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

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DaveC426913 said:
Never heard that one...

Walla?

Is the human race regressing to oral learning? Don't people read anymore?
You hear that on Food TV all of the time. Someone on PF uses captioning on tv and she said the caption types "walla" every time it's said.
 
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DaveC426913 said:
Never heard that one...

Walla?

Is the human race regressing to oral learning? Don't people read anymore?

Maybe they think they hear "walla" before they know how to read. Then years later they read the word "voilà" and never connect the two.

This happened to me with the word "ciao". Until I was 12 or so, I thought people were saying "chow" as a way to say goodbye :redface: and I had no idea what "ciao" was, although I had read it.
 
Evo said:
I'm French, we pronounce it zhoo.

http://www.forvo.com/word/jus/

http://www.forvo.com/word/au_jus/
OOOh, does this mean you can help me with French? I'm taking the class :D. Getting help from people is much better than getting help from a translator that constantly uses vous instead of tu *cough*Google Translate*cough*.

Back onto the topic...
I don't know if somebody has already written this(although I already read most of the posts) but, do any of you get annoyed when someone says sorry when they don't need to? It really get on my nerves.

Friend: "Oh sorry."
Me: "You know, you didn't really have to say sorry for that, it was not something to say sorry for."
Friend: "Oh, I'm sorry."

Are you serious? I really get annoyed of that!
 
A poster's name reminded me of one thing I hear sometimes that's annoying. Not knowing what is really meant by "theory" in the context of science, and saying things like "Oh, it's just a theory" to discount it or minimize it.

But I'm probably not alone in this, I bet.
 
Grep said:
A poster's name reminded me of one thing I hear sometimes that's annoying. Not knowing what is really meant by "theory" in the context of science, and saying things like "Oh, it's just a theory" to discount it or minimize it.

But I'm probably not alone in this, I bet.

You aren't, this is one that annoys me also. That said the general abuse of scientific words such as "quantum" and "scalar" that you constantly see in the S&D forum is a pretty annoying thing as well.
 
MysticDude said:
OOOh, does this mean you can help me with French? I'm taking the class :D. Getting help from people is much better than getting help from a translator that constantly uses vous instead of tu *cough*Google Translate*cough*.

Back onto the topic...
I don't know if somebody has already written this(although I already read most of the posts) but, do any of you get annoyed when someone says sorry when they don't need to? It really get on my nerves.

Friend: "Oh sorry."
Me: "You know, you didn't really have to say sorry for that, it was not something to say sorry for."
Friend: "Oh, I'm sorry."

Are you serious? I really get annoyed of that!

No, you're misunderstanding. Saying "sorry" isn't necessarily apologizing. It can be used to offer sympathy. If someone says, "I'm sorry your dog died," that's not a confession that the person killed your dog.

You have to take that word in context to get its meaning.

But *overusing* "sorry" is a peeve of mine. A guy at my work does that. If I say traffic was thick on the way into work, he'll say "Oh I'm sorry." If I say it's windy..."I'm sorry." If I say some people use 'sorry' too much..."I'm sorry."
 
MysticDude said:
OOOh, does this mean you can help me with French? I'm taking the class :D. Getting help from people is much better than getting help from a translator that constantly uses vous instead of tu *cough*Google Translate*cough*.
Oh, you do not want my help! :redface: Although I spoke French before I learned English, I am much better at reading and listening than responding. I'm afraid of not conjugating my verbs correctly and sounding like a dumb American, so when I was in France, I didn't speak much outside of the house. I do know what words should sound like though and can even tell a French Southern Accent from a Parisian one.
 
For me it is misuse of the adverb, e.g., "You write good!" Even worse is when two errors appear in one sentence, e.g., "You write real good!".

I also dislike the word, "like" being used inappropriately. It makes you sound like so stupid.

Oh, and when people misuse who/whom. "Who are you going to give the gift to?" (This ends a sentence with a preposition too!)

:mad:
 
Pianoman14 said:
"Who are you going to give the gift to?" (This ends a sentence with a preposition too!)

This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put. - Churchill.
 
WWW - the only acronym to have more syllables than the words it stands for.

AC current
 
You despise AC Current?

EDIT: Got what you're talking about. Thought you had a problem with electricity then.
 
skeptic2 said:
WWW - the only acronym to have more syllables than the words it stands for.

What about WWF (World Wildlife Fund)?
 
jarednjames said:
What about WWF (World Wildlife Fund)?

True, though not nearly as bad.

www outstrips its expansion by 3x; wwf doesn't even clear 2.

dictionary.com defines http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/double" as two.

Thus, syllable count:
world wide web = 3
www = 9

world wildlife fund = 4
wwf = 7
 
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DaveC426913 said:
True, though not nearly as bad.

Of course, but it makes the statement null.
 
skeptic2 said:
AC current
Although not a pet peeve of mine, there is a similar term that always makes me wonder: "The DC component of a signal."

"DC" is an initialization of "direct current." However, in most examples of use these days it doesn't necessarily apply to current, or even have anything to do electricity for that matter. It can apply to a digital signal (that isn't even necessarily measuring current), or things such as temperature vs. time, magnitude vs. displacement (commonly used in image processing), and a swath of other things that have nothing directly to do with current. Any time one takes a Fourier transform, there will be a "DC component" even if the original signal is completely unrelated to current.

I've come to accept the term as having developed its own, new meaning, albeit a misnomer. So I use the term myself, since there isn't a better term that I'm aware of that conveys a more concise meaning. But I privately question myself every time I use it.
 
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i like "DC component". the alternative would be something like "zero-frequency component".
 
MysticDude said:
do any of you get annoyed when someone says sorry when they don't need to? It really get on my nerves.
Sorry about that; I'm afraid that it's an inbred Canuk imperative. If you hear it from a Canuk, put it down to cultural indoctrination. If you hear it from anyone else, be suspicious and prepare to run.

Evo said:
Oh, you do not want my help! :redface: Although I spoke French before I learned English, I am much better at reading and listening than responding.

That sort of reminds me of an incident that happened in the Con Suite at an SF convention about 25 years ago. This Anglophone guy that I sort of knew from a distance was talking to a very attractive young woman. When I got within earshot, I noticed that they were speaking in French. No big deal, since were are a bilingual country. I strolled closer and tried to say hello to them, and I guess that the guy thought that I was intruding upon his territory (as if he had a chance with her :rolleyes:). Anyhow, he just gave me a filthy look and said "Do you speak French?"
I had to think for a couple of seconds, and then replied, "Not verbally" and turned away with my head hung down. The guy just stood there with a totally baffled look on his face, but I got a big wink from the woman. :biggrin:
 
Danger said:
Sorry about that; I'm afraid that it's an inbred Canuk imperative. If you hear it from a Canuk, put it down to cultural indoctrination. If you hear it from anyone else, be suspicious and prepare to run.

No, I don't know any Canuk people, but thanks for the information. My friend that I was talking about is Greek/New York so it's just a habit for them I guess.
 
That's a great comic, Vela! I still can't imagine that even a dinosaur could believe in a supreme being, but otherwise it is a perfect example of what we are discussing here. Thanks for the link.
 
For all in tents and porpoises. I've never heard it, but if I did, I'd laugh.
 
lisab said:
For all in tents and porpoises. I've never heard it, but if I did, I'd laugh.

That one makes me think of a cartoon that I saw years ago (maybe Farside?). It showed a fiddle and a saxophone perched atop a television set. The drawing was, of course, in response to the right-wing protest of sex and violence on TV.
 
"thank you for asking" "high end." I hate that term, hate, hate, HATE that term.
 
Lacy33 said:
"thank you for asking" "high end." I hate that term, hate, hate, HATE that term.

High end? A term? As in: a high-end stereo?
 
Lacy33 said:
"thank you for asking" "high end." I hate that term, hate, hate, HATE that term.
"World class" is another bit of manager-speak that is misused and over-used.
 
DaveC426913 said:
High end? A term? As in: a high-end stereo?

Correct! or High End store or apartment or neighborhood.
And yes, World Class is real close behind ... :redface: "high end."
 
Lacy33 said:
Correct! or High End store or apartment or neighborhood.
And yes, World Class is real close behind ... :redface: "high end."

Wealthy people store/apartment/neighborhood sounds snobby.
 

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