Some expressions I seem to have picked up but I’m not sure where they came from:
- Catch ya – Sign-off on the phone to some people, particularly when I’m in a hurry. Seems to be a contraction of “Catch ya later”
- Plugger – It was a once-off, but I still don’t know where it came from. Several years ago I called my Dad this when visiting him in hospital. Maybe it was the stress of it all, but its origins remain a mystery. (I can’t imagine why it would be related to footballer Tony “Plugger” Lockett.)
Some expressions I don’t like:
- Best – Some kind of shortened lazy version of “All the best,” I assume. Something about it just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s like it sounds insincere for some reason.
- Sure – Used as a substitute for “You’re welcome.” Ditto, seems excessively lazy and insincere. What, you can’t run to three syllables, you have to keep it to a single one? Is there a shortage or something?
- Get a life – Fair enough when it’s used in self-deprecation, but otherwise it’s gratuitous. You like something I don’t, so you need to get a life. What the hell is that supposed to mean? People who use this phrase when talking of others really need to get a life.
Some expressions from various past managers I’ve had (enough to cause a whole paradigm shift… or at least a game of Bullshit Bingo):
- Socialise – this meant discuss with colleagues
- Technical artefacts – documents, they’re documents. Ah yes, the memories, we’d go into meetings to socialise the technical artefacts…
- Down-line-load – one guy I worked with picked this up somewhere — it was his version of “download”
On an unrelated note, funniest TV advert placement seen this week:
- Ad for Tobin Brothers funeral directors, during Six Feet Under
20 replies on “Expressions”
I am sick to death of:
Outcomes
Going forward
Plateau (used as a verb)
Task (used as a verb)
and I’ll think of others.
Networking. I hate it when someone says they “have to go to a meeting, to network with others”
Come on, you are off to have a nice long chat or lunch with someone and think it’s ok, cos it has ‘networking’ attached to it. Harrumph!
‘diarise’ although that, thankfully, seems to be fading.
Agree on the Tobin Brothers advert. I fell of my chair laughing!
And at a particular recent meeting, at which we were both present, someone was asked to ‘speak to’ a motion!
Aaaargh!!!
‘Hello Motion, are you there… wake up… ‘
I’d rather people speak ON a motion!
AND how could I forget not to plug: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/essay3.htm ???
Loop………nah, keep it out of it thanks. The last person who was going to put me in a loop was dismissed the next day.
er…you can speak to a motion. It’s not modern bullshit jargon, it’s proper English.
But I’ve thought of another one I hate:
Across – as in ‘to be across the issues’.
What does “Plugger” mean? I dunno, I leave the country for a few years, and the language completely changes on me. Strewth!
Without cliches some people would have a lot less to say (a pretty good thing). Here’s a few cliches I’ve sewn together “At the end of the day get your act together and know where you’re coming from.”
It’s time “fell off my chair laughing” was buried too.
Then there’s the increasingly popular “np” Which came from “It isn’t a problem” > “Not a problem” > “No problem/No problemo” > “No prob” and no is the irritating “np”.
“Thanks for your help, Frank”
“np” aarrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
In written “peeves” I can’t stand it when you get an email written in SMS code. And! I hate hate hate “Thanx” Spell it right!
i hate message board entries that are full with lols, rofls, smilies and little else. so boring to read…..
and some people say “good thanks” when you greet them with a hello which is strangly irritating.
Andrew, the only way I get into the loop is on a train or via an escalator.
Fraser, I still haven’t worked out what I meant, or what it means.
Leo, I can understand using “np” in e-mail or SMS as shorthand, but people don’t really say it do they?!
Rae, e-mail and SMS-speak in other media is worthy of much discussion. I seem to recall the story of a student in the UK submitting an assignment written in SMS shorthand.
Hi Daniel,
Sadly yes, people are using “np” in connversation. Its small based on my exoerience (ancient Califnornian for experience),but I fear its growth. I think its because of messinging and email. I’m taking a database class at a local community college and I’ve heard people using it.
That last line of my comment was a bit rash, a bit narky. Disregard it. Take no notice.
“I’ll pencil that in” really gives me the irrits.
“Thoonish begrundings” – a colleague uses this as a greetings! Sheesh! hahahaa!
Hi from Bathurst NSW!!!
Recent political expression ‘sexed up’ really annoys me. Also when two ‘things’ are achieved in succession the use of the term ‘back to back’ – surely it should be ‘back to front’! LOL
Who can forget ‘How embarrassment’?!