# Phrases/terms that aggravate the hell out of you **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 26, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894 "2020-10-26T02:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 52
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1027 "2022-08-02T12:45:46Z")
That _is_ a nasty term or art. Glad I’m not in the business. I hope it never gets out into wider circulation. A “cute meet” would be _much_ better, but is still nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1028 "2022-08-02T14:40:57Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Meet-cute is an utterly revolting phrase, and nauseating concept, that I only heard about in the last year or so. What’s wrong with the concept? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1029 "2022-08-02T14:48:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I hope it never gets out into wider circulation. I thought it already was a relatively well-known and widely-used term among people who read about and talk about movies, like “MacGuffin” or “idiot plot.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1030 "2022-08-02T14:54:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I thought it already was a relatively well-known and widely-used term among people who read about and talk about movies Yes, and usually used as a verb phrase, as in “Meg Ryan and [pick an actor] meet cute in this new film.” ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1031 "2022-08-02T15:06:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I thought it already was a relatively well-known and widely-used term among people who read about and talk about movies, like “MacGuffin” or “idiot plot.” It is. It’s been a Hollywood term since the 1940s. It’s pretty funny that someone thinks it’s a new phrase that started within the last year. I think I first heard it in reference to “You’ve Got Mail” from 1998. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1032 "2022-08-02T15:30:32Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I thought it already was a relatively well-known and widely-used term among people who read about and talk about movies, like “MacGuffin” or “idiot plot.” Which demographic doesn’t (much) include me. Hence my ignorance. Thanks for the info. As @needscoffee says, as a verb phrase it’s not too bad. As a noun phrase “meet cutely” would be a lot closer to normal English: [Actress] and [Actor] meet cutely in [Movie]". @Miller: A “meet cute” to me sounds far too much like the Midwestern social event called a “meat shoot” > **[Meat shoot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_shoot)** > > A meat shoot is a type of shooting sport similar to block shoots, ham shoots, and turkey shoots. They are typically run as fundraising events by small rod and gun clubs, gun owners associations, or Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters. Rules vary by location, but the general idea is that using shotguns or other small target-shooting weapons, participants shoot at paper targets to try to win prizes (often hams, turkeys, or select cuts of beef). > Events usually include a numbered sign-up sheet on wh... Which was not something I had ever heard of until I encountered it in person. Whodathunkit? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1033 "2022-08-02T15:34:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A “meet cute” to me sounds far too much like the Midwestern social event called a “meat shoot” I was wondering why he found the _concept_ nauseating, not the term. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1034 "2022-08-02T15:37:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What’s wrong with the concept? I only mean the zany, contrived, rom-com stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1035 "2022-08-02T16:31:21Z")
But if you dislike a trope, it can be very helpful to have a label for it, so that you can identify what you dislike. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1036 "2022-08-02T16:35:42Z")
"How come. . . " If ya wanna know ‘why,’ just ask ‘Why. . .’ ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1037 "2022-08-02T22:52:33Z")
Yeah, why didn’t Shakespeare just write “Why are you (named) Romeo?” instead of all that high-faluting “wherefore art thou” wordiness? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1038 "2022-08-03T02:43:02Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > > [@Miller](#): > > > > What’s wrong with the concept? > > I only mean the zany, contrived, rom-com stuff. Yeah, the _m-c_ (I can’t even type it) is unrealistic romantic fluff. The danger is that, after watching those schmaltzy movies, someone will bump into someone at a Starbucks and spill their Whadafucciccino all over both of them, and think “Sigh… this must be The One!” ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1039 "2022-08-03T11:53:41Z")
> [@digs](#): > > The danger is that, after watching those schmaltzy movies, someone will bump into someone at a Starbucks and spill their Whadafucciccino all over both of them, and think “Sigh… this must be The One!” Exactly, and that starts the ~~trope of the lovable goofy guy romantically pursuing the object of his affection~~ creep stalking his poor victim. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1040 "2022-08-03T19:49:55Z")
> [@digs](#): > > … Whadafucciccino … Genius! Pure genius! I’m totally stealing this. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1041 "2022-08-10T01:03:15Z")
[curtsies] Thanks, it just came to me… … as a student wandered into class fifteen minutes late with some frothy Starbucks concoction. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1042 "2022-08-10T08:29:47Z")
I don’t care for the following turn of phrase used in this example: _“As a doctor, people should still be wearing facemasks.”_ This, I guess, is supposed to mean something like: _“As a doctor, I’m of the opinion people should still be wearing facemasks.”_ It’s really not that difficult to type another couple of words on your phone. Or is it? There sure seems to be a lot of folks who are violently offended if anyone suggests they write consistently in an comprehensible manner. One often hears that, _“Words matter.”_ I’m kind of a outlier in that I believe that sentences and paragraphs matter, too; that indeed, any string of letters and characters one presents to the world has import (maybe) so it’s best to put those letters and characters together in such a way they’ll be most easily understood. Others believe that anything they write–even random nonsense–is just peachy and if it doesn’t convey a clear thought? Well, that must be the reader’s fault and they had better adapt to the Brave New World of _“whatthehellbusinessofYOURSisithowIwrite?”_ Around these parts you’ll sometimes hear (read) the snarky admonition, _“Try reading for comprehension!”_ I think we could use more appeals to, “_Try_ writing _for comprehension._” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1043 "2022-08-11T11:51:28Z")
> [@digs](#): > > [curtsies] Thanks, it just came to me… > > … as a student wandered into class fifteen minutes late with some frothy Starbucks concoction. I see that all the time at my job too. “Sorry I was late, there was a line at Starbucks.” As if that was a universally acceptable excuse for failure to plan ahead and resulting shitty workmanship and imposition on your fellow workers. A line at a familiar understaffed Starbucks at 8am at a packed airport? Who could have predicted such a surprise!?!?! Apparently fairly few of my cow-orkers. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1044 "2022-08-11T15:45:13Z")
Yes to all this, but aren’t people more or less quoting Daffy Duck being all those things when they use the phrase? OTOH I may quote Daffy Duck more often than other people. It would explain a lot of blank looks. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1045 "2022-08-11T15:53:08Z")
Side hustle. I hate it, hate hearing it. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894/1046 "2022-08-11T19:17:12Z")
In an interview _before he died_ I talked to him _before he died_ He went to France _before he died_ Well, DUH! Unless either you’re a necromancer or he’s a zombie, it happened before he died. Now it could have happened years or minutes prior to said death, but come on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894.md?page=51) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-terms-that-aggravate-the-hell-out-of-you/923894.md?page=53)