# Abbreviations / diminutives that make you grind your teeth. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 21, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521 "2015-01-21T21:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/121 "2015-01-30T15:26:20Z")
I was just reading some clickbait and realized that they couldn’t bring themselves to use the word “eat”. Everything was “nosh”. Noshing on this, noshing on that; just stop it, you twits. Unless you’re actually Yiddish, use your grown-up words. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/122 "2015-01-30T17:42:10Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > One that really annoys me is referring to heating something in a microwave as ‘nuking’ it. Because it just shows an abysmal failure to understand science – microwaves have nothing whatsoever to do with nuclear reactions. (Unless maybe your electricity comes from a nuclear generating plant.) I enjoy using it precisely because it’s so wrong. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/123 "2015-01-30T18:08:36Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > One that really annoys me is referring to heating something in a microwave as ‘nuking’ it. Because it just shows an abysmal failure to understand science – microwaves have nothing whatsoever to do with nuclear reaction > [@Rocketeer](#): > > I enjoy using it precisely because it’s so wrong. 😃 So do I. I know it is horribly incorrect in terms of physics, but that is the word I use when I am heating something in a microwave. If I plan to heat it **a lot** then I nuke it 'til it glows. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/124 "2015-01-30T18:21:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Correction: “ **haz** a sad.” And we are perfectly OK with this, in the [proper context](http://lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=How_to_speak_lolcat). We haz an agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/125 "2015-01-30T18:26:07Z")
It may have already been noted, but mani-pedi unreasonably annoys me, as does calling something ‘spendy’. A “spendy mani-pedi” would possibly result in a beat-down. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/126 "2015-01-30T20:11:13Z")
I have one more… I’d forgotten about it until someone used it today at work. “Ask” when used as a noun. Like “What’s the ask on this one?” or “That’s a big ask.” At least using “leverage” as a verb has some sort of vague minimal sense to it, but just using a verb as a noun instead of directly equivalent existing words like “question” or “request” is asinine, and usually makes me think the speaker of such terms is a fool. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/127 "2015-01-31T01:12:14Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > … “OMG” is not saving you any syllables… That one I could see using where saying “God” might be offensive or otherwise preferable to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/128 "2015-01-31T11:18:21Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Most kids have 2 of each. ‘Grandmother Louis, Grandfather Steven’ is pretty formal and a mouthful for young children learning to speak. If the kids pick the name and the adults stick with it, especially if it distinguishes them from their counterpart-in-law, its endearing. My paternal grandparents were Abuelito and Abuelita. The other grandparents for each set of grandkids always had a different title: Yaya and Avi, Aitona and Amona, Abuelo and Abuela, Nano and Nana. This happened naturally due to language and dialect differences for most of us; the one time it didn’t happen was for Nano and Nana, who picked those specifically to avoid confusion. My nephews have two Yayas and they’re always having to clarify which one they mean. They claim that Yaya +Name is “too darn long :mad:, and at least they have short names!” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/129 "2015-01-31T11:51:28Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > My nephews have two Yayas and they’re always having to clarify which one they mean. They claim that Yaya +Name is “too darn long :mad:, and at least they have short names!” Speaking of Yayas – an interesting household etymological journey: My wife has long known that my favorite live album by anyone is the Stones’ [Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Yer_Ya-Ya%27s_Out!_The_Rolling_Stones_in_Concert). We have a four-year-old-son, and my wife recently used this phrase to refer to his needing to expend his energy by running around, before a long car trip, say. Get his excess energy out of his system. So, now “ya-yas” has come to mean “excess energy” in our household. Perhaps a candidate for this thread, if anyone finds it objectionable. (Originally, it meant “derrière” – a plea from some delta blues singer that his lady shake her thing on the dance floor. Or something like that.) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/130 "2015-01-31T12:00:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > (Originally, it meant “derrière” – a plea from some delta blues singer that his lady shake her thing on the dance floor. Or something like that.) The original blues song is “Get Yer Ya-yas Out the Door” – so actually he’s demanding that his lady take her derrière and go. “Get out of my life.” Like most Stones fans, and like Nava’s nephews, we pronounce “ya-ya” to rhyme with “la la” or “ma ma,” but the original delta blues expression rhymed with “ass ass” (in American English, an “ae” sound like in “fat”). ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/131 "2015-01-31T19:52:18Z")
> [@buckgully](#): > > Argh, ‘hubby’ drives me up the wall. On the flipside, I also loathe “SWMBO” (She Who Must Be Obeyed). “Spousal Unit” (derived from an ancient SNL sketch) is the one that makes me cringe. There’s an otherwise-sensible political blogger who uses it constantly. “Hubby” is bad enough, but pseudo-hip substitutes are even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/132 "2015-01-31T20:20:03Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The other thing I really hate is when people use DH/DD/DS on message boards. Just say husband/daughter/son. One married lady I know used DH and explained it this way. It can mean either Dear Husband or Dick Head depending on circumstances. Seems to be a perfect cromulent usage to me. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/133 "2015-01-31T21:36:08Z")
The phrase “going forward” annoys the ever-lovin’ fuck out of me. In most cases it is entirely superfluous in the sentence in which it is used. “We should start using the new computer program going forward.” Argh. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/134 "2015-01-31T21:50:48Z")
There was a professor at a college I attended who abbreviated “Analysis” as “Anal.” whenever writing on the whiteboard, and he used the term “analysis” a lot during his lectures when writing on the whiteboards. Imagine if phrases like _“Business Analysis,” “Scientific Analysis,” “Industrial Analysis,” “Financial Analysis,”_ were written on a whiteboard as…_“Business Anal.”, “Scientific Anal.,” “Industrial Anal.,” and Financial Anal."_ To make matters worse, he was a very old, dignified, respectable, solemn professor. It made people feel even more awkward about this. How do you tell such a person, “You know, it’s probably not a good idea to abbreviate ‘Analysis’ as ‘Anal.’ when writing on the whiteboard?” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/135 "2015-01-31T22:14:13Z")
I have a coworker who calls me a nickname that she made up, that no one else calls me by. And I secretly loathe it with the white heat of a million suns. “'za” is a close runner-up, though. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/136 "2015-02-01T05:40:18Z")
The Lou for St. Louis. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/137 "2015-02-01T13:02:59Z")
I suggest that most of you posting in this thread should never travel to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/138 "2015-02-01T13:09:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I suggest that most of you posting in this thread should never travel to Australia. Hellish long flight, I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/139 "2015-02-01T14:01:51Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > or “the V”, or “vajayjay”. What the fuckety fuck? Vajayjay is not OK but fuckety is? You owe me a new irony meter. . ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521/140 "2015-02-01T23:24:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I suggest that most of you posting in this thread should never travel to Australia. > [@kayaker](#): > > Hellish long flight, I’ve heard. Yeah, [all the way from Post #57!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18074770&postcount=57) Boy, are my arms tired! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviations-diminutives-that-make-you-grind-your-teeth/710521.md?page=8)