From your link:
a. frigging
(colloquial)
(adjective)
¡Esta computadora de miércoles se colgó de nuevo!This frigging computer crashed again!
The link doesn’t say why “Miércoles” is used that way: it’s because you start to say “mierda”, realize you are not supposed to swear and change course to “Miércoles”.
I think I picked up the trailing “so…” from Schitt’s Creek. I like it though. “Fill in the blank, asshole!”
I also started saying “ish” to mean “kind of”. Not sure it’s a Schitt’s Creek thing, but it seems like it might be.
For example:
“Is your head still hurting?”
(shrug) “Ish. I need to take some ibuprofen.”
I hate saying “awesome” all the time, but I’ve been doing it for years.
I know a guy who starts nearly every sentence one of two ways: “Actually…” and “That being said…”
The first one says “you’re wrong”, which is just terrific for a person to pepper their conversations with and the second is unnecessary blather since I just heard you say the thing you said.
“From now on” is time-tested and doesn’t sound so insipidly trendy.
I don’t tend to get upset by meaningless business slang. I don’t much use phrases like synergy, early days, pivot, bandwidth, new normal and the like except (slightly facetiously*) when talking to people dead inside who use this empty language exclusively.
The phrase I probably dislike the most is “we stand with…”. I could live with it if used out of respect, or even to unite people under a glorious shining banner of eternal happiness. But most often it seems to come out of a need to signal virtue and do nothing - except perhaps “offer thoughts and prayers”. Yeesh. Thanks for that.
*Facetiously, like abstemiously, is one of very few words to contain all the vowels in order.
I’ve learned “sus” and “cringe” (as an adjective) from my kids and sometimes use it. In my generation, I think we would use the word “sketch” or “sketchy” for the former and “cringe-y” or “makes me cringe” for the latter. And then there is also the occasional “sussy baka”, which I use when talking to them. I believe that one comes from the game Among Us. I’m pretty sure I use all the phrases mentioned in this thread as part of my normal speak.
I recently learned the term, “slappin’” and am actively resisting the urge to slip it into casual conversation.
What’s interesting is that I watch a reasonable amount of Youtube videos, and a lot of the content is created by Millennials and now Zoomers, so it’s much easier to pick up on the language of youth than it was back in the day for our parents, who probably thought we were speaking another language half the time.
Yup. I don’t use sus and cringe, but I understand them and think they’re fine. One bit of millenial-speak I have adopted is low-key for “sincerely” or “enthusiastically”. Don’t know why, but I kinda like it.
I’ve also picked up a bunch of sneakerhead lingo like heat, coppin’, drip, and takin’ a L. A shoetuber I follow has a great term for anything ugly or ill-designed: trash can water. But the only term that’s entered my usage is OG.
But the OP asked about phrases we dislike but use anyway. I watch a lot of British panel shows on YouTube, and have noticed some Briticisms creeping into my lexicon - bugger, wanker, whip-round. I sometimes find myself affecting a Scottish or Estuary accent (or my approximation of such) when talking to myself. Nothing wrong with any of that per se, but it feels a bit affected for an American.
I tried to eliminate “um” from my speech and “so” became the replacement. I’m not sure how that happened.
I say “nucular,” “expecially,” “whole nother,” and “expresso.” I can’t rewire my brain at this point.
I record and edit lectures given by psychiatrists, and then I caption them. All of the people starting every freaking sentence with “So” are either younger Boomers or older Gen X. Every single one.
Regarding things like “um,” “uh,” “er,” “you know,” “I mean,” “so,” “well,” etc., these are filler words (Filler (linguistics) - Wikipedia) and they actually play a practical role in human language. They are found in every language that I know of, and I would be surprised to learn that there are languages in which they don’t exist.
These don’t bother me the way that trendy terms and buzzwords bother me. I hate it when all of a sudden everyone all the time has to now say “it slaps” to describe songs they like.
An exception to the above … I really hate how people can’t just say “yeah” or “no” 'these days. It’s almost always “No, yeah!” or “Yeah, no …” Argh!
I’m Gen X, and I’m definitely a “so” sentence starting person. That actually is one that I consciously try to eliminate when I’m typing things out. Well, not so much eliminate as minimize.
I use share meaning tell, and I use feel meaning think. However, I only use them in a derisive, smart-assed tone, throwing shade at those who use them that way unironically.
Huh. I’m not aware of that usage. Can you use it in a sentence? I’ve always heard “low-key” to mean, chill, relaxed, or secretly, but not “enthusiastically.”
Yeah, I understand “low key” to mean “I’m not flaunting it or being ostentatious about it.” You could be a low-key anti-Semite or a low-key Nickelback fan. You just don’t tell everyone about it all the time.
I’ve never seen the “enthusiastically” usage, but I have seen it used to mean “genuine.” It’s easy to guess how one definition led to another: people who are always hyping up one thing or another feel artificial. People who are low-key about their beliefs and interests are more likely to hold them sincerely.
Meanwhile, there is a guy that I work with who actually uses “actually” far too much, actually. He seems to actually use it every second sentence. It is actually one of his favorite words. Drives me crazy actually.
Here’s a rhetorical quirk I hear a lot, especially from politicians: Making a statement in the form of a Yes/No question and then answering it.
“Do I think the Texas abortion law stinks? Yes, I do. Are we going to challenge it in court every chance we get? Yes, we are going to do that.”
To me, at least, nearly all of what you’ve mentioned has its purpose. Sometimes the terms convey a sentiment that has value. Other times, they are more to do with form, which matters a ton in conversation.
For example, I’ll use “that being said” to as a way to join what I just said to something I said previously, letting the reader know I’m about to contradict myself. This is similar to, say, the word “however” or “but” or “still.” These joiners (including non-negative ones like “therefore”) are to me a part of fluid speech and/or writing.
Another example: I find that answering my own rhetorical questions often prevents misunderstanding. The technique is at least as old as the New Testament. Paul would often ask a question and answer it with “By no means” (or "God forbid in the KJV).
One last example: I’ve used “going forward” my whole life, and never knew it was seen as business speak, as I’ve never actually really worked for an office. I just see it as a more formal way to say “From now on.”
The main thing I don’t like of this sort is the use of emoji to send information and not merely tone. But I still have trouble even figuring out which emoji to use for tone, so I’ve not adopted that. I’m the type who has always tried to adopt more colloquial expressions into his speech, while not going too far into “Hello fellow kids” territory.