63
   

What are your pet peeves re English usage?

 
 
kency123
 
  3  
Reply Sat 20 Aug, 2016 02:40 pm
@ailsagirl,
Corporate Speak!

Some is genuinely created from new ideas and creativity. However, 90% is then used for self promotion of people trying to sound like they know more than they do, or other people desperately trying to keep up with them. My heart sinks when I hear foreign speakers use it in casual conversation because their only exposure to English is in the corporate world. I really want to tell them that half their vocabulary was cooked up by a business consultant trying to sound clever ;-(
McTag
 
  2  
Reply Sat 20 Aug, 2016 02:50 pm
@kency123,
I agree with this.
georgeob1
 
  0  
Reply Sat 20 Aug, 2016 04:53 pm
I have always founf the phrasae "in and of itself" redundant, pretentious and irksome.
ossobucotemp
 
  3  
Reply Sat 20 Aug, 2016 04:55 pm
@McTag,
Hi, McTag and welcome to a2k, Kency123.
0 Replies
 
Finn dAbuzz
 
  0  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 02:20 pm
@georgeob1,
In and of itself that is a pretty pretentious and irksome comment.

Kidding aside, how is it redundant?
georgeob1
 
  1  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 02:22 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
Let me count the ways....
Finn dAbuzz
 
  1  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 02:25 pm
@georgeob1,
I just want to know the first
glitterbag
 
  2  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 02:49 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
In itself; of itself. Does that help?
Finn dAbuzz
 
  0  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 03:13 pm
@glitterbag,
No (and that was deemed too short by the hamster)

I really don't expect you to get the subtlety of language.

In is not a synonym of of.
georgeob1
 
  0  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 03:20 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
A bit pedantic, don't you think? The meaning depends on the object to which the phrase refers - whether it has both intrinsic content and consequences. In most cases in which this rote phrase is used it is indeed redundant.
Finn dAbuzz
 
  1  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 03:33 pm
@georgeob1,
georgeob1 wrote:

A bit pedantic, don't you think?


No, I don't. I don't appreciate seeing perfectly acceptable words and phrases criticized as errant because of the usage of the imprecise.


Quote:
The meaning depends on the object to which the phrase refers - whether it has both intrinsic content and consequences. In most cases in which this rote phrase is used it is indeed redundant.


That may be but the usage not the phrase should be criticized.

If you had specified that current usage was your beef, I would not have had a problem.

The phrase is clearly not redundant despite it's usage by nitwits who might also say "My head literally exploded when I heard so and so supports Trump"

It's academic and perhaps only meaningful to a few, but there is nothing wrong with the phrase.
0 Replies
 
glitterbag
 
  3  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 08:17 pm
@Finn dAbuzz,
Finn dAbuzz wrote:

No (and that was deemed too short by the hamster)

I really don't expect you to get the subtlety of language.

In is not a synonym of of.


Thanks, lumpkins. It didn't occur to me that someone might think either 'in' or 'of' were synonyms., not even you. If I remember the Sisters of Notre dame de Namur correctly, 'of' and 'in' have always been prepositions. But then again, I don't grasp the subtlety of languages. If I did, I would suggest you try diagraming the sentence.
Finn, I think you just gave me a great idea for a new signature line. Can't help yourself can you?
cicerone imposter
 
  2  
Reply Tue 23 Aug, 2016 08:57 pm
@glitterbag,
Quote:
Finn, I think you just gave me a great idea for a new signature line.


If it brings a smile to your face every time you read it, it's worth it! LOL
0 Replies
 
McTag
 
  2  
Reply Wed 24 Aug, 2016 03:10 am

The Olympic Games (as reported in the meeja) have given us a horrible (imho) new verb, to medal.
If you do really well in your event, with a 1/2/3 finish, you are now said to have "medalled".
What is there to like about that?
Setanta
 
  1  
Reply Wed 24 Aug, 2016 03:48 am
The significance of "in and of itself" (phony baloney grammatical objections ignored) is that it is classic Anglo-Saxon. The earliest English speakers were very fond of such repetition, or redundancy, if you prefer. "It is fitting and proper" is a classic example of this. More than fifteen hundred years aster the language stumbled to its feet, that trait remains.
McTag
 
  3  
Reply Wed 24 Aug, 2016 08:19 am
@Setanta,
That chimes.

Bag and baggage. House and home. Kith and kin. Health and wellbeing.
0 Replies
 
coluber2001
 
  1  
Reply Fri 26 Aug, 2016 12:29 pm
@nacredambition,
I think the problem is confusing dissect with bisect.
0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Fri 26 Aug, 2016 12:39 pm
@McTag,
Also cannot stand them - when one takes a noun and makes it a verb. Yeck.

I like to be efficient so I detest when one uses extra words or phases that are not necessary. One I really dislike is "by the way" - useless phrase.
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 26 Aug, 2016 01:16 pm
@Linkat,
Linkat wrote:
Also cannot stand them - when one takes a noun and makes it a verb.
But verbing really is quite common, and I'm sure, even you use it quite often ... mail, e-mail, talk, salt, sugar, ship, sleep, drink .... Wink
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Fri 26 Aug, 2016 01:20 pm
@Walter Hinteler,
Walter Hinteler wrote:

Linkat wrote:
Also cannot stand them - when one takes a noun and makes it a verb.
But verbing really is quite common, and I'm sure, even you use it quite often ... mail, e-mail, talk, salt, sugar, ship, sleep, drink .... Wink


These are words that have been in existence as verbs since I was a baby (except email but simply because I wasn't born after email) - you know what the heck I mean - when you purposely change a noun so make it a verb.
 

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