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Post by lagatta on Jun 11, 2020 12:54:39 GMT
While there are some significant developments, many of the press conferences are fairly repetitive, so those do create earworms and copycat language.
Does the POTUS trump all the other egocentric, bigoted and incompetent leaders? I'd need better Portuguese to make a pithy comparison to the Brazilian guy.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 11, 2020 19:42:48 GMT
I have already had my fill of "systemic." systemic police brutality systemic understaffing in nursing home etc. If I were editing articles in which your two examples appear, I would probably leave the first one alone as it is the perfect choice. In the second example, other words -- widespread, frequent, regrettable, pervasive -- would be better choices. And you're right that alternate words should be used to keep from over-using systemic or, for that matter, any buzzword. Even though the word systemic is really having its day now, it is still so often the right word, as in: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/11/black-coronavirus-ohio-gop/Huffman is a great illustration of systemic racism.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 11, 2020 21:02:14 GMT
Unfortunately the Washington Post refuses to let me read that single article. Yes, I know periodicals need subscribers, but I limit those and in most cases privilege local ones, or specific historical or work-related ones.
Huffman strikes me as an ignorant blowhard. Many Black and other racialised people work in fields that require very frequent handwashing, as in "working your fingers to the bone".
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Post by questa on Jun 12, 2020 1:15:44 GMT
When trying to find the best word to use, my son would say," I'll ask my pet lizard" as he reached for his thesaurus.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 12, 2020 2:09:12 GMT
Ha!! Took me a moment.
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Post by questa on Jun 12, 2020 6:00:45 GMT
When posting ,I often find myself at a loss for words to describe my feelings about a particular photo or thread. I hate having to resort to OMG,or "lovely","beautiful" all the time ,but don't know how else to convey "it". I think I may have caused a meltdown in the QUOTE department. Anyway, to try different ways of admiration or disgust expression you can exclaim your feelings rather than just state them.." Using the exclamation mark shows you don't mean it to be answered...a rhetoric question. "What a lovely rose!" or "How could he believe that story!" Use it sparingly.
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Post by casimira on Jun 12, 2020 12:32:48 GMT
It took me a moment too to catch what your son was saying but once I did I thought how brilliant it was. I was the one who posted what you were trying to quote about being stymied by finding the right word or an alternative for what I was trying to express. I should have had my "pet lizard" handy.
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Post by questa on Jun 13, 2020 5:47:18 GMT
He is a brilliant man. Grew up hitting me with clever puzzles and word play. He had a back injury and we were seeing the top orthopaedic surgeon in Ghildrens Hospital. He was about 14/15 at the time and had all his Lab test results in a folder and as we walked through the various areas I noticed staff were chuckling as we passed. It was then I saw his bright yellow folder labelled "The Quasimodo File"
He writes clever haiku as well. I'll post some in the proper thread one day.
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Post by casimira on Jun 13, 2020 11:32:20 GMT
Please do Questa.
We need more haiku on here.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 13, 2020 13:26:41 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 13, 2020 17:51:17 GMT
It's not a branch! This is not TT! It's a board! You've had over eleven years to learn this! Don't be a old fogey before your time!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 13, 2020 18:21:03 GMT
I actually really like the organic term branch for our living entity.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 13, 2020 18:37:57 GMT
No. Just no. Honestly!
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Post by mossie on Jun 13, 2020 18:44:24 GMT
Well, well, I score it one round apiece so far, are you going the full 15 rounds?
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Post by questa on Jun 14, 2020 2:38:26 GMT
Perching on the branch The sparrow can hear dissent Whoosh...it flies away.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 14, 2020 3:50:49 GMT
Good one!
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Post by casimira on Jun 14, 2020 12:17:21 GMT
The lovely rose flourishes over time branches bring thorns I fear seeing blood
The rose it does grow over time branches bring thorns I fear seeing blood
Edited to proper haiku format
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 14, 2020 16:21:06 GMT
Wow ~ that is excellent, Casimira.
But getting back to overused words. Have I already griped about this? Probably, but since I just saw it yet again, this time in something a politician said ...... "hot mess".
Sheesh. All of this stuff that gets sucked up and regurgitated makes the person regurgitating it sound mindless. Why a hot mess each and every time, when just plain old mess used to convey sufficient meaning? That piece of paper reminding you to buy mayonnaise, string, and M&Ms is not a bucket list, either.
Makes me grumpy!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 14, 2020 16:37:55 GMT
How about "defining" moments? This insultingly implies that nobody has actually understood the issue until that moment comes about.
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Post by casimira on Jun 14, 2020 18:53:26 GMT
Here's another; when you haven't seen someone in awhile and they say, oh, wow! I haven't seen you in "a minute".
Have people lost the basic concept of time all of a sudden?
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 14, 2020 19:08:42 GMT
Haven’t heard that one here but we do get “bye, see you later” from people I don’t know. Of course I won’t see you later!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 14, 2020 21:02:02 GMT
How about "defining" moments? This insultingly implies that nobody has actually understood the issue until that moment comes about. I don't get that implication from it, but agree it should be used sparingly -- possibly only when a moment is so defining that it could legitimately be deemed a historic moment. when you haven't seen someone in awhile and they say, oh, wow! I haven't seen you in "a minute". That's different! Is it said by a particular age group? ... we do get “bye, see you later” from people I don’t know. I think that's one of those reflex things people say without even hearing what they're saying. Other versions would be saying "Thanks -- you too" when someone wishes you a good trip, or when people automatically respond "Me too" when someone says "I love you".
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Post by casimira on Jun 15, 2020 12:15:25 GMT
I believe I first began hearing the term "in a minute" 3 or 4 years ago.
It was in a bar/restaurant I used to frequent and came to know some of the wait staff/servers, all who were much younger than I. Millennials I suppose. If I didn't go there for a period of time they would use this phrase. I remember this because I was coming out of the restroom and upon seeing one of them they used this phrase. I responded by saying "yes, I was only just in the bathroom and didn't see you before I went in". As there was a group of them, they all smiled because I they knew it was clear I didn't know that was not what the fellow was referring to. It was clearly a generational thing. To their credit, they didn't make fun of me nor did I feel ridiculed
Since then I have heard some other people use it, not necessarily millennials.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2020 15:51:43 GMT
That seems one of those rather forced ways to show that one is with it, like saying "sick" to indicate approval of something.
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Post by bjd on Jun 15, 2020 18:26:29 GMT
I don't quite understand what this use of "in a minute" is supposed to mean, other than its literal meaning.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 15, 2020 18:34:03 GMT
I was wondering the same thing.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2020 21:07:52 GMT
Casimira explained it when she said: If I didn't go there for a period of time they would use this phrase.
In other words, instead of saying, "It's been ages since we've seen you" or "You haven't been here in a good while", they opted to say something trendy and, in my opinion, asinine.
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Post by casimira on Jul 1, 2020 23:44:17 GMT
I don't know if this one has been mentioned yet; "my bad". Instead of saying "oh, pardon me", or, "excuse me, I'm sorry". GRRRRRRRRR!
Baby talk...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 1, 2020 23:53:28 GMT
So agree about "my bad" and one you posted earlier: "no worries". Either phrase means precisely nothing. This is old and always annoying, but people keep saying it: "Sorry .... not sorry".
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Post by questa on Jul 2, 2020 0:56:18 GMT
"No worries" is a mainstream comment in Oz and has been around since at least 50 years ago. It reassures the listener that all the details have been covered and problems dealt with. It gets shortened to "No wuckers" by a certain group of users and has a rhyming slang version when said as "No David Murrays"( a large furniture retailers) It is usually preceded by "She'll be right." "She" indicates the problem in hand.
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