# Trendy buzzwords that you wish you could just blow up into smithereens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223 "2016-03-17T00:39:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/141 "2016-03-20T15:39:14Z")
uh without the “e”, that is. Speaking of typos - Quote: Originally Posted by Dr. Strangelove View Post “Scrum”, “sprint”, “agile” and other jargon related to the trendy development style de **jure**. That should be de jour. (or at least nothing legal here, we hope) Yeah, to **hack** a recipe…gross…wrong. I’m still used to how it was said decades ago, meaning “to tough it out”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/142 "2016-03-20T16:22:01Z")
“Going forward” Even worse … “On a going forward basis” ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/143 "2016-03-20T18:50:52Z")
I despise: [ul] [li]price point;[/li][li]wellness; and[/li][li]gift/gifting instead of give/giving[/li][/ul] I have no problem with “pushback”. I was in a situation several years before I ever heard that phrase when it would have been extremely useful. Instead I had to invent some cumbersome metaphore to explain what I was experiencing. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/144 "2016-03-20T19:09:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Also, “thought leader” is presently annoying me. Ugh, sounds very _1984_ to me. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/145 "2016-03-20T19:12:06Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I have an ask [retching] Please kill this one with fire, ice, and anything else you can get your hands on. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/146 "2016-03-20T19:33:03Z")
I listen to a lot of podcasts and I hear these All. The. Damn. Time. 1. “Curated” somethings. “A carefully curated collection of whatever we’re selling.” No. “Curate” is what experts do with paintings at a museum or art gallery. Choosing magazine articles or snack food or movies is not curating. It’s choosing. 2. “Unpack” for “discuss”. “Donald Trump’s latest speech has a lot to unpack.” No, you’re going to talk about the speech. You unpack luggage, grocery bags, cars, and meat. You don’t unpack a speech. 3. “Circle back” for “Get back to you.” “Can I circle back before the primaries to see if your schedule changes?” No. You may not call me back. Fuck off and take your shitty candidate with you. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/147 "2016-03-20T19:38:07Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Are you an Upper Midwesterner, by chance? Depends on where upper midwest is Saying “come with” just bugs the shit out of me This isn’t a catch phrase but my SIL always uses the “we went and got” or “I went and got” Drives me up the wall! If I have to use that sort of phrase, I say “We went for” or “we went over to get” “we went there to get” “and got” just bothers me! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/148 "2016-03-20T20:26:00Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > This isn’t a catch phrase but my SIL always uses the “we went and got” or “I went and > got” > > Drives me up the wall! What’s wrong with this one? “Got” is the past tense of “get.” Are you expressing a problem with something like “We went and got a pizza”? That sounds perfectly normal to me. There’s nothing wrong with “got.” People sometimes get irritated when it’s used as a synonym for “have” (as in possession), but as a past tense of “get,” there’s nothing at all objectionable about it. I swear, as I said above, I use at least 80% of the words and phrases listed in this thread regularly enough. Now, stuff like “clean eating” (never heard it) and “thought leader” (ditto) or “I have an ask” (again, never heard it) would probably bug me, but the rest? I feel like I should never open my mouth around Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/149 "2016-03-20T22:57:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, then maybe I don’t use the phrase in a way that would drive you homicidal. It does carry the connotation of emotional content to me, but not necessarily quite as strong as what you’re describing. I wouldn’t use it in the way you described in your news quote, but it’s also something that wouldn’t necessarily register for me. To me, “reaching out” can include asking for help, a favor, that sort of thing. Like, “I’ll reach out to Mr. Smith and see what I can do.” But the term “to reach out” simply means “an attempt to communicate.” It doesn’t have to be a successful communication, that’s why I find it quite different than the substitute phrases you’ve listed. Like, if I say, “I’ll reach out to Mr. Smith” and he never calls me back, that’s still “reaching out.” Awesomesauce. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/150 "2016-03-20T23:16:14Z")
Let’s put a pin in this. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/151 "2016-03-21T00:21:24Z")
Don’t know if these have been mentioned. \ has your\* back. \*his/my/their Also, let’s retire “leap of faith” applied to all possible situations. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/152 "2016-03-21T00:25:48Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > Let’s put a pin in this. What does this one mean? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/153 "2016-03-21T00:26:02Z")
Some of these may be trendy, but they also date back a looooong way. For example: “Awesome,” in the sense of “really good” or “impressive” rather than “inspiring a sense of fear and wonder that goes beyond the confines of our own world”? CS Lewis used it that way in a letter to a child in 1954. “Eustace as a dragon is your best picture yet. Really awesome!” “went and got” dates back to Elizabethan times: “therefore he went and got him certain slips…” “Gift” as a verb appears in the writings of folks like Mary Shelley and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Louisa May Alcott: “Some new terror seemed to have gifted him with momentary strength.” “Thank you for picking me up.” “No problem.” – from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982 Anyway, just pointing out the historical antecedents for a few of these phrases and usages. Not that I’m intending to spoil anyone’s fun, far from it. Peeve away! I’m all about the crank… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/154 "2016-03-21T00:40:09Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I’ll be darned – “come with” [IS an Upper Midwest regionalism](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/come_with), influenced by German settlers. > > Okay, kids, you can come back onto my lawn now. Yes, very common in the Upper Midwest and certainly very common even in Chicago, where I grew up. I now live in NY state and get funny looks when I use it. Reading a little further along, I see that I’m not the first to say this or to include the Chicago connection. So why am I posting? Because for some reason I had the impression that you ( **JKellyMap** ) live in the city where my mom and most of her siblings were born, and where some of my cousins still live, and where my childhood best friend’s father came from. Don’t know where I got that idea from, as you only name the state in your location field, not the city… In any case, the folks I referred to above use “come with” at every opportunity, putting even us native Chicagoans to shame; indeed, a more dedicated group of “coming with”-ers you would never hope to see. So if by some chance you do indeed live in that city (in the western part of the state) be assured that you are at ground zero for that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/155 "2016-03-21T05:48:46Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What does this one mean? To hold off on a current discussion or plan of action for the moment. Like you’re pinning a reminder to a board to pick the topic up later. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/156 "2016-03-21T10:09:52Z")
**Ulf** , I’m flattered to have left any “impression” at all. I did indeed live in Chicago, but only from 1988 to 1992 (undergrad at the U of C). I avidly read the Dope on in the _Reader_ (ink on paper!). I guess I wasn’t there long enough to notice the “come with” thing (and only a few of my fellow students were Upper Midwesterners). The rest of my life has been spent in New York, Mexico, and Kansas. I’ve lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin (as you say, within the western Wisconsin - southern Minnesota heart of “come with” territory) for less than a year. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/157 "2016-03-21T11:08:55Z")
I _ **hate** _ it when I’m in a meeting and someone says, “Um, we need to come up with a list of **action items**. Does anyone have any **action items**? **Action item** #1 is…” There’s just something about “ **action item** ” I really hate. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/158 "2016-03-21T14:42:25Z")
NFL version: game changer difference maker elite prototypical ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/159 "2016-03-21T17:10:50Z")
> [@Lowdown](#): > > NFL version: > > game changer > difference maker > elite > prototypical NBA version: “He can do that!”, usually right after someone does that particular thing. I usually mutter “No shit?” ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/160 "2016-03-21T18:14:10Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > My speech is peppered with Britishisms, though I don’t say them with a faux, Madonna style accent. Me, too. _Bugger_ is a nice epithet for those situations that are not quite bad enough for _shit!_. Or even _sheee-yit!_ _Arsed_, as in, “I can’t be arsed to look it up” is a fine and useful addition to the American lexicon. Thanks, BBC America! I will admit to being guilty of _whatevs_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223.md?page=9)