# Words or phrases used/misused where you work that drive you crazy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136 "2003-04-16T18:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/41 "2003-04-17T21:03:53Z")
The Big Boss always says “in excess of.” What’s wrong with “over?” I always change it. People who use “get” in writing. You do not “get” in business correspondence. You “have” or you “obtain.” And “HUH?” HUH is NOT a word; it’s a sound you make when you are trying to vomit. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/42 "2003-04-17T22:17:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*People who use “get” in writing. You do not “get” in business correspondence. You “have” or you “obtain.” \*\* I’m afraid i can’t agree. It seems to me that business writing is one of the worst offenders in the “if i use a bigger word, i’ll sound smarter” category. If the correct sense can be given by using the word “get,” i don’t see what’s wrong with it. > [@](#): > > **get. A. Generally.** _Get_ is good English. Yet many writers want to avoid it because they consider it too informal; they prefer _obtain_ or _procure_, two FORMAL WORDS…But confident, relaxed writers use the word _get_ quite naturally. > > (from Bryan Garner, _A Dictionary of Modern American Usage_, p. 318) ---
**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:** [April 17, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/43 "2003-04-17T22:25:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\* HUH is NOT a word; it’s a sound you make when you are trying to vomit. \*\* Again, from Merriam-Webster: Main Entry: huh Pronunciation: a grunt articulated as a syllabic m or n with a voiceless onset, or as the syllable 'h& or 'h&n, often ending in a glottal stop, and uttered with a range of intonations; often read as 'h& Function: interjection Etymology: imitative of a grunt Date: 1608 – used to express surprise, disbelief, or confusion, or as an inquiry inviting affirmative reply I don’t know what your definition of “word” is, but under M-W’s (which is too long to print), “huh” clearly qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Lapin\_de\_poussiere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a4c791/32.png) [@Lapin\_de\_poussiere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lapin_de_poussiere)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/44 "2003-04-17T23:55:08Z")
**Assessment**. Good grief. I end up assessing the assessment tools in order to assess the program. The phrase **step it up** - as in “Let’s step it up a notch,” or “How can we step this up?” Ugh. **Process** : used to denote the interminable meeting time used to discuss a topic to death. This used to happen at least once per staff meeting, but then I switched jobs and started working with people who “get it” the first time through. ---
**Author:** ![sandrala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@sandrala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandrala)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/45 "2003-04-18T00:40:58Z")
More a pronunciation than a phrase issue, but I must vent . . . I’m a medical student. Seems doctors are no longer content with pronouncing “centimeter” the way everyone else on the effin planet pronouces it, so they’ve taken to “SAHN-timeter” instead. It’s like an English accent gone wrong. I can’t figure out a single reason for the transformation other than doctors’ wanting to confuse people even more than they already do. Also–I HATE when people confuse the verb forms of “effect” and “affect.” This comes up in medical school a LOT. ---
**Author:** ![NevarMore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7feea3/32.png) [@NevarMore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NevarMore)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/46 "2003-04-18T00:46:25Z")
The next customer that comes in wanting a picture larger than a standard 4x6 that calls it a ‘blow-up’ is going to get a rant about sex and pool toys and how they are nothing like an ENLARGEMENT. One does not develop DIGITAL FILM. You can make prints from digital media, but never once have a shoved a memory card into the c41 processor. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/47 "2003-04-18T01:11:41Z")
I did a search for the word ‘literally’ and it was not found :eek: ‘literally’ has to be the most badly misused word! (often used instead of ‘virtually’) ---
**Author:** ![guy\_from\_wpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@guy\_from\_wpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guy_from_wpa)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/48 "2003-04-18T01:13:31Z")
I don’t work in a Corporate environment anymore and I don’t miss the daily emails and memos. But the one term that was the most misunderstood: i.e. vs e.g. i.e. means “that is” e.g. means “for example” No one ever used i.e. correctly. And no one ever used e.g. ---
**Author:** ![ForbiddenFruitsalad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@ForbiddenFruitsalad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForbiddenFruitsalad)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/49 "2003-04-18T01:28:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by austen \* > **Win-win**. Ugh. Ew. Stop it. How would you feel about **win-win-win**? Yes, I used to work with someone who actually said that. It was only after correcting him repeatedly I got him to at least say win-win instead. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/50 "2003-04-18T05:13:14Z")
as per as per as per as per as per as per as per as per as per!!! Augh!!! Just “per”!!! Or “according to”!!! They kill me with this one. Also, this is probably just a personal thing, but the following two phrases bug me. They were very popular at my former firm: “I turn into a pumpkin at three o’clock,” as in, of course, “I am not available after three o’clock.” “I’m out of pocket on Tuesday,” as in, “I will not be available on Tuesday.” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/51 "2003-04-18T05:23:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tesseract \* > \*\*“I’m out of pocket on Tuesday,” as in, “I will not be available on Tuesday.” \*\* When in hell did “out of pocket” shift from meaning “spent/lost some money” to “i’m not available”? ---
**Author:** ![ReBusEniGma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@ReBusEniGma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReBusEniGma)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/52 "2003-04-18T07:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by missbunny \* > \*\*Since when is the G in the suffix “ing” silent? I can see how you’d be annoyed to hear it as a K, but it’s not silent. It’s pronounced; otherwise you’d be saying “go-in, walk-in, fly-in,” etc. > > 😕 \*\* How is the G itself pronounced? Breaking it down, the NG is a blend, pronounced together and thus changing the sound of the letter. We know what a hard G sounds like by itself. Within the actual suffix ‘ing’, G makes neither the hard nor the soft, ‘J’ sound, thus my inference to it being silent. In order for the reader to understand what I meant correctly, the K was as close (I said _almost_ a k sound) as I could get to the actual sound I was referring to…coulda been a ‘C’ tho’…or a hard ‘CH’. ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/53 "2003-04-18T07:36:44Z")
Conversate. Blech. Shows your idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/54 "2003-04-18T08:14:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ReBusEniGma \* > \*\*How is the G itself pronounced? Breaking it down, the NG is a blend, pronounced together and thus changing the sound of the letter. We know what a hard G sounds like by itself. Within the actual suffix ‘ing’, G makes neither the hard nor the soft, ‘J’ sound, thus my inference to it being silent. In order for the reader to understand what I meant correctly, the K was as close (I said _almost_ a k sound) as I could get to the actual sound I was referring to…coulda been a ‘C’ tho’…or a hard ‘CH’. \*\* While the “g” may not be enunciated separately from the “n,” its presence does change the way the word is pronounced, so it’s not correct to say that the “g” is silent. As **missbunny** suggested, if you removed the “g” from these words and pronounced them phonetically, the pronunciation would change to “go-in,” “run-in,” etc. A letter is only truly silent if it is not pronounced separately, and if it’s presence alongside other letters does not change the way those letters are pronounced. For example: “condemn” could be pronounced the same way if the final “n” were removed, so the “n” is silent. “chaotic” could be pronounced the same way if the “h” were removed, so the “h” is silent. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/55 "2003-04-18T14:08:40Z")
One thing that my boss says which drive me crazy is “just assume.” “I would just assume do it this way as the other way.” Makes me want to scream every time she says it. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/56 "2003-04-18T14:24:38Z")
A note on the “-ing” issue … My best friend in grade school pronounced it “een,” as in, “Did you go swimmeen yesterday?” and “We were playeen dodgeball at recess.” I work with Japanese people. I won’t even BEGIN to discuss misused/mispronounced words!! ---
**Author:** ![coyasicanbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@coyasicanbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coyasicanbe)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/57 "2003-04-18T14:25:55Z")
My boss says “slam-brainer” about once a day. It’s his own version of “slam dunk” and “no brainer”. Sadly, I’m not even sure if he knows he’s screwing it up. Drives me up the freakin’ wall every time he says it! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/58 "2003-04-18T14:40:55Z")
I had a cow-orker who kept using “misnomer” instead on “misconception”. I would have corrected her, but I wanted her to look stupid to everybody (major bitch). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/59 "2003-04-18T17:31:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by An Arky \* > \*\*I had a cow-orker who kept using “misnomer” instead on “misconception”. I would have corrected her, but I wanted her to look stupid to everybody (major bitch). \*\* Actually, this thread might be a good place for me to bitch about a word, often used on these Boards, that really drives me crazy: cow-orker It’s fucking “co-worker” people!!! Unless i’m missing some big joke, it seems that every time i see someone talking about a colleague on this Board, the person in question is apparently someone who “orks” cows. ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136/60 "2003-04-18T17:55:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\*Actually, this thread might be a good place for me to bitch about a word, often used on these Boards, that really drives me crazy: > > cow-orker > > It’s fucking “co-worker” people!!! > > Unless i’m missing some big joke, it seems that every time i see someone talking about a colleague on this Board, the person in question is apparently someone who “orks” cows. \*\* As I recently discovered in another thread, it actually _is_ a big joke and not just a case of everybody being ignorant at once. Apparently, somebody did indeed once write that by mistake, and the misspelling has since become very popular on message boards. Don’t ask me why… On a related note, by number one all-time greatest linguistic pet-peeve is seeing supposedly well-educated people use “loose” instead of “lose” when writing (_e.g._, “I have to hurry or else I’ll loose my place in line”). I know that in the grand scheme of things it’s really not a big deal, but whenever I see it I want to whip out the ol’ flamethrower… Barry Barry [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-used-misused-where-you-work-that-drive-you-crazy/169136.md?page=4)