Any particular word(s), phrase(s), etc. you particularly despise?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mathnomalous
  • Start date Start date
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
194 replies · 20K views
lisab said:
So what would happen if 2 Canucks and 2 Brits arrive at a 4-way-stop intersection, all at the same time?

We've got a major problem on our hands!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
jarednjames said:
Seconded.

That and "aluminum" - I know it's not strictly wrong, but is there really a need for it?

What? "Al-u-min-i-um?" It's the pronunciation of words like that which builds those "stiff upper lip" muscles.

1MileCrash said:
"rubric" is a hated word of mine.

Up there next to Ruprect, a character in a movie with Steve Martin and Michael Caine.
 
mugaliens said:
What? "Al-u-min-i-um?" It's the pronunciation of words like that which builds those "stiff upper lip" muscles.

Well you've got Aluminium and Aluminum. I'm yet to hear Aluminum used outside of the US (not saying it isn't, just never heard it).

I just don't see why there is a need for there to be two different versions of the word.
 
jarednjames said:
Well you've got Aluminium and Aluminum. I'm yet to hear Aluminum used outside of the US (not saying it isn't, just never heard it).

I just don't see why there is a need for there to be two different versions of the word.

Right, so then it's settled. Aluminum it is. In the interest of efficiency, of course :biggrin:.
 
lisab said:
So what would happen if 2 Canucks and 2 Brits arrive at a 4-way-stop intersection, all at the same time?

Unless they are exactly equal in their arrival times, which is physically impossible, we would follow the traffic regulations. The first one has the right-of-way, then the next in line. If there is doubt as to who is next, the one to the right of the first goes next.
If it is unclear as to who was there first, we would sit around for about 5 minutes, and then all drive into a cluster-**** in the middle at the same time. We're polite, but not always overly brilliant.
 
I hate when people order food or something and are asking how much it costs and they say "What's the damage?"

When I used to deliver pizza I would always be tempted to respond with "to your brain or mine?"
 
Also, anything like "I hate nature." Or "That's unnatural."

How can something be unnatural?
 
Galteeth said:
I hate when people order food or something and are asking how much it costs and they say "What's the damage?"

When I used to deliver pizza I would always be tempted to respond with "to your brain or mine?"

Oh, that reminds me of one that makes me crazy! So often, when I'm eating in a restaurant, the waiter will come by and ask, "Are you still working on that?"

Ya know, it may not be the tastiest food I've ever eaten but if it was actually "work" to eat it, then I wouldn't eat it.
 
Danger said:
Unless they are exactly equal in their arrival times, which is physically impossible, we would follow the traffic regulations.

Not to digress but, why is that impossible? I thought time was not infinitely divisible (planck time)?
 
Pythagorean said:
"if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem"
Although a sentence I actually like in response,

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
 
I worked for a clueless blow-hard that had to use the biggest words available each and every time. When he wanted to indicate causation, he never used "consequently". He always used "subsequently" instead. That was his go-to big-boy word, and he used it incorrectly 100% of the time. What a maroon.
 
turbo-1 said:
Know anybody that has to say "utilize" instead of "use" every time? You are dealing with a pompous poser.

While I might sometimes say one in place of the other in drunken conversation, I don't think of them as meaning the same thing. To me, "utilize" is technological whereas "use" is more pedestrian. The dictionary might disagree with me, though.
 
lisab said:
Oh, that reminds me of one that makes me crazy!
Well, I'm glad that we finally got to the bottom of that mystery. :rolleyes:
 
Moving/going forward. Will grammar books soon be teaching us that verbs have past tense, present tense, and going forward tense?
 
Calling a person an "individual." Seems to be used a lot by police and ex-military.
 
turbo-1 said:
Know anybody that has to say "utilize" instead of "use" every time? You are dealing with a pompous poser.

What turbo said.

Add to that: anyone who refers to themselves as "myself" when they aren't talking about themselves being alone. "I am by myself" is fine. "Please respond to myself", and I want to smack you upside the head for saying that.
 
turbo-1 said:
There is no "I" in team.

Although, as Hugh Laurie pointed out in "House: MD", there is a "me" if you shuffle the letters around a bit.

Okay, that was a stroke of brilliance on the part of the writer rather than Hugh, but I can't recall the name thereof.
 
GeorginaS said:
"Please respond to myself", and I want to smack you upside the head for saying that.

I see your smack, and raise you a grenade down his pants.
 
Jack21222 said:
It actually means quite the opposite...

my thinking was this. The person says something insulting about a certain class of people... then realizes members from that class of people is present. So they add "present company excluded" to cover themselves. But that's just really another insult to the perception of the said company.

Also... it was a joke...
 
turbo-1 said:
Know anybody that has to say "utilize" instead of "use" every time? You are dealing with a pompous poser.

How about "usage"? A long time ago I did a stint in retail, and the manager once asked if I could tidy up a back room shelf with lots of little odds and ends on it. The words she used:
"Try to maximize the usage of the spaceage." And she was totally serious. I said "You mean optimize the use of space?" And I could see the wheels spinning for a while.
 
Chi Meson said:
And I could see the wheels spinning for a while.

:smile:
I so love it when that happens, but always regret when it happens without an appreciative audience.
 
Danger said:
:smile:
I so love it when that happens, but always regret when it happens without an appreciative audience.
Yes, sadly, no one else was around. :(
 
GeorginaS said:
Add to that: anyone who refers to themselves as "myself" when they aren't talking about themselves being alone. "I am by myself" is fine. "Please respond to myself", and I want to smack you upside the head for saying that.

How about "I'm standing beside myself..."
 
mugaliens said:
How about "I'm standing beside myself..."

I would immediately accuse him of being schizoid, but I'm somewhat uncouth in personal communications.
 
lisab said:
Right, so then it's settled. Aluminum it is. In the interest of efficiency, of course :biggrin:.

What just happened here?

Ubuntu runs an auto-spell check on every text box I type in and Aluminum constantly has a red line under it.
Then again, so does the word Ubuntu. It can't even spell it's own name.
 

Similar threads

Graduate Is there any particular reason on why I keep getting flat space?
  • space-time
  • · Replies 3 ·
  • Special and General Relativity
Replies
3