.:.impossible Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 "Should be interesting!" "We shall see!""Important" Quote
Big Beat Steve Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 "icon" and "iconic". Never a day goes by anymore without someone, or something, being described thus I'm with you on that one. And most people think it just "famous". Ha! There goes ... See my post of yesterday, 1:51PM. You just meant to say "I agree with you on that one" but want to "side with him" (almost "cuddle up with him"??) at the same time because that implicitly intensifies the notion of agreement, right? Of course this may be allright between members of a common forum such as here, for example , but its's really being used to death these days. Because it levels out any nuancing in how you want to "agree" with someone if it is being used all the time. Like I said, just agreeing with someone is a mile away from "embracing someone in agreement". Quote
BillF Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 What about misuse of the word "passionate" which seemed to be at a peak about two years ago; e.g. "Your packed lunch is prepared for you by people who are passionate about sandwiches." Quote
David Ayers Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 Hero. The other day Bradley Wiggins (cyclist) broke the hour record. I'm a sport cyclist and into cycling, fine. But to hear him called a hero by all the commentators? I'm sorry. He's just a fast cyclist. Quote
king ubu Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 "Awesome". The overuse of this word to describe everything and every one nowadays really irritates me. Awesome should be used in rare circumstances -- to describe the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal, holding a newborn child -- not to describe your lunch or your last workout session. :tup Another one in a similar vein: The German "one-affirmative-fits-all" phrase best translated literally as "I am with you (on this or that matter)" which is really getting used to death, even way outside any business talks. Why can't they just say "I agree"? I for one would certainly not want each and everyone at random to be (that close) "with me". Bin ganz bei Dir! And I add: "gerne". Has crept into local dialect, likely because of the German diaspora in Zurich. Freaks me out, it's just wrong. "Bitte" is the right word to utter in reply to "thank you". Quote
Big Beat Steve Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) The German "one-affirmative-fits-all" phrase best translated literally as "I am with you (on this or that matter)" which is really getting used to death, even way outside any business talks. Why can't they just say "I agree"? I for one would certainly not want each and everyone at random to be (that close) "with me". Bin ganz bei Dir! And I add: "gerne". Has crept into local dialect, likely because of the German diaspora in Zurich. Freaks me out, it's just wrong. "Bitte" is the right word to utter in reply to "thank you". :D Am not quite sure about where "gerne" comes from in this context (though I agree with your feelings about it). If it comes from Germans over in Switzerland then they certainly don't originate from here (SOUTHwestern Germany) but from elsewhere. We would rather say "gern geschehen" ("you're welcome") in some cases (when being thanked for a service rendered, for example). I only use it occasionally in a very pointed manner ("aber gerne!") to emphasise that what I was being thanked for was a natural and easy thing to do ... However, replying with "gerne" to a simple "thank you" in this context sounds very much like Austrian German to me: "Thank you" - "Gerne, Herr Rat - küss die Hand ..." BTW, know that age-old joke about formulaic politeness in Germany? A foreign guest had taken a hotel room high above a downtown street where work was going on on a street construction site, and one morning he woke up from what sounded like a subdued "chuggety-chuggety-chuggety" train sound from that construction site down there. So he opened the window to listen, and sure enough, a row of workers passed along paving stones from the truck to where they were being laid, and between each worker the stones changed hands with an endless stream of "bitte-danke-bitte-danke-bitte-danke ..." :D (My apologies to "non-Germanophonics" for this excursion into another language ... Edited June 9, 2015 by Big Beat Steve Quote
king ubu Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 Not really sure where the "gerne" comes from either - "gern geschehen" would be perfectly okay here as well! Quote
David Ayers Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 Impeccable Unflappable Unfailing Outstanding Magnificent Astonishingly beautiful Unusual Interesting Profound Indefinable Rare Delightful Divine And that's just from the Bobby Hackett entry in the Mosaic catalogue. Quote
BillF Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 What about misuse of the word "passionate" which seemed to be at a peak about two years ago; e.g. "Your packed lunch is prepared for you by people who are passionate about sandwiches." Big balls to "passionate" and bigger balls to "stunning". Two very empty words IMO I have just prepared my children's packed lunches (for the 2000th time it seems) with a mixture of boredom, duty and stoicism. Quote
xybert Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 Guru Luminary Wunderkind Especially when it's anything social media, internet, business or corporate related. Quote
catesta Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 Artisan Hell yes! I'll add "fabulous" and "promising". Quote
JSngry Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Posted June 9, 2015 Keep in mind that these words only apply when applied to somebody you don't know yet. They may very well turn out to be that, but until then, you get that red flag feelin'. Quote
clifford_thornton Posted June 9, 2015 Report Posted June 9, 2015 I use "interesting" but attach it to interest/value in pragmatic philosophy and thus have no problem with its use in this sense. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted June 10, 2015 Report Posted June 10, 2015 I know I use 'wonderful' and 'marvellous' as standard words for 'this gave me above average entertainment'. But those words lost their 'out of this world' meaning a long time ago. I know I overuse 'brilliant' as a verbal reward to student responses. 'Great' is an interesting one - in everyday use means 'something I really enjoyed' rather than indicating someone or thing that is way beyond the even good. How about 'master', a common one around here? 'Outstanding' is the highest grading OFSTED give to schools in the UK. Always strikes me as a misuse - outstanding would to me suggest something quite unique that towers above all around. But then OFSTED recently re calibrated 'satisfactory' (which to me means does the basic job) as 'requires improvement'. It's Humpty Dumpty's world - we just live in it. Quote
erwbol Posted June 10, 2015 Report Posted June 10, 2015 It seems there are no nouns, adjectives, and adverbs left that are safe to use. Quote
paul secor Posted June 10, 2015 Report Posted June 10, 2015 Keep in mind that these words only apply when applied to somebody you don't know yet. They may very well turn out to be that, but until then, you get that red flag feelin'. Exactly. Depends on who's using them. Quote
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