Words or phrases that annoy you (even if you can't explain why) . . .

[rehkram]

I keep remembering an email that was sent to me in February, with the opening line: "We have begun to implement a new project into your workflow." The project was fine, but here's what I have to say to the wording of it: JUST. STOP. WITH. THE. CORPORATE. LANGUAGE. PLEASE!!!

Instead, what about just saying, "We have introduced a new project," or "We have added a new project for you"? "Workflow" is not only cringy, but borderline dehumanizing—what about my work is a "workflow?" Maybe it is a "workflow" to you, but definitely not to me. I use that word in a software context. For instance, "my video production workflow involves adding clips, transitions, and audio effects." Alas, I am not a piece of software. Also, while "implement" is an okay verb, I just still prefer introduce. It sounds a lot less corporate to me, and not like I (the employee) am a machine.

Even worse, the person who sent this is about my age.

I disagree with you on this. "Workflow" is not solely corporate language. It can be used to describe any non-trivial "outer" task that consists of multiple steps. It also describes a logical- and/or prioritized sequence in which to perform these steps.

Workflows can refer to something you do every day, week, month etc, and are not solely what we think of as projects.

 

[Miss Terri]

JUST. STOP. WITH. THE. CORPORATE. LANGUAGE. PLEASE!!!

Sometimes I read company mission statements. They can be such a conglomeration of corporate-speak that if you applied "Omit needless words" to them they'd be one (clear) sentence instead of a couple of dense paragraphs. It's almost laughable.

On the "implementing into your workflow" -- what do you want to bet you are just being given additional work, and it has nothing to do with the "flow" of what you are doing. (Not that there's anything wrong with being given additional work, but just call it that.)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I keep remembering an email that was sent to me in February, with the opening line: "We have begun to implement a new project into your workflow." The project was fine, but here's what I have to say to the wording of it: JUST. STOP. WITH. THE. CORPORATE. LANGUAGE. PLEASE!!!

Instead, what about just saying, "We have introduced a new project," or "We have added a new project for you"? "Workflow" is not only cringy, but borderline dehumanizing—what about my work is a "workflow?" Maybe it is a "workflow" to you, but definitely not to me. I use that word in a software context. For instance, "my video production workflow involves adding clips, transitions, and audio effects." Alas, I am not a piece of software. Also, while "implement" is an okay verb, I just still prefer introduce. It sounds a lot less corporate to me, and not like I (the employee) am a machine.

Even worse, the person who sent this is about my age.

Agreed.

The scourge of corporate language - a type of tortured language that is designed to obfuscate, disguise and confuse an audience, or reader, mask the meaning of language, while simultaneously bestowing on the speaker/writer an entirely fraudulent sense of extraordinary importance - grows by the day, and has come to infest and infect areas (such as the humanities in universities) where it has no business putting in an appearance.

One word which sets my teeth on edge each and every time, whether in speech or in writing, is "ain't." To me that signifies or suggests little or no education, as well as and/or often coming from a background of poverty. I know it is also used as a slang term or as part of some regional dialects, but that doesn't make it correct or appropriate, especially in business or formal and even casual social situations (including social media and participation in online web-based discussion forums).

Oh, yes, a heartfelt amen to this.

 

[Miss Terri]

Just read an article and another one popped up. Why the need to replace the noun "request" with the verb "(to) ask"? This seems like a new thing. In this case it was something like "We are glad we did it ourselves. The shop was very busy so it would have been a hard ask." (Meaning, even if they had requested the job be done quickly, it was unlikely to happen due to the shop being very busy.)

Why is "ask" being used as a noun? It's not like it's that much shorter or easier to say or type than "request." How can something be "an ask"?

 

[Clix Pix]

Yes!!!! Using "ask" as a noun is something else which really irritates me and I can't fathom how this ever even got started and then spread....

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Another one that has irked me for quite some time is the way the use of the word "impact" has changed (some might argue, evolved).

Somehow, in recent years (decades?) this word has become another of the those verbs.

Instead of saying (or writing) something along the lines of "this had a considerable impact on me", or, "this has had an impact on growth"current usage decrees, or dictates, - transforming this word into a verb, while also, at the same time, (in the, spurious and supposed, interest of brevity), discarding, or dispensing with, those prepositions (such as "on") that defined its meaning with exquisite precision, - that one should write "this impacted me", or, "this impacted growth".

 

[redcarian]

“Value”, in the context of a consumer item.

“This product is not a good value”

I first noticed this in the tech press, roughly around the same time people like The Verge starting using “colourway” to sound all designer-y and clever, when they really meant “colour”.

 

[KaliYoni]

Why is "ask" being used as a noun?

I can't fathom how this ever even got started and then spread....

I'd say a possible source is the use of bid and ask to refer to the prices buyers and sellers, respectively, are willing to make trades at in financial markets coupled with the spread of trading as a form of entertainment.

I also think request and ask have slightly different connotations in present day speech and writing. Request has a polite, somewhat conditional feel while ask is more of a transaction-oriented demand.

 

[Miss Terri]

I also think request and ask have slightly different connotations in present day speech and writing. Request has a polite, somewhat conditional feel while ask is more of a transaction-oriented demand.

Interesting about the markets/language.

I hear you on the connotations. But just ..... use ask as a verb if "request" sounds too formal! (Not that you are responsible for this of course.)

 

[fatTribble]

One word which sets my teeth on edge each and every time, whether in speech or in writing, is "ain't." To me that signifies or suggests little or no education, as well as and/or often coming from a background of poverty. I know it is also used as a slang term or as part of some regional dialects, but that doesn't make it correct or appropriate, especially in business or formal and even casual social situations (including social media and participation in online web-based discussion forums).

“signifies or suggests little or no education”
I have family members who use that word seemingly intentionally to suggest they have no education. They view the side of the family who went to college as elitists and want to signify they are not like them. They went to high school. They grew up very middle class. It’s like a form of anti intellectualism where they want to set themselves apart from anyone who went to college or travels.

I don’t get it. Most of the grammar I learned was in 8th grade not college (Thank you Mrs. Snow!)
Decent grammar isn’t a college thing.

 

[fatTribble]

When did “disrespect“ become a verb?

I’ve heard people say things like “He disrespected me” or “Don’t disrespect me”.
Thus sounds awful to me every time I hear it. 🥴

How about “Don’t be disrespectful” or “You’re being rude.”?

Is it just me?

 

[mollyc]

When did “disrespect“ become a verb?

I’ve heard people say things like “He disrespected me” or “Don’t disrespect me”.
Thus sounds awful to me every time I hear it. 🥴

How about “Don’t be disrespectful” or “You’re being rude.”?

Is it just me?

Merriam-Webster has disrespect listed as a verb first.

The Oxford English dictionary has disrespect shown as a verb first in 1614.

Soooo, not a new thing then.

 

[MacCheetah3]

One word which sets my teeth on edge each and every time, whether in speech or in writing, is "ain't." To me that signifies or suggests little or no education, as well as and/or often coming from a background of poverty. I know it is also used as a slang term or as part of some regional dialects, but that doesn't make it correct or appropriate, especially in business or formal and even casual social situations (including social media and participation in online web-based discussion forums).

“signifies or suggests little or no education”
I have family members who use that word seemingly intentionally to suggest they have no education. They view the side of the family who went to college as elitists and want to signify they are not like them. They went to high school. They grew up very middle class. It’s like a form of anti intellectualism where they want to set themselves apart from anyone who went to college or travels.

I don’t get it. Most of the grammar I learned was in 8th grade not college (Thank you Mrs. Snow!)
Decent grammar isn’t a college thing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingOfTheHill/comments/8btcod/i_aint_got_no_learning

When did “disrespect“ become a verb?

I’ve heard people say things like “He disrespected me” or “Don’t disrespect me”.
Thus sounds awful to me every time I hear it. 🥴

How about “Don’t be disrespectful” or “You’re being rude.”?

Is it just me?

Merriam-Webster has disrespect listed as a verb first.

The Oxford English dictionary has disrespect shown as a verb first in 1614.

Soooo, not a new thing then.

I was a little surprised to see this fact.

That Annoying New Verb “disrespect” - DAILY WRITING TIPS

Reader Erica Richards, commenting on the post about the abomination “a few stuff,” was not so sanguine as I about teenagers outgrowing appalling usage:

www.dailywritingtips.com

That’s probably because I’ve only heard it used as a verb from the Black community, and always as a projection/deflection — the latter being the true irritant.
In the comment section:

That Annoying New Verb “disrespect” - DAILY WRITING TIPS

Reader Erica Richards, commenting on the post about the abomination “a few stuff,” was not so sanguine as I about teenagers outgrowing appalling usage:

www.dailywritingtips.com

Speaking of nouns to verbs,“texted” bugs me a lot. People need to stop being lazy and keep the clarity, such as “I sent a text message.”

 

[redcarian]

Some of that thread is racist af.

“ethnic minorities have been watering down the English language to its most basic form for years and will continue to do so”

Oh really, Phil?

In general, those comments are wild.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Some of that thread is racist af.

“ethnic minorities have been watering down the English language to its most basic form for years and will continue to do so”

Oh really, Phil?

In general, those comments are wild.

I won’t disagree. Fittingly so, I would turn that statement into:

“The willfully ignorant have been watering down the English language to its most basic form for years and will continue to do so”

 

[VisceralRealist]

New words and forms are created to supplant circuitous, periphrastic language. "Why use one word to say what can be said in ten words?" I think you answered your own question.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Some of that thread is racist af.

......

You mean this particular thread?

I think that context - and setting - tend to matter, when writing about language.

Now, - and I'm not from the US, thus, many of the observations made about how such matters are culturally interpreted (there) may elude me, or escape me - I would argue that while language may be used as a significant signifier of ethnicity (with all of the judgments that arise from that) in the US, in the UK, it tends to be used (yes, frequently negatively) as a signifier of social class, rather than ethnicity.

However, I would also argue that for many of us who have contributed to this thread, a love of the English language and a deep dislike (approaching loathing) of how it may have been mutilated in some usages is what has motivated - or given rise to - our contributions.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Merriam-Webster has disrespect listed as a verb first.

The Oxford English dictionary has disrespect shown as a verb first in 1614.

Soooo, not a new thing then.

This is fascinating, and is something that I hadn't known.

It does serve to remind some of us (and I am equally guilty of this) that some forms of language, and word usage, that one finds in the US, are closer to how the language may have been written and spoken in the 16th and 17th and 18th centuries, than is the English spoken and written in The Old Country, (and some of the linguistic traditions and usages influenced by that, such as is found in some of the English-speaking colonies - and former colonies - of the British Empire).

 

[VisceralRealist]

You mean this particular thread?

I think that context - and setting - tend to matter, when writing about language.

They were referring to the dailywritingtips link that MacCheetah3 posted, in which there are numerous explicitly racist comments about the type of people who would use "disrespect" as a verb, including the one quoted.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

They were referring to the dailywritingtips link that MacCheetah3 posted, in which there are numerous explicitly racist comments about the type of people who would use "disrespect" as a verb, including the one quoted.

Ah, okay, understood.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[redcarian]

Yes, the ambiguity in my post is my bad. Writing on the internet can be a tough ask, and I ain’t always giving it my appropes attention, resulting in me disrespecting stuff.

 

[VisceralRealist]

Well, to answer this question, I’ll submit one word that has been annoying me quite a bit lately: “vibe(s)”

The word has become an all-purpose term used to avoid any kind of deeper analysis of anything, or to suggest that real problems are vague and inscrutable (even if they’re not). This leads to horrible portmanteaus like “vibecession”.

I also just personally find it annoying.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Well, to answer this question, I’ll submit one word that has been annoying me quite a bit lately: “vibe(s)”

The word has become an all-purpose term used to avoid any kind of deeper analysis of anything, or to suggest that real problems are vague and inscrutable (even if they’re not). This leads to horrible portmanteaus like “vibecession”.

I also just personally find it annoying.

Agree with you.

The other things is that - linguistically - while the use of language changes and evolves over time (especially in slang), little dates as poorly, and as embarrassingly fiercely, as slang, or argot.

 

[fatTribble]

Merriam-Webster has disrespect listed as a verb first.

The Oxford English dictionary has disrespect shown as a verb first in 1614.

Soooo, not a new thing then.

Very interesting! Thanks for that. The couple of quick searches I did before posting showed using it as a verb as being informal.

I suppose it’s all what you’re used to hearing.

 

[fatTribble]

Well, to answer this question, I’ll submit one word that has been annoying me quite a bit lately: “vibe(s)”

The word has become an all-purpose term used to avoid any kind of deeper analysis of anything, or to suggest that real problems are vague and inscrutable (even if they’re not). This leads to horrible portmanteaus like “vibecession”.

I also just personally find it annoying.

It reminds me of my high school English teachers who pointed out that saying someone is “great” really means nothing because it lacks specificity.