It gets used every election season.
I hear “it is what it is” in reality shows. Pisses me off because what it is, usuallly isn’t what the person says it is. I also hate “game on,” like the game hasn’t really started until someone says it’s started but the game has been going on the whole time idiot!
I never got turnkey either. Most people seem to use it to mean original and cool.
Well, a turnkey is a jailer. But the word just reminds me of turkey.
No, robust is used frequently in electronic and software systems. It means one portion of a system can crash without taking out the whole system e.g. your MS Word can go to hell but it won’t crash your Win XP. Of course I may not be using the best products for this example. But, if used properly, robust has a distinct meaning in software.
So, swami, do you need a new acolyte? Or can I just yank that for a tagline?
This is one I use, but only in its specific meaning. A complete and ready system so that all you have to do is “turn the key” and start using it as opposed to something you have to customize and configure.
I find it much preferable to the alternative, “Off-the-shelf solution”
Well, OK, but what will I be able to leverage with it?
Well, if it’s something you just said, the proper response would be
“Yes, yes it is”[sup]1, 2, 3[/sup]
(or you could practice keeping a straight face in the mirror and saying “oh? And just WHO is ‘she’!? Don’t lie, I already know, she told me everything. You bastard!” Then proceed to storm out of the room completely flustered only to reenter about 5 seconds later laughing your head off.)
Anyway “Don’t ask questions, just know the answers,” and “The more you give the more you get,” (alt: you get what you give) get my nominations for most annoying overused pieces of rhetoric ever.
[sup]1 As seen here: xkcd: How it Happened
2 and here: xkcd: Your Mom
3 Especially if he starts doing it ironically like this: http://xkcd.com/174/[/sup]
“on accident”.
Why?
It has the same number of syllables and letters as “by accident” - only it makes you sound like you didn’t finish first grade! Yeah, lets use that instead. :rolleyes:
On preview, '“going forward” is seconded.
“Add value” - I once heard somebody mentioning their printer problem and somebody offered to go over and “add value” - you mean help? And I’ve noticed that nowadays we don’t have problems any more but rather challenges. And please stop referring to me as a resource like I’m a stapler.
We’ve been hearing “out of the box” vs custom. I get confused between that and thinking outside the box. Then there’s this artist who mentioned how quilting appeals to her because it makes her think “inside the box”. We’ve come full-circle and my ears are bleeding.
Where I work, we utilize proven best practices to achieve not only a comprehensive, robust enterprise solution, but also to develop and market a highly compelling value proposition. Our clients are market leaders, including many Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies who maintain mission-critical systems 24/7. We offer these organizations end-to-end solutions that are guaranteed to enhance efficiency in a business environment where profit margins are razor-thin.
Here’s a blog entry I did in January using every word listed on Lake Superior State University’s 2008 List of Banished Words (banished words bolded):
Post 9/11, many **wordsmiths ** have been **thrown under the bus ** for their continual and–might I point out–incorrect usage of the word “decimate” (which, of course, refers to reducing by 1/10th, not completely annihilating). Said wordsmiths are responsible for a **perfect storm ** of inaccurate reporting, such as “Orange is the new pink,” (which, as anyone who has seen *Legally Blonde * knows, is totally bogus). I propose that a **webinar ** be immediately set up to address these issues. Pedants might think that these wordsmiths should be waterboarded, and one might think that I, a noted pedant, might agree. I do not. Their behavior is totally organic; they’re creating their own version of the English language, and I say, go team! (Not really; I tend to twitch every time I hear people dramatically abuse my beloved language. Ask C and A-Banana, who laughed every time I shuddered when C said something about the most smartest something-or-other.) Whoever **authored ** that concept should be hanged, drawn, and quartered. But I digress.
There has been an incredible **surge ** of such word usage. Why is this? I personally believe it is a direct result of people shopping on Black Friday. It has been scientifically proven that there is a direct correlation between the number of hours spent shopping on Black Friday, the amount of money spent, the number of people with whom one has gotten into physical altercations, and the reduction of brain cells.
It’s time for us to stop berating these poor wordsmiths, and **give back ** to the community of people who like to author books and articles. Let them retain their dignity. I mean, **back in the day ** Shakespeare was lauded for creating new words and turns of a phrase. True, he was totally random, but what’s wrong with that? Think of some of Shakespeare’s most famous quotations–“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments; Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.” That’s totally sweet! What’s not to love about that? I get all **emotional ** just thinking about it. In the preceding quotation, the word “true” really makes the whole thing just pop!
In conclusion, don’t waste your energy fighting the syndrome. I mean,** it is what it is**. Let it be.
At the end of the day, it is what it is.
Dude, whats wrong with “sweet”? That’s a totally random word to throw under the bus like that Mr. Wordsmith. Back in the day “sweet” was an organic way of expressing your emotional state.
Here’s one that really bothers me - I know it’s techinically correct, but a linguist on NPR awhile back confirmed that I’m not the only one bothered by it:
Grow the economy.
Grow your business.
etc.
It just sounds wrong to me.
What does “grow the economy” even mean? How can an economy be bigger or smaller?
I think add value has potential as a threat. “If you kids don’t cut that out I’m 'a come over there and add value!”
Information on decimate from dictionary.com:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1), based on Random House Unabridged Dictionary, lists the sense of destroying a large proportion first, followed by the sense of killing every tenth person. “To take a tenth of or from” is marked as obsolete. They also give this Usage Note:
The American Heritage Dictionary also gives a Usage Note:
Finally, Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary mentions a definition from Dr. Johnson, “To take the tenth part of; to tithe.” I’m guessing this is the obsolete meaning mentioned above.
GDP is usually thought of as a measure of the size of the economy.
Another vote for It is what it is…
Especially for athletes, coaches, and sportscasters.
ETA: OH, and enough with the clever mixing of names: Brangelina, TomKat, Bennifer. It’s run it’s course. It’s so yesterday.