Gransnet forums

Chat

Modern words that annoy you!

(180 Posts)
NanKate Sat 25-Jul-26 07:57:09

At the top of the hour, instead of say 12 o’clock or Noon.

monami Mon 27-Jul-26 13:49:27

Back in the day

HobbyCat Mon 27-Jul-26 13:48:16

MissAdventure

A pop of colour.

That (garment/makeup/jewellery) really makes your eyes pop, I hate it and I know what it means but it makes me think of eyeballs popping out of their sockets.

Estrellita Mon 27-Jul-26 13:44:39

Gotten is an Americanism or old English.

Oreo Sun 26-Jul-26 23:23:42

MissAdventure

Narcissist.

Oh definitely! Add to that…
Toxic
Fur babies
Rainbow bridge
Hubby

Retread Sun 26-Jul-26 18:27:32

Petra I didn't know that it's been around that long smile

I've recently heard it being used not in the original meaning e.g. Andy Burnham is a cosplaying politician who changes his outfits to suit.

Poppyred Sun 26-Jul-26 17:22:04

Beyond upset..Beyond heartbroken….How can you be beyond these things?? 🤔 Drives me potty!

Gran22boys Sun 26-Jul-26 17:14:53

InnocentBystander

"Zero" when applied to a non-numerical subject. For example - zero chance of something happening. No chance is better. Or "You have zero concern for my feelings!" "You don't care" is more concise.
'Zero' belongs in an arithmetical context such as "A million is a figure one followed by six zeros (noughts)."

Oh yes I agree. My son says this all the time and it really irritates me.

Romola Sun 26-Jul-26 17:10:31

I disagree about gotten. It was the normal past participle of the verb to get in England until mid C18. The Americans retained it and I rather like it. I find my bad and ick offensive but they're so common now.

petra Sun 26-Jul-26 16:41:49

Retread

Just realised it's modern annoying words. Here's one from me: cosplay.

Cosplay first came out in the late 1930s my youngest daughter has been going to Cosplay conventions for years.

Grammaretto Sun 26-Jul-26 16:37:28

I was going to say that Petra, about gotten.
Early Americans took it there and kept it while we turned it into got

That's according to Bill Bryson in his book
Mother Tongue

petra Sun 26-Jul-26 16:35:29

spottybook

Gotten

Like

Listen up

Upcoming (instead of forthcoming)

Gotten. 1500- 1600s

Like. Not a lot to say on that.

Listen up. Mid 20th century.

Upcoming. 1400s.

petra Sun 26-Jul-26 16:30:04

Tenko

Retread

"Picky bits" gives me the ick 😅 It's just food FGS.

So does "bric a brac". (Clutter!)

I volunteer in a charity shop and the bric a brac made me laugh . We have a large corner full of bric a brac. Maybe we should change to it to clutter🤔

In our charity shop we have another expression. But I won’t post what it is 😂

petra Sun 26-Jul-26 16:27:12

Magenta8

Gotten

Gotten is not a new word. It can be traced back to the 1500- 1600s.

paulow Sun 26-Jul-26 16:26:51

Rather than a modern word, it's the misuse of the word "of" It seems to be endemic that it is used instead of "have". I wonder if school teachers correct this when marking homework or will it end up as some weird evolution of our language?

InnocentBystander Sun 26-Jul-26 16:25:36

"Zero" when applied to a non-numerical subject. For example - zero chance of something happening. No chance is better. Or "You have zero concern for my feelings!" "You don't care" is more concise.
'Zero' belongs in an arithmetical context such as "A million is a figure one followed by six zeros (noughts)."

specki4eyes Sun 26-Jul-26 16:16:49

"I'm not going to lie"....I just want to respond, "why, do you usually?"
Bored of.
Could of.
And the so called esteemed Sky journalist Sophie Ridge actually said, on air, "he wasn't gonnoo", (translation: he wasn't going to.

NittWitt Sun 26-Jul-26 16:00:09

Exactly jenpax. There are high schools but the term 'high school' doesn't cover all secondary schools.

I can't stand 'comfortable' as in 'I'm comfortable with doing that.'
It gives the impression of someone lounging about and only interested in what suits them.

ViceVersa Sun 26-Jul-26 14:54:37

jenpax

ViceVersa

High school is NOT an Americanism. We've had high schools here in Scotland for decades.

Don’t think anybody was suggesting that high school was an Americanism high schools are a type of secondary school but the generic term for the school after primary is secondary school

Sorry, the last part of your post suggested that all the terms you'd cited were Americanisms.

MissAdventure Sun 26-Jul-26 14:36:03

Narcissist.

jenpax Sun 26-Jul-26 14:21:11

ViceVersa

High school is NOT an Americanism. We've had high schools here in Scotland for decades.

Don’t think anybody was suggesting that high school was an Americanism high schools are a type of secondary school but the generic term for the school after primary is secondary school

ViceVersa Sun 26-Jul-26 14:19:40

High school is NOT an Americanism. We've had high schools here in Scotland for decades.

jenpax Sun 26-Jul-26 14:05:07

National conversation
Reach out
Across the store
Gotten! Really grinds my gears we are not Americans😡
Fur babies or anything twee😒
Cell phone no! Its a mobile
High school unless its a grammar school it is secondary school
Curated by😒 used for literally anything
Super excited
Faucet! No its a tap
Movie! No its a film
Actually any Americanism used here in the UK 😬

Retread Sun 26-Jul-26 13:51:21

Just realised it's modern annoying words. Here's one from me: cosplay.

Retread Sun 26-Jul-26 10:55:23

I looked up where 'bric a brac' comes from;

Bric-à-brac (French: [bʁi. ka. bʁak] ) or bric-a-brac (from French), first used in England during the Victorian era, around 1840, refers to lesser objets d'art forming collections of curios. The French phrase a brick et a brac dates from the 16th century meaning "at random, any old way".

One result in my search suggested 'knick knacks' instead. Just no! 😂

Grammaretto Sun 26-Jul-26 09:30:07

I do miss jumble sales. You could find treasure because it was hardly sorted, unlike charity shops nowadays where they know the prices things can fetch and charge accordingly.