The "Annoying Phrase" Thread

[Hat and Rehat]

The Atlantic Monthly -- about as East Coast an institution as has ever existed -- did a survey a few years back to get to the bottom of the "on line" vs. "in line" thing, and came up with this interesting graphic:

As you can see, New York City is the nexus for "on line," but it's well represented in other Northeastern states. Vermont, however, seems to be rather militantly opposed to it. They're very independent folk in that state. I'm also surprised it hasn't penetrated more heavily into Florida, given the large population of New York expatriates there.

Seems like few people stand on line or in line in the mountain states. Guess you get right to the window quick there.

We used to (great research by the way), but now a new notion has taken hold. It must be from lemming training at the bank, post office, airport security, motor vehicle division, or perhaps some other government agencies which I have managed to avoid, so far.
Instead of lining up (consider that my ballot cast), there's this crazy new thing taking hold where people stand back like there's a tape and a sign saying, wait here for the next available clerk. But there is no tape. Nobody really knows where here is. Everybody just mills around eying each other out of the corner of their eye.
It makes me want to bark out what I heard in elementary school: "Line up! Single file!"

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[Hat and Rehat]

I think it's the influence of British television shows -- I know a lot of young Doctor Who fans around here who have taken to saying "Brilliant!" instead of "swell" or "ginchy" or "nifty-galifty."

Occasionally I'll come to attention, click my heels and say "It shall be done!" when told in a pompous manner to do something straight away, right away, or immediately, but I think they know I'm being sarcastic.

Their husbands are even worse, because they say "head," even though none of them has the slightest tang o' the sea about them. Me, I just call it "the can."

I never knew "head" had nautical roots. I used to use it from time to time, picking it up I believe from acquaintances with military service under their belt. Maybe they were all Squids or Jarheads, but I never made the connection.
My daughter's husband and in laws, Aussies, are refreshingly blunt. They go to the toilet.

(I had to edit this. Spell check turned Aussies to Sissies. I could get in trouble for that.)

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[Hat and Rehat]

Shitter has a solid minority following out here.

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[Hat and Rehat]

I remember asking my dad what "a quarter" was.

Herself calls me Teddy (a derivative of Edward) or, often, just 'Bear'. I've taken to referring to our smallest room as "the woods".

I really liked that reference to a "quarter". That dilemma never would have crossed my mind.
But how do you derive Teddy from Edward? Eddie, sure, or Ed, but Teddy belongs to Theodore.

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[Hat and Rehat]

I've always called it "the smallest room in the house".

I started to say that you haven't seen the "master bathrooms" they began putting in the McMansions here, but then remembered that they all have that special little room with a door of its own. Even though I'm in the building trades I'm unaware if it has a commonly accepted name. Needing to sometimes identify it, I started to use "water closet". People would sometimes blink, but the switch got flipped pretty quickly.

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[Benny Holiday]

Old Australian slang is "the dunny". As in, "Hold on, mate, I gotta go to the dunny."
Old Australian curse: "I hope your chooks (chickens) grow into emus and kick yer dunny door down!"

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Old Australian slang is "the dunny". As in, "Hold on, mate, I gotta go to the dunny."
Old Australian curse: "I hope your chooks (chickens) grow into emus and kick yer dunny door down!"

Where you get it done, I recon.

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[GHT]

Old Australian slang is "the dunny". As in, "Hold on, mate, I gotta go to the dunny."

That reminds me of Crocodile Dundee, where he's in the New York hotel and is trying to figure out the bidet.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Don't forget your wretched exports. In Britspeak we need a crap or we are having a crap, we never take one. It's your's and you can keep it. One Americanism that crept into our lexicon is: dump. Tourists returning home from The States, brought in with them, the ghastly expression, taking a dump. No, you can take it, I'm still going to have a sh*t, not take it, when I get the urge.

Just tell the Yanks you're going to the Kharzi, that'll confuse 'em.

 

[GHT]

Just tell the Yanks you're going to the Kharzi, that'll confuse 'em.

What Lizzie said about Americans using the term: "The Loo," brought back a reminisce. Twice on our last visit to the US, when asking where the bathrooms were, the reply came back, something like, "The loos are at the end of the corridor." I put it down to my English accent, but it could come from TV shows. It certainly made me smile.

 

[Edward]

I really liked that reference to a "quarter". That dilemma never would have crossed my mind.
But how do you derive Teddy from Edward? Eddie, sure, or Ed, but Teddy belongs to Theodore.

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I think it's an English thing originally, but on this sided of the Atlantic Ted, Teddy, Ned and Neddy are all derivatives from Edward. Theodore isn't a name you run into much, if at all here.

 

[Haversack]

My father's given name was Edward and my grandfather, (Man of Kent), always called him Ted, (much to my father's dislike).

Other names I have heard for the 'necessary' are privy, biffy, jakes, and turdis -(specifically for those plastic outhouses at events and construction sites). Biffy is interesting in that I have only heard it used in the Pacific Northwest and its origin is apparently from the ETO during WWII. There is a line in Russ Meyer's Beneath the Valley of the Dolls: "There's a fern in the biffy!"

 

[tonyb]

...
But how do you derive Teddy from Edward? Eddie, sure, or Ed, but Teddy belongs to Theodore.

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Tell it to the Kennedys.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Tell it to the Kennedys.

They can't tell a Jack from a John.
However, Tony, I did not see that one coming.

 

[GHT]

How often have you come across: "With all due respect?" What this really means is: "I think you're a moron for whom I have no respect, but I don't want to look bad by saying it." Whenever I hear this, I sense an expression of personal superiority.

Another favourite in a similar vein: "To be honest." What it really means is: "You and I both know we lie a lot, so here I am trying to get you to pay attention to something that I want you to believe is true"............ And very likely, it isn't.

Then you get the simpleton, as in: "Simply put." For that, read: "I'm smarter than you. I've tried to express myself in an intelligent way. But I think you're stupid, so I use this phrase to alert you that the stupid-person's version is coming right up."

There was an expression that I used on a thread a year or so back, that I qualified, and the resulting comments did make me smile.
So it's worth a second outing: "Money can't buy you happiness..................But it can buy you an MGB V8."

 

[EngProf]

The Atlantic Monthly -- about as East Coast an institution as has ever existed -- did a survey a few years back to get to the bottom of the "on line" vs. "in line" thing, and came up with this interesting graphic:

As you can see, New York City is the nexus for "on line," but it's well represented in other Northeastern states. Vermont, however, seems to be rather militantly opposed to it. They're very independent folk in that state. I'm also surprised it hasn't penetrated more heavily into Florida, given the large population of New York expatriates there.

Seems like few people stand on line or in line in the mountain states. Guess you get right to the window quick there.

The "Atlantic Monthly" people must have interviewed some Yankees who were in town to see the Grand Ole Opry when they decided that Nashville needed a red dot for use of "on line" instead of "in line" for describing people standing in a line.
I have lived here almost all my life and have never heard anyone say "on line" when they meant "in line".
A case just today:
Amazon is opening their Eastern Service Hub here and had a job fair for people to sign up. It's news (5000 new jobs), so the news people were there in force. The words "in line" were used three times to describe the people who were standing in line.
At the end of the news segment the TV guy said that you could also sign up for jobs "on line" (using your computer).

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you're on line while you're in line, are you out of line?

 

[Hat and Rehat]

How often have you come across: "With all due respect?" What this really means is: "I think you're a moron for whom I have no respect, but I don't want to look bad by saying it." Whenever I hear this, I sense an expression of personal superiority.
V8."

That's never what I intend when I say.it! Don't knock down strawmen.
I sincerely respect that you may know sh*t from shinola, but on this subject you're a clueless moron, and I need to set you straight immediately.



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[Hat and Rehat]

If you're on line while you're in line, are you out of line?

Let me check my navel.

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[Hat and Rehat]

I think it's an English thing originally, but on this sided of the Atlantic Ted, Teddy, Ned and Neddy are all derivatives from Edward. Theodore isn't a name you run into much, if at all here.

Maybe their toddler siblings had trouble beginning a name with a vowel.
Or maybe it was a means of torment.

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