# Three More Expressions To Be Retired **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377 "2009-04-26T03:10:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/61 "2009-04-27T23:12:09Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > But think about it. How does ‘very’ add anything to ‘one-of-a-kind’? Saying ‘very unique’ when you mean ‘very rare’ is just misusing the language. While I am in the camp that agrees unique, by definition, carries no modifiers, I think the temptation to do so is not exclusively about rarity. Something can be unlike any other items on many dimensions. A movie can be the only movie to star a real penguin in a speaking role, the only movie to have each of the main characters speak a different language, and the only movie to have its world premier on the White House lawn. That’s “more unique” than the only movie to star Danny DeVito as a serious romantic lead in an otherwise typical romantic comedy. It is unique on more dimensions. That’s where I think the temptation to modify unique comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/62 "2009-04-27T23:55:26Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > “I’m not quite dead yet!” Or _Two gentlemen standing next to an eviscerated corpse?_ “Is he dead yet?” “QUITE dead.” Though that’s usually reserved for sarcasm or comedy I’ll admit. > [@wonderlust](#): > > “I want to say…” used to mean “I’m not sure, but I think…” Wait… it doesn’t anymore? I’ve never heard it used in any other context. > [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > While I am in the camp that agrees unique, by definition, carries no modifiers, I think the temptation to do so is not exclusively about rarity. Something can be unlike any other items on many dimensions. A movie can be the only movie to star a real penguin in a speaking role, the only movie to have each of the main characters speak a different language, and the only movie to have its world premier on the White House lawn. That’s “more unique” than the only movie to star Danny DeVito as a serious romantic lead in an otherwise typical romantic comedy. It is unique on more dimensions. That’s where I think the temptation to modify unique comes from. Yes, it’s (generally) saying that it’s unique on one or more levels, not that it’s more “one of a kind.” A lot of times you’ll hear it phrased as “it’s pretty unique in that regard,” which means “while it may otherwise be completely a normal squirrel, it does have the unique aspect of being able to shoot lasers!” It’s referring to a “sum” of the parts, like if you added the number of “unique” parts up and described a descriptor based on the value you get when compared to similar objects, ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/63 "2009-04-28T00:07:41Z")
“I’m too old for this shit.” Somewhere I read that if you hear this as a movie line, it’s a virtual guarantee the movie sucks. I tend to agree. ---
**Author:** ![tattman40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tattman40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tattman40)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/64 "2009-04-28T00:17:20Z")
Y’all M.I.L.F Baby Mama ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/65 "2009-04-28T00:39:06Z")
> [@tattman40](#): > > Y’all Y’all catches an inordinate amount of shit because of its relationship with the south, but there is really no better alternative in English for _you_ plural. “Y’all” haters should at least admit that yous and yins sound just as stupid, and _you all_ often sounds akward in spoken conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/66 "2009-04-28T02:26:52Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Y’all catches an inordinate amount of shit because of its relationship with the south, but there is really no better alternative in English for _you_ plural. “Y’all” haters should at least admit that yous and yins sound just as stupid, and _you all_ often sounds akward in spoken conversation. What about “you lot” and “all of you”? Then again, as usual, I’ve been told I talk weird. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/67 "2009-04-28T03:45:18Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > What about “you lot” and “all of you”? Too long. Part of what makes “y’all” so perfect is its brevity. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/68 "2009-04-28T03:45:31Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > How can you get any deader than dead? Sincerely dead? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/69 "2009-04-28T03:54:05Z")
> [@Landshark](#): > > I’ll second “it is what it is.” > > That phrase bugs me no end because it implies nothing can be done about “it” (which may or may not be accurate), and the person is not going to try to do anything. That’s not how I use it. It’s more like, “We have a particular set of facts or circumstances, and we have to deal with them as they are, not as we wish they were.” Often people respond to bad situations by trying to minimize the situation, or explain it away, or rehash how they arrived at the situation. “It is what it is” just means that whatever the explanation may be, or whatever we may think about the situation, we still have to deal with the situation. I always wondered why this one bugged people so much. Maybe other people use it differently than I do. (And yes, I find myself using it a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/70 "2009-04-28T04:04:47Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Too long. Part of what makes “y’all” so perfect is its brevity. I talk fast and tend to descend into extreme sesquipedilian loquaciousness on occasion, talking to me is often like listening to a Zero Punctuation review without the British accent. Y’all doesn’t have enough syllables for me I guess. (Yes, I know this is a terrible way to speak, but I can’t help it sometimes) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/71 "2009-04-28T04:07:30Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Y’all catches an inordinate amount of shit because of its relationship with the south, but there is really no better alternative in English for _you_ plural. “Y’all” haters should at least admit that yous and yins sound just as stupid, and _you all_ often sounds akward in spoken conversation. > [@Jragon](#): > > What about “you lot” and “all of you”? Just don’t say [You people."](http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/us/the-1992-campaign-racial-politics-perot-speech-gets-cool-reception-at-naacp.html)😛 As for my phrases I’d like to see retired: “If you don’t like it here, then go get another job.” and “Life isn’t fair” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/72 "2009-04-28T04:50:01Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > That’s not how I use it. It’s more like, “We have a particular set of facts or circumstances, and we have to deal with them as they are, not as we wish they were.” > > Often people respond to bad situations by trying to minimize the situation, or explain it away, or rehash how they arrived at the situation. “It is what it is” just means that whatever the explanation may be, or whatever we may think about the situation, we still have to deal with the situation. > > I always wondered why this one bugged people so much. Maybe other people use it differently than I do. (And yes, I find myself using it a lot.) The reason it annoys me is because I first heard it in a college freshman philosophy class several years back. The professor, who honestly was a little bit airheaded herself IMO, would just out of nowhere break into these refrains of _incredibly_ meaningless phrases like, “A is A. A thing is what it is,” and then sort of stare off into space for a few seconds as if she had said something very profound. A few years after that when I started working in a corporate environment I began hearing salesmen and moronic office drones spouting it literally dozens of times every day, and it still sounded just as vapid-- and these people didn’t even have PhDs. It’s sort of become an officer-worker stopword, like how if you’ve ever been around a lot of lower class people you know that one guy who always fills in the blanks with some form of _fuck_ or _younah’msayin’_ when his mouth is working faster than his brain. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/73 "2009-04-28T12:26:40Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > But think about it. How does ‘very’ add anything to ‘one-of-a-kind’? Saying ‘very unique’ when you mean ‘very rare’ is just misusing the language. There you have an example of language use evolving to meet a need for increased precision via increased subtlety of differentiation. Here, the use of adverbs allows expression of the \*amount \*of difference between the unique thing being described and all other things. It thereby allows \*greater \*precision of communication than would a ban on modifying “unique,” and should therefore be welcomed instead. It is not simple sloppiness or ignorance, but the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/74 "2009-04-28T12:40:26Z")
Here’s one more, now that it’s an anachronism: “Film at 11” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/75 "2009-04-28T13:17:18Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > The problem I have with “shovel-ready” is that some people think it means that, other people think it means “we have the plans AND the money, now we just need to build,” and still other people think it means “we have the plans but not the details, which we’ll work out when we get the money.” > > I have heard projects referred to as “shovel-ready” by various groups when they were at any one of those three stages. Or it could mean that after you meet with that hooker on Craigslist and it goes the way it usually does you have to call your friend and tell him that she is shovel-ready. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/76 "2009-04-28T13:57:59Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Please explain. How is it wonderful? Every time I hear the expression, I think of Tito Ortiz who is 1) a jerk, and 2) married to Jenna Jameson. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/77 "2009-04-28T14:28:55Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > On a related note, I do have nothing but unbridled hatred for stative verbs in the progressive aspect (and I am fighting a losing battle, I am sorry to report). > > That is, hideous forms such as “Are you wanting X?” or “He was needing Y” or “I’m guessing Z” instead of the much more refined “Do you want X?” or “He needed Y” or “I guess Z.” > > Seriously, this is a bigger pox upon our age than the swine flu. Don’t be hatin’ on the stative verbs in the progressive aspect! Oh, I remembered my own pet peeve – “one of the only”, used to mean “one of the few” or “one of only a few”. I don’t remember hearing this phrase prior to the last few years, but it seems to be slowly spreading. People don’t seem to realize that it has no meaning beyond “one of all the X’s in existence”. Hey, I’m eating one of the only McDonalds hamburgers ever made! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/78 "2009-04-28T14:41:52Z")
“Think outside the box.” Usually said by people who have more platitudes than original ideas. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/79 "2009-04-28T14:52:51Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > (Yes, I know this is a terrible way to speak, but I can’t help it sometimes) Ok, for you we will make an exception. 😉 > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Every time I hear the expression, I think of Tito Ortiz who is 1) a jerk, and 2) married to Jenna Jameson. Never heard of him. Can we reserve its use for that couple only? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377/80 "2009-04-28T15:04:18Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Never heard of him. Can we reserve its use for that couple only? 😛 Way to think outside the box in order to reach a compromise! Agreed. Ortiz is an MMA fighter, if anyone cares. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-more-expressions-to-be-retired/494377.md?page=5)