# I Hate the Word "Veggies" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 2, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986 "2011-04-02T23:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/181 "2011-04-09T21:21:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > What’s your position on “sammies” or “samwiches?” People who use these words should be put through a wood chipper, have their mutilated corpses lit on fire with gasoline, and dumped in the bottom of the Mariana trench in cement-weighted 55 gallon oil drums. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/182 "2011-04-09T21:54:32Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > I HATE the little internet cutesyisms, DH, DS, DD, etc. It took me longer than it should have to realize that the letters stood for “dear husband,” “dear daughter,” “dear son.” I mean, what the fuck? Is it too difficult to type husband, son, daughter, etc? Must we ALWAYS be so fucking adorable about everything? Gah. I have never seen those. I thought you were talking about floppy disks (Double-Sided, Double-Density). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/183 "2011-04-09T22:09:30Z")
> [@BDoors](#): > > I always notice it in the software industry, dominated as it is by US companies. Instead of saying that their new product has a number of interesting features, they talk about it having “a bunch of cool stuff”. Forty-year-old men talking like they’re still fourteen. Well, when the computer folks realized no one was going to buy a PC just to balance their checkbook, they had to do _ **something** _ to sell the things–hence the birth of “cool stuff”: That is, interfaces that children could figure out, games, media, and ultimately, social networking. Along the way, they told us to buy their computers simply because they “come in colors” (Apple), and had very very very special icons just for you with names like “My Computer” and “My Documents” (“It’s MY computer. YOU can’t use, it BILLY!!!”) > [@BDoors](#): > > But it’s not just that. In America, a cat or kitten is a “kitty”, a word that nobody here over the age of five would use. Of course not. Over there the correct, adult word for “cat” is “pussy.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/184 "2011-04-09T22:12:04Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > I have never seen those. > > I thought you were talking about floppy disks (Double-Sided, Double-Density). I have never seen those, either, but heard about them. Didn’t the Beatles use those to make their CDs? ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/185 "2011-04-09T22:20:03Z")
Two more non-infantilized yet personally irksome words: Troops Folks It really bugs me when Obama says “folks”. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/186 "2011-04-09T22:24:33Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > I have never seen those. > > I thought you were talking about floppy disks (Double-Sided, Double-Density). You’re lucky! But now that you have been made aware of them, they will probably show up everywhere from now on. I hope not though. The DDDSDH morons can take a hike–and also take om nom nom with them. . Also, if you really want to find examples, look at any parenting thread, or any thread in MSIPS (I can never get that acronym right). ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/187 "2011-04-09T23:52:40Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > I HATE the little internet cutesyisms, DH, DS, DD, etc. It took me longer than it should have to realize that the letters stood for “dear husband,” “dear daughter,” “dear son.” I mean, what the fuck? Is it too difficult to type husband, son, daughter, etc? Must we ALWAYS be so fucking adorable about everything? Gah. So true. And the next thing you know, one’s oldest daughter is referred to as ODD, and the hubby who is on the shit-list is referred to not as DH, but as DuH. It makes me want to reach through the monitor and slap someone. I once saw someone refer to her STBXSGMIL. It would have taken her less time to type it out than to explain it to all the puzzled people who couldn’t decipher it. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/188 "2011-04-10T01:50:23Z")
I will happily be imprecise or use a long phrase rather than use the creepy term ‘panties’ for an adult’s undergarments. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/189 "2011-04-10T02:31:00Z")
> [@MissGypsy](#): > > I once saw someone refer to her STBXSGMIL. It would have taken her less time to type it out than to explain it to all the puzzled people who couldn’t decipher it. Is that “Soon To Be eX GrandMother In Law”? ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/190 "2011-04-10T02:38:23Z")
Almost. Soon-to-be-ex-step-grandmother-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/191 "2011-04-10T02:59:21Z")
> [@MissGypsy](#): > > Almost. Soon-to-be-ex-step-grandmother-in-law. Oh, I actually meant to put “step” in there! I’d say that I rock, but who the hell would use that acronym and apparently think it’s obvious?? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/192 "2011-04-10T03:05:46Z")
That’s awful! I thought of another one I hate…“honey do list.” What the fuck? Just another link in the “nagging wife, haggard husband” chain. Because naturally, all women take glee in writing up a lengthy list of tasks for her husband to do all weekend. I shudder to think that there are people out there who really do resemble the stupid stereotypical marriages on commercials and sitcoms, only much less funny. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/193 "2011-04-10T03:22:09Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I will happily be imprecise or use a long phrase rather than use the creepy term ‘panties’ for an adult’s undergarments. “I’m missing a pair of… undergarment worn on the lower part of the body. Have you seen them?” “You mean pantyhose?” “No! And don’t say that word you creep!” “You mean… an undergarment that isn’t a thong, but is worn on the part of the body a thong would be worn?” “Yes, have you seen them?” Also, you seem to be implying “panties” is okay to use for a kid’s underwear, which is totally baffling to me. I actually would be a little creeped out by someone doing that. Kids just wear “underwear”. Adult women wear “panties” (sometimes). Kids don’t wear bras/pantyhose/etc, so extra precision is not necessary for them. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/194 "2011-04-10T05:20:07Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I find that very odd. > > Vegetable an [almost] arrogant word … Well, then…stuck up-ish, couldn’t quite find the word I was looking for, hence the ellipses, and the word almost (and…obviously I STILL can’t quite get the word I’m looking for :D). FWIW, most of these words, like veggies, are words I have primarily heard from grown-ups, not as a child, or from children. So it doesn’t make me think of them as childish or baby-talk. There’s nothing wrong with nickname type words. And most people are intelligent enough to figure out if the speaker is truly too uneducated to know the “real” word, or is merely using slang, or being goofy. And there are some words that just aren’t attractive sounding (LIKE vegetables) that frankly, it’s a good thing there’s a diminutive of it. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/195 "2011-04-10T06:41:08Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > Hate “veg”, no problem with “veggies”. > > Completely squicked out by “yummy” when it’s used to describe a person, as in “Oooh! Colin Firth is yummy!!” {{{shudder}}} I’m with you, fellow Aussie. “veg” is kinda old hat and reminds me of those English (not saying the P word) celebrity chefs saying “meat & 3 veg.”(Jamie Oliver springs to mind). Veges is AUSSIE. We have “steak & veges”!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/196 "2011-04-10T10:23:57Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > My annoyance is tangentially related to the topic, and I’ve been wanting to bitch about it for a hot minute. > . > . > I HATE the little internet cutesyisms, DH, DS, DD, etc. It took me longer than it should have to realize that the letters stood for “dear husband,” “dear daughter,” “dear son.” I mean, what the fuck? Is it too difficult to type husband, son, daughter, etc? Must we ALWAYS be so fucking adorable about everything? Gah. NOW I know what that means! ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/197 "2011-04-10T10:31:04Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > For your edification (American English: maybe da widdle babby will learn sumpin!):[url=[http://www.word-detective.com/081203.html](http://www.word-detective.com/081203.html)]From what I’m seeing here, there’s a minority of folks (as usual, grossly inflated on this board) who absolutely _hate_ the diminutive /i/ suffix commonly used in English. > > I say: tough titties. That’s one of the most annoying examples of iconicity in English! itty bitty teeny weeny boobie pinky binkie bikini itsy bitsy are all things that indicate something small or juvenile. I hate it when people _add_ that -i to a word, but already existing words in the English language aren’t that horrible…though I can’t imagine saying “itsy bitsy” to anyone over the age of five. :o Seriously, though, when people just go all “ee” baby-talk : yuck. “Is that your blankie?” “Do you have an owwie?” “Wipe your pee-pee!” “Tickle your little toesies!” barfage. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/198 "2011-04-10T10:45:38Z")
Logistics. Logistics makes me want to kick somebody’s teeth in. ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/199 "2011-04-10T12:18:48Z")
I admit to using a lot of nonstandard words in talking with the 4 year olds in my class. For example, “Is that your icky-picky tissue? Please throw it away.” Because not only do they need to PICK it up, but it’s full of their icky PICKINGS. I also ask them to pass out nippy-napkins, claim that something is not easy-peasy but difficult-pifficult, etc. etc. Kids this age love word play and they are busy learning prereading building blocks such as: some words rhyme, some words start with the same sound, some words have more than one meaning. It’s empowering to them to explore language freely as if it were a bin of Legos. Even in the case of the grandma tickling the baby’s toesie-woesies, it’s two people sharing a warm moment of bonding that includes the enjoyment of language-play. Of course kids need to know actual vocabulary too, but for the youngest ones “toesie-woesies” produces delight. Isn’t that good enough? Also, I think it’s a human trait to appreciate song and poetry and want to contribute. “Toesie-woesies” is probably the extent of a 2 year old’s contribution in that direction. Should she have to wait until she can compose sonnets? But yes, I generally use actual words when speaking with adults. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986/200 "2011-04-10T22:15:15Z")
I wonder if I failed to enhance my son’s language development because I talked to him in a normal voice. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-word-veggies/576986.md?page=11)