Worse still do you use any of these phrases?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7457287.stm

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:07:13 +0100, Stephen <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> wrote:

>Worse still do you use any of these phrases?
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7457287.stm

The phrases I cringe at, and hear quite frequently are, "low hanging fruit", "at the
end of the day" and "think outside the box".

There's an individual that I work with that will pick up on a new catch phrase, and
then proceed to use it in every other sentence for six months straight.  It gets to
the point that I start to think
that a punch in the face might stop it, but then again, I'm not a violent person.  ;-)

There's a word that someone else mispronounces every time he says it, but now I can't
remember it.  It really drives me nuts every time I hear it.  I even started
correcting him every time, but I
finally just gave up.  A punch in the face might help him too.  I'll post the word
when I remember it...

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> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7457287.stm

Many of those are annoyingly familiar.

I think a number of commentators have hit upon something here: These 
definitely seems to be a certain type of person who uses lots of cryptic 
and impressive-sounding phrases as a _substitute_ for *actually having a 
clue*! This is probably what irritates so many people - rather than the 
words themselves. It's the air of arrogance and self-importance of 
people who clearly and obviously don't know what the hell they're doing.

It does seem that these people have something of an insecurity complex, 
and feel compelled to jump on whatever buzzword is trendy for the next 
few seconds to give the impression that they are somehow "important" or 
"knowledgable". Sad, really...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Kyle <hob### [at] gatenet> wrote:
> "think outside the box".

  Especially irritating since its overuse has diluted its meaning, and thus
it's seldom used for what it really is supposed to mean.

  One related thing which irritates me a bit is when people take an
English saying and then translate it *literally*, word-for-word, to
Finnish and start using this raped translation in Finnish with the
same meaning as it has in English. This is especially irritating if
there already is a perfectly good and established saying in Finnish
which means the exact same thing, and there's absolutely no reason
why it couldn't be used.

  The most widespread and infamous example of this is the English saying
"in the long run". There are actually several perfectly valid Finnish
expressions which mean that exact thing, yet many people use a literal
translation instead, which sounds stupid.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:43:07 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:

>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7457287.stm
>
>Many of those are annoyingly familiar.
>
>I think a number of commentators have hit upon something here: These 
>definitely seems to be a certain type of person who uses lots of cryptic 
>and impressive-sounding phrases as a _substitute_ for *actually having a 
>clue*! This is probably what irritates so many people - rather than the 
>words themselves. It's the air of arrogance and self-importance of 
>people who clearly and obviously don't know what the hell they're doing.
>
>It does seem that these people have something of an insecurity complex, 
>and feel compelled to jump on whatever buzzword is trendy for the next 
>few seconds to give the impression that they are somehow "important" or 
>"knowledgable". Sad, really...

Agreed.  I'd say they need to get their ducks in a row.

*runs for the hills*

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"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> wrote in message
news:jkoe54dgp6bndeeraffi42dj83nc01g10l@4ax.com...
> Worse still do you use any of these phrases?
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7457287.stm

I cringe every time I hear 'a quantum leap forward'

A quantum implies very, very small. Why are people so proud of making a
tiny, minuscule step forward?

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Stephen wrote:
> Worse still do you use any of these phrases?
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7457287.stm

110%

"not enough bandwidth" - occasionally used in a meaningful way, but 
often not.

paradigm shifts.

2.0

Quite a few of the ones in the page, I think, are just fine (as in not 
improper use). I guess overuse can get irritating.

-- 
"Once again, Mr. Cutlet fulfilled the sacred oath of the public 
educator: To take an inherently fun activity, and sap it of every ounce 
of pleasure."
		-- Kevin Arnold in "Wonder Years".


                     /\  /\               /\  /
                    /  \/  \ u e e n     /  \/  a w a z
                        >>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
                                    anl

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Gail Shaw wrote:
> A quantum implies very, very small. Why are people so proud of making a
> tiny, minuscule step forward?

Not really. It implies a step forward with no intermediate steps.

It just so happens that the only place you can't ignore quantum steps in 
physics is when things are very small.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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"Darren New" <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote in message
news:4857ec1a$1@news.povray.org...
> Gail Shaw wrote:
> > A quantum implies very, very small. Why are people so proud of making a
> > tiny, minuscule step forward?
>
> Not really. It implies a step forward with no intermediate steps.

Hmm. Dictionary says it just means 'quantity'. Guess that's my physics
background showing through.
Either way, it doesn't mean 'revolutionary', 'massive' or 'significant'

Quantum leap forward = leap forward of some arbitary quantity. Doesn't quite
have the same ring.

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Gail Shaw wrote:

> Quantum leap forward = leap forward of some arbitary quantity. Doesn't quite
> have the same ring.

Clearly "quantum" sounds all hi-tec and impressive. Obviously we should 
use this word!

(But then, I understand "chromasome" actually means "coloured bit", 
which doesn't have quite the same ring...)

I often find myself wanting to use the word "magnetron" because it 
sounds so uncontrollably cool. I can still hardly believe there's 
actually a real device called a magnetron. (There's also a "cyclotron", 
but I don't know what that is...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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