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The "Annoying Phrase" Thread

One of the annoying corporate phrases that has become a plague here, leaking out into everyday speech, is "going forward". It drives me nuts hearing it. People don't say, "Next, we'll do this . . . " or "in future . . ." Instead, it's "Going forward . . . "

"Next" and "going forward" mean two completely different things. "Next" is a subsequent step in a process. "Going forward" refers to a change in a process. I guess you could say "in the future" rather than "going forward", but I personally don't get why one is more annoying than the other. If people said "in the future" all the time, it would probably be on this list instead of "going forward".
 
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"Next" and "going forward" mean two completely different things. "Next" is a subsequent step in a process. "Going forward" refers to a change in a process. I guess you could say "in the future" rather than "going forward", but I personally don't get why one is more annoying than the other. If people said "in the future" all the time, it would probably be on this list instead of "going forward".
Yes, I find that most things my managers have said to me over the years have been annoying. If not at first then certainly after repeating, ad nauseam, it has that affect.
 
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We used to say "from now on," which conveyed the point as clearly as any of the other options.

As much as splenetic alter-kockers like to complain about "politically correct" people hijacking the language, seems to me like the real hijackers are the corporate lawyers who never knew a word they couldn't weasel.

I found it best for my health, physical and mental, to stay the hell away from doctors and lawyers.
 

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
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8,856
We used to say "from now on," which conveyed the point as clearly as any of the other options.

As much as splenetic alter-kockers like to complain about "politically correct" people hijacking the language, seems to me like the real hijackers are the corporate lawyers who never knew a word they couldn't weasel.
I do love your posts Lizzie!!
I’d hate to get in a word battle with you.
Bowen
 

scottyrocks

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Yes, I find that most things my managers have said to me over the years have been annoying. If not at first then certainly after repeating, ad nauseam, it has that affect.

Yes, the person saying the annoying (or not annoying, initially) word- or phrase-in-question can definitely have an effect on just how annoying it is.
 
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A phrase becomes annoying when it substitutes for original thought or when it becomes a default utterance, repeated at least three times in a 10-minute conversation.

People tend toward liking the sound of their own voices and the ring of certain pet phrases. What they (we) too often don’t pick up on are the thought bubbles over their audiences’ heads reading “I wish this guy would just STFU.”
 

Peacoat

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"Address" used as a verb. There is almost always a more specific verb that better conveys the speaker's meaning. Specificity of speech leads to clarity of understanding.
 

LizzieMaine

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"Step up, plant your feet firmly, and address the ball."

"Hellooooooo, ball!"

ralph-kramden-and-ed-norton.jpg
 

vitanola

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Whoa! I just got finished watching "Forged in Fire". I like the show, even if one episode seems much like another, but every .. single ... week, the host challenges the finalists to "recreate this iconic weapon from history". No, Will, an obscure blade from central Africa is not possibly "an iconic weapon from history". This show doesn't have much of a budget for writers. The three judges use the same phrases every... single... week.
Oh, well, maybe I'll switch over to "What Not to Wear". I'm feeling a little schizo.
Sounds like your hormones are in an uproar again, like that Sunday afternoon when you watched a hockey game whilst baking a Bundt cake.
 

3fingers

One Too Many
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The most unbearable phrase in the language? "I'm traveling right now, but I promise I'll get your check out as soon as I'm home."
I hear that and similar phrases from sales people routinely. We struggle far too often to get people to take our money. Even if I give them the part numbers and ask them to ship it ASAP, too many just simply don't follow through and place the order. We are talking about thousands of dollars in lost sales. It is a plague in this industry, since everyone talks about this issue. It's sad when anyone who does their job properly is considered a rare find. I don't understand how they make a living or why their management allows the behavior.
 

LizzieMaine

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"Iconic" might just be the Iconic Boys From Marketing BS Word.

Besides, when I think of an Iconic New York Cheese Shop I think of one of those little hole-in-the-wall storefronts in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn with the cheeses hanging in net bags from hooks in the front window. Not some poor minimum-wager at a kiosk handing out cracker samples.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
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The most unbearable phrase in the language? "I'm traveling right now, but I promise I'll get your check out as soon as I'm home."
A Russian scientist and a Czech scientist had spent their whole lives studying the majestic grizzly bear. Each year they petitioned their respective governments to allow them to go to Yellowstone to study these wondrous beasts. Finally, their request was granted and they immediately flew to New York and then on west to Yellowstone. They reported to the local ranger station and were told that it was the grizzly mating season and it was much too dangerous to go out and study the animals. They pleaded that this was their only chance. Finally the ranger relented. The Russian and the Czech were given cell phones and told to report in each and every day. For several days they called in, and then nothing was heard from the two scientists. The rangers mounted a search party and found the scientists' camp completely ravaged. No sign of the missing men. They then followed the trail of a male and a female bear. They found the female and decided they must kill the animal to find out if she had eaten the scientists because they feared an international incident. They killed the female and cut open the bear's stomach... only to find the remains of the Russian. One ranger turned to the other and said, "You know what this means, don't you?" "Of course," the other ranger nodded. "The Czech is in the male."
 
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My mother's basement
"Iconic" might just be the Iconic Boys From Marketing BS Word.

Besides, when I think of an Iconic New York Cheese Shop I think of one of those little hole-in-the-wall storefronts in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn with the cheeses hanging in net bags from hooks in the front window. Not some poor minimum-wager at a kiosk handing out cracker samples.

In this case, marketing is precisely what it is.

I see “iconic” in real estate agents’ descriptions of properties that strain one’s imagination to find iconic in any way, even here in the Land o’ Legal Weed. They’d have you think “iconic” is nearly synonymous with “nondescript.”

As to other annoying phrases in real estate agents’ property descriptions (there’s the mother lode for ya) ...

A house up the street has been a rental for longer than we’ve lived here, much longer, I believe. Due to our acquaintance with the most recent renters there we know the condition of the house, which is borderline unfit for habitation. Apparently the owners aren’t feeling inclined to carry out all the long-overdue repairs, so they’ve put the place up for sale. So how does the real estate agent address this decided shortcoming?

“The remaining loving touches on this one will go a long way toward building instant equity!”
 
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