I'll start off with .........
"Do you know what?"
If you thought I did, why did you ask?
"I have to say."
You don't have to say, you choose to say.
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"By and large" ??????????????
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>> "By and large" ??????????????
>>
What's wrong with that? Idiom for "in general", isn't it? Or do you only object to its repeated and inappropriate use?
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At the end of the day ~ rarely is the time of day relevant.
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"To be honest."
Yeah, right!
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"you know" dropped into conversation every five seconds.
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She was like and I was like ...........
Eh?
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'Bruv' every few seconds from the local chav's just before they go and mug their 'bruv'
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"No offence, but..."
Which generally means "I am about to cause you great offence, but because I have said 'no offence', I can be as rude as I like without feeling guilty."
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"I'm sorry but..."
ie. you are just wrong and a raving idiot and I did not listen to a word you have said.
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"I'm sorry but..." and it's close relation "I don't disagree, but....".
John
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>>I'm sorry
It's the 'But' syndrome. My wife tells me that I suffer from it; perhaps I do, but..
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Every language has some unique phrases whose meanings are often different from literal meaning.
As English was not my native language, it took me some time to understand the meaning of following phrases (not an exhaustive list) when I came to UK:
I am afraid.... [why not just state the fact direct?]
Morning [instead of Good Morning]
Ta [didn't have a clue when I heard it first few times]
Artics - how the hell I know it means articulated lorry?
Aubergine instead of brinjal
Okra instead of lady's finger
Tele instead of TV
Brolly instead of umbrella
Loo instead of toilet
Mate instead of friend
Trains calling at stations instead of stopping
Difference between ask and tell.
Here people often "ask" to instruct politely.
In my language the equivalent is "telling".
So when someone asked me whether I can do something, I thought they probably didn't want me to do it (otherwise they'd have "told" me to do it).
Here people speat at much slower pace. In fact, more slowly someone speaks, more sophisticated he is perceived. I used to speak much faster and it frustrated me when people took so long to communicate :)
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"I know what you're thinking" ; as Jack Bauer said in Series 9 of 24 - "You don't want to know what I'm thinking" said in a tone which clearly transmitted the hidden thoughts. It's on my list of responses...just waiting for the opportunity.
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"As English was not my native language"
Where are you from Movilogo?
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>>Where are you from Movilogo?<<
Asia.
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>> She was like and I was like ...........
>>
>> Eh?
Not useless at all, in fact it has many uses
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like#In_slang_and_colloquial_speech
It is just an evolution of language and, as such, it just sound strange to those that spent many years communicating without it
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It's always in the last place you look.
Would you seriously continue looking after you found what it was you were looking for ?
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>> Where are you from Movilogo?
India
Although I studied in English medium in university in India, spoken English in India is somewhat different from traditional British English.
>> Asia
Also never understood why Indians/Pakistanis/Bangladeshis are clubbed as "Asian" but not Chinese or Phillipinos or Vietnamese!! They all belong to Asia.
Last edited by: movilogo on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 15:03
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Tell me about it. Sometimes shortened to 'tell me', or even 'tell'.
Know what I mean?
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 15:16
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Your call is important to me/us - a colleague in work used this on his voicemail, same bloke, a Geordie by the way used the word "Restroom" when he meant toilet - what's that about ?
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>> voicemail, same bloke, a Geordie by the way used the word "Restroom" when he meant
>> toilet - what's that about ?
There is a whole new mega-thread's worth on words and phrases meaning different things to different people. There are loads of British colloquialisms that baffle "English" speaking people from abroad.
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Yeah, why the rest room? You go there to... well you know, but not Rest.
Tho when I worked in the photo booth factory it was to rest, have a fag and read the sun.
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"Yeah, why the rest room? You go there to... well you know"
Ham shank?
Twonk the newest P.A.?
Quick couple of lines?
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>> Yeah, why the rest room? You go there to... well you know, but not Rest.
>>
They call their restaurants "diners".
What do they call the diners who dine at the diners? Obese?
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>> a Geordie by the way used the word "Restroom" when he meant toilet - what's that about ?
An old school working class Geordie would have (probably) used the word "cludgie".
"ah huv tae gan tae the cludgie."
Which is more informative than useless, if you knew what he meant by it :)
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Well h adaway an s***e yer b***** ma... its wis nivver the cludgie , its the netty.....
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>> Well h adaway an s***e yer b***** ma... its wis nivver the cludgie , its
>> the netty.....
>>
Which part of Geordie-land do are you from?
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I was born and brought up in North Northumberland and went to school there and safely say that as a native the toilet was always referred to as the netty.....
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/netty
Cludgie is is a foreigners ( scottish) word for the toilet.....
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>> Also never understood why Indians/Pakistanis/Bangladeshis are clubbed as "Asian" but not Chinese or Phillipinos or
>> Vietnamese!! They all belong to Asia.
explanation here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_people
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>> >> Where are you from Movilogo?
>>
>> India
>>
>> Although I studied in English medium in university in India, spoken English in India is
>> somewhat different from traditional British English.
Which is probably why Mumbai call centres are such a struggle for us.
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They certainly are for me. Orange UK says my name is Monty Hannon and I live on an estate in Portishead, near Bristol. This came out of what I thought was a perfectly straightforward conversation. I spent my entire working life communicating but now I can't even top up my mobile phone on-line.
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>> They certainly are for me. Orange UK says my name is Monty Hannon
That's got a nice ring to it. You should adopt it :-)
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I am always surprised by the hatred that some people seem to have for new phrases, and new words.
Two that are ofetn quoted are "we need some blue sky thinking" and "we need to think outside the box"
The vast majority of people know what they mean, at least the ones that they are aimed at do, and they sum up an otherwise very complicated set of instructions into an easily communicated theme. So why are people so against them?
Same thing with most of the "corporate speak" that people rail against.
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The one I never understood was " paradigm shift"
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Paradigm Shift = A complete change in thinking or belief systems that allows the creation of a new condition previously thought impossible or unacceptable.
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>> Paradigm Shift = A complete change in thinking or belief systems that allows the creation
>> of a new condition previously thought impossible or unacceptable.
Another good example. All the clients that I speak with understand that phrase. If I want to convey that theme, do I waste their time trying to describe it, or do I just use the term "paradigm shift"?
Just shorthand for common themes, that people understand.
I suppose some people will hear it and not understand it, but I would hope that, if they needed to know what it meant, they would ask somebody (or at least quietly look it up).
I think that the derision that some people pour on these phrases, maybe creates a backlash against them.
Just my two cents...sorry what I meant to say was that I wish to indicate that I wasn't trying to dominate the conversation, or suggest that I had to be right, but rather that I just wanted to add my thoughts, which are in the scheme of things quite small (much like a couple of coins), and that I certainly don't consider them to overshadow the opinion of others... ;)
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 17:43
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Paradigm shift?
Its recognised as complete tripe, Bullsht.
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>> Paradigm shift?
>>
>> Its recognised as complete tripe, Bullsht.
It's has an apostrophe...oh...sorry...wrong thread...
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 18:21
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We play "BS Bingo" regularly. What you do is write down five corporate catch phrases on a slip of paper in advance of a meeting. You need at least one co-conspirator to make it fun but the more the merrier. Every time someone else in the meeting utters one of your chosen cringeworthy cliches you mark it off on your slip. First one to collect all five wins...
To claim your "Bingo" though you have to introduce your own pre-determined catch phrase into the meeting, so you have your own "I've won" phrase pre-written on the bottom of your paper. This has to have been chosen and added by one of the other players. This way, those who are playing know you've won without the rest of the meeting twigging what's going on.
I was subjected recently to having to introduce the phrase "stick our ferret down the burrow to see how many rabbits it chases out"...
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I posted a link in another thread the other day - mind you given the topic thread of late it coud be in the Kwik Fit oone ! :-)
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>> We play "BS Bingo" regularly..
that probably explains some of the Perrin-esque things I heard a few years ago, including:
"Let's get the dog on the table.."
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"I was subjected recently to having to introduce the phrase "stick our ferret down the burrow to see how many rabbits it chases out"..."
I used to play a game with Adam years ago on the HJ Forum. I'd email him a daft line, something like "by the time I got back to the car, the chickens had all escaped" and he'd have to work it into a thread of my choosing in a way that made complete sense.
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"New Thinking"? "Fresh Thinking"?
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The Daddy......
He turned round and said to me.....so I turned round and said to him.....
....and so on until one of them gets dizzy !
Ted
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Most of these "paradigm shifts" relate to mincing men who work in City banks... (the swear filter has prevented me from saying the words) and involve borrowing lots of money based on some mathematical calculation that 99.9999999999999999999% of the company don't understand.
The rider is that the failure of it is countered by a Government bailout..
That's a paradigm mmm shift allright...
Last edited by: madf on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 17:50
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The phrase 'going forward' tacked on at the end of a sentence.
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S'funny how we pick up certain phrases from our parents, My ole mum (born 1910) used to use many,
one of which was "Put that in your pipe and smoke it", I used to say that to my mates - to much amusement.
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where did you leave it?
dont come crying to me if you kill yourself
your call is important
and the killer
from the team at.........................
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My mother was always suggesting that I'd "have someone's eye out with that". I never did manage to do that and perhaps oddly enough never knew any other one-eyed children either.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 19:24
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Humph,
I think you may have, unwittingly, lit the blue touch paper for BBD now.
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..the thought did cross my mind but I felt it was worth the risk.
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"the overwhelming scientific consensus is........."
"let's be absolutely clear about this"
"Man-made global warming"
"there will be a referendum on this"
"No more boom and bust"
I'll stop before becoming too political!
Dog,
"Put a sock in it" was one of my Mum's favourites - we used to giggle and guess what "it" was (When out of earshot!!)
My dad's favourite was "Don't try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs" which mystified us throughout childhood.
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What about "plug and play" Phil ? :-)
Last edited by: Pugugly on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 19:38
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Universally known as "Plug and Pray"
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Having had a dig at parents. I promised myself prior to becoming a parent that I'd never use some of those cliches on my offspring. How wrong I was....
"TURN that noise DOWN!"
"For the last TIME ! Your FOOD is on the TABLE!"
"Are you listening....?"
"Have you done that homework yet?"
"Been playing with a grenade in your room have you?"
Etc, etc...
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I cringed the first time when I said to my son "Because I said so" when questioned "WHY"
about an instruction to do (or not do) something.
It was a rubbish reason when my parents used it, and its still a rubbish reason now.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 19:51
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>> I cringed the first time when I said to my son "Because I said so"
>> when questioned "WHY"
I make strenuous efforts to avoid that one, having heard it a lot from my folks.
"Because those are the rules, lad" has proved to be a reasonably useful substitute.
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"What about "plug and play" Phil ? :-)"
That's NOT funny! (another of my Mum's favourites!!)
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>>My dad's favourite was "Don't try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs" which mystified us throughout childhood<<
Ah! Vulcan logic :)
If someone 'broke wind' it would be "Who let Tommy out of Prison"
:-D
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In my home breaking wind led to the sarcastic comment "Speak up Brown, you're through!"
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Teach not thy parent’s mother to extract
The embryo juices of the bird by suction.
The good old lady can that feat enact,
Quite irrespective of your kind instruction.
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Not a phrase but a word; "obviously".
Implying I'm stupid for not realising what the other person is trying to say.
Useless and annoying or am I being over sensitive?
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Colleague or Associate - used in a particular context.
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>> Colleague or Associate - used in a particular context.
Yes, I was once in Fry's Electronics in San Francisco, an absolutely enormous electronics warehouse. I asked for assistance and was told "one of our associates will be with you shortly". I remember thinking "Associates? Weren't they some dodgy band that always used to be on the Old Grey Whistle Test in the early 80s?"
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>> Not a phrase but a word; "obviously".
>>
>> Implying I'm stupid for not realising what the other person is trying to say.
>>
>> Useless and annoying or am I being over sensitive?
Depends on the exact circumstances and exactly what is said, but it can be the exact opposite. In other words, that the person is making the effort to make it very clear that the know you would already know/understand what he said.
Oh, the fine interplay of language and the ego...
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Thu 18 Nov 10 at 22:19
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Most of what my elder children come out with.
For example:
"You know my brother, yeah?"
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I've found over the years that the b3est policy is not to speak to your children................or wife !
Ted
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Two of my mother-in-law's phrases (God bless her soul) included:
Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs (surprised)
and
You're in Dickie's meadow now (i.e. trouble).
She came from a farming background.
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>> not to speak to your children
My eldest two are getting to that stage - everything I say or do seems to be deeply embarassing to them.
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>>I'll run this past my...
It's not on this thread, but shame on you, Dave, for using that phrase.
:-)
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When dealing with (usually) a company on the 'phone and they ask you, "what WAS your name" and I always say, "the same as it is now". Always baffles them.
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Interesting one, this.
I confess readily to having used a fair number of the business-related phrases but as various people have said, they are a quite useful form of oral shorthand in some circumstances, but largely spoilt by over- and misuse.
Think it depends on the delivery to an extent - I have worked with some people whose use of normal English could set your teeth on edge, let alone buzzwords/jargon, and others who could make the most frantic rubbish sound impressive.
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I worked in an office where imaginary shotguns would appear to shoot down any wild, flying yebbuts.
One bloke had the habit of adding 'it gets dark' every time he heard 'at the end of the day'.
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>> One bloke had the habit of adding 'it gets dark' every time he heard 'at
>> the end of the day'.
Impressive, that he found the one thing possibly more annoying than the overused phrase, and used it repeatedly...
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I had a guy who, when asked to start at the beginning, would say "Well, the earth cooled..."
John
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>>I had a guy who, when asked to start at the beginning, would say "Well, the earth cooled..."<<
I had a byrd who, when asked to stop at the end, would say "Well, the Earth moved ..."
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>>I had a byrd who, when asked to stop at the end, would say "Well, the Earth moved ...">>
I went into a shop and asked the young lady behind the counter if she kept stationery.
She replied that she did almost to the end and then she went wild.
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((She replied that she did almost to the end and then she went wild))
- - - - - > ;-D
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When my final employer embraced business process reengineering, as preached by Michael Hammer and James Champy, my job description became "enabler". It was all paradigms this and paradigms that.
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I hate the phrase 'going forward' - what is wrong with 'in the future'?
Not keen on 'pre-order' - what is the difference between that and 'order'
I do not understand the modern need to put the word Team in front of everything - what is wrong with, for example, The England Team (not Team England) or just good old England. Some marketing monkey no doubt came up with the idea after a particularly good liquid lunch, decided it was cool and we are stuck with it.
And why oh why is "quantum leap" used to describe a large step? From my days of studying theoretical chemistry I recall that a quantum is a particularly small thing. I suppose it might be used to describe the huge advance in understanding that came from the development of quantum theory but still...
Oh I could go on but I think I need a lie down now.
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>> And why oh why is "quantum leap" used to describe a large step? From my
quantum leap = abrupt movement from one discrete energy level to another, with no smooth transition, i.e. there is no "inbetween" state.
Don't ask about fock states.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fock_state
Last edited by: John H on Fri 19 Nov 10 at 16:32
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There's an error in one of those equations. I'm not saying where. I don't want to spoil your fun.
John
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>> >> And why oh why is "quantum leap" used to describe a large step?
You could also say that a quantum leap is a very, very small change in energy level on a sub-atomic scale, not the massive change that people are usually trying to describe.
I think 'step change' might have taken over though - unless that's old hat now?
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I've always thought that something on the lines of "a giant step" was more accurate than quantum leap.
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"As safe as The Bank of England"
groan!
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Most useless phrases - Perky Penguin
