Clumsy phrases you hate

[Richard Waller]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/24/nengl24.xml

[ElyseC]

That was a fun read. It followed the same paths as language pet peeve discussions we've had here over the years. :)

Mispronunciations have made for some great group rants, too. NOO-kyu-ler [nuclear] is a big irritant to me, as is WOR-shing-tuhn or WAHR-shing-tuhn [Washington]. Sorry folks, but there's no 'r' in there anywhere!

[dthomsen8]

Philadelphians have their own special extra letters in words. I have been to the AK-a-me to shop, and parked on BUCK-a-nell Street next to my house, where there are houses for sale by real-A-tors. Sorry, no extra "a" in any of those words, except here in Philly.

[annc]

Philadelphians have their own special extra letters in words. I have been to the AK-a-me to shop, and parked on BUCK-a-nell Street next to my house, where there are houses for sale by real-A-tors. Sorry, no extra "a" in any of those words, except here in Philly.Here, some people get fillums for their non-digital cameras.

[annc]

Where I currently work, everyone from the CEO down, apart from one other staff member (and me, of course) says 'haitch'. And the rising inflection is still a fairly common down here, although mostly used by women, when they are unsure of themselves.

[ktinkel]

Philadelphians have their own special extra letters in words. I have been to the AK-a-me to shop, and parked on BUCK-a-nell Street next to my house, where there are houses for sale by real-A-tors. Sorry, no extra "a" in any of those words, except here in Philly.That isn’t only a Philadelphia problem!

Think of the sports reporters (and others on radio and TV) who insist on referring to ath-A-letes. (And for that matter, call me kath-A-leen.)

I know there are many others of this class, though right this moment I cannot think of them.

[Michael Rowley]

Ann:

Where I currently work, everyone from the CEO down, apart from one other staff member (and me, of course) says 'haitch'.

That's typical of the Irish and people from Liverpool: I like it, it makes more sense than 'aitch'. Filum is also typical Irish, though I believe it is used elsewhere.

[annc]

Ann:



That's typical of the Irish and people from Liverpool: I like it, it makes more sense than 'aitch'. Filum is also typical Irish, though I believe it is used elsewhere.I don't think there's a single Irish person or Liverpudlan in my workplace, however.

[Michael Rowley]

I don't think there's a single Irish person or Liverpudlan in my workplace, however.

Ann:

I wasn't suggesting that people saying 'haitch' necessarily can be recognized by the traces of bog on their boots: it may be a characteristic of older English pronunciation.

[Richard Waller]

This one was also in the Daily Telegraph the same day <quote>

The clichés and empty phraseology that politicians love to inflict on us

Sir - I am prepared to become a politician in order to get jargon (Letters, February 23) banned by law.

After all, at this moment in time, the way forward is a window of opportunity to bite the bullet, speak plainly and be minded to tell it like it is. Those who can't stand the heat of the kitchen should stay out of it. This is the way to take up the challenge and strike a chord with the man in the street in the bread and butter debate. The icing on the cake is to reach the hearts and minds out there.

The up-coming scenario is an unknown quantity threatening meltdown of our society's goals, so we must be in the business of being positive and ensure a level playing field. Even then when we talk the talk it must be clear there is no gain without pain if we are to walk the walk.

Only then can we go head-to-head to properly address all the issues of the big picture. Even as we speak, we must be prepared to put our hands up and be counted. For what you see is what you get.

Make no mistake, at the end of the day, we are between a rock and a hard place. The devil is in the detail, and the bottom line is we are facing a no-win situation. Reading between the lines the die is cast and, taken in the round, if we all sing from the same hymn sheet we can then take on board the fact the goalposts can't be moved.

On the ground we are a broad church but we must keep our eye on the ball so we can put a toe in the water while the jury is still out and then, by sampling the mood music under the radar, plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Moving on, I am bound to say, hand on heart, we are deeply committed to winning the end game and we should rule nothing in and nothing out, even though in the final analysis we may well be damned if we do and damned if we don't.

[Steve Rindsberg]

It's interesting to see that the rising inflection makes its way into written communication. I see it often in newsgroup posts ...

"I'm trying to make a CD from my PowerPoint presentation?"

I resist the temptation to reply "You'd know better than I, surely."

Another common one is words properly used but mis-heard: "in tact" rather than "intact" for example.

Reflects a life spent listening to well-written material but not reading it, I imagine.

[annc]

It's interesting to see that the rising inflection makes its way into written communication. I see it often in newsgroup posts ...

"I'm trying to make a CD from my PowerPoint presentation?"

I resist the temptation to reply "You'd know better than I, surely."

Another common one is words properly used but mis-heard: "in tact" rather than "intact" for example.

Reflects a life spent listening to well-written material but not reading it, I imagine.Agreed on both. I see some howlers in transcriptions from tape-recorded interviews.

[ElyseC]

Here some people buy ORN-jez and others buy OR-un-jez. Likewise AM-munds and AHL-munds, AY-pri-cahts and AP-ri-cahts.

[Richard Waller]

The http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ letters have really taken off on this. Every reader seems to have a pet hate; some of which I regret I use all the time<g>

[Richard Waller]

The Wall of Words http://www.wallofwords.co.uk/ lets you contribute words you love. The word love is way up there. 7000 words have been nominated so far, some of them many times of course.