "wash-up". He was actually going to "take a shower" not do the dishes. Someone bought me an American/English dictionary after that.

The evolution of the English Language, in my opinion demeans our language. However, I positively cringe when I read the term "reaching out" in business letters.