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Post by Kimby on May 7, 2017 10:11:00 GMT
Lately a lot of people - even newscasters - are using "kiddos" instead of "children". As in "The picnic starts at 4. Bring the kiddos." I hate it.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 7, 2017 10:58:41 GMT
I used to dislike 'LOL' which seemed to be inserted into every text or email I received for years and years...however a chum started posting...'LOLZ' which for some reason I interpret as a word rather than an abbreviation and that makes it OK.
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Post by Kimby on May 7, 2017 11:06:51 GMT
I hate LOL, too, but will use SMH or WTF.
I much prefer Bixa's "snork!" to LOL.
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Post by lagatta on May 7, 2017 13:53:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2017 14:08:52 GMT
I remember when my great grandmother died in 1965, when I was spending a year in France. Almost nobody had telephones in the villages then so my grandmother received a telegram from her sister that just read "MAMAN DCD". The charge was per letter in those days and DCD is the exact phonetic transposition in French of "décédée".
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Post by bixaorellana on May 7, 2017 15:42:30 GMT
But words I hate are 'mate' when engaged in a conversation with somebody I've never met before. I always think of that as something that some people from the UK or Australia use almost unconsciously, so it never bothered me. I did have an American neighbor here, someone from my age group, who compulsively sprinkled "man" throughout his conversations with other men. I found it intensely irritating. Lately a lot of people - even newscasters - are using "kiddos" instead of "children". Yes, that is annoying. It's sort of an affectionate thing that you say to children, rather than something they should be called. That brings me to one that puts my teeth on edge: "mom" instead of "mother", as in "She is a busy mom and entrepreneur." No. Her "kiddos" might call her Mom, but she is generically to the outside world a mother. I used to dislike 'LOL' which seemed to be inserted into every text or email I received for years and years...however a chum started posting...'LOLZ' which for some reason I interpret as a word rather than an abbreviation and that makes it OK. What does LOLZ mean? LOL seems to be fading a little bit, but I've known far too many people who used it as almost a written verbal tic. my grandmother received a telegram from her sister that just read "MAMAN DCD". The charge was per letter in those days and DCD is the exact phonetic transposition in French of "décédée". Well, that's an uncushioned way of getting bad news. Using DCD that way reminds me of a Mexican tv ad for a soft drink that directed viewers to "OBDC tu sed" -- obey/obedece your thirst. Bjd, you may know about this reprise of the Monty Python death euphemisms ~
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Post by onlyMark on May 7, 2017 17:00:53 GMT
Over two years ago on this thread I wrote that I hate the word "curated". I still do, though it seems to be moving out of fashion, as does the other thing I mentioned, "going forward". I also still hate nouns made into verbs for no good reason. As regards euphemisms about death (and every other touchy subject), which abound in English, I take secret pleasure in seeing the slight look of shock and perplexity when, upon being asked about my mother or father reply, "He/She is dead." It's a conversation stopper for sure.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 7, 2017 17:34:00 GMT
Whereas "He/She has gone to his/her reward" somehow doesn't elicit giggles. I'm still seeing "curated" around the internet. Also, I recently watched the UK version of "Married at First Sight" (I know, I know) and it was as though they couldn't stop using "going forward".
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Post by onlyMark on May 7, 2017 21:15:26 GMT
Married at first sight is on my TV channels as well. I sometimes pause on it as I pass through from one to another. Semi-interesting stuff. Border Patrol or Border Security is also attention getting, as is Destroyed in Seconds. You can't beat though How It's Made and Food Factory.
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Post by lagatta on May 7, 2017 21:19:01 GMT
Curated is another term that has an actual meaning - what a (museum) curator does. I do not "curate" anything in my house, I just sort it out - I hope.
Of course my mum and dad are dead - my dad died when I was 15, a very long time ago...
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2017 21:23:13 GMT
I have almost always said "died" but for some reason I used the expression "my mother has left" with a few more fragile people who asked me a bit late how she was getting along.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 7, 2017 22:37:39 GMT
I think when there has been a long illness or extended decline, somehow it seems natural to say that the person "is gone" -- really, a version of "has left".
Will have to check out How It's Made. Probably less humiliating to watch than Cake Hunters.
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Post by lagatta on May 7, 2017 23:50:39 GMT
Yes, in French, est parti/partie has the same sense as "is gone" in English. You wouldn't say it for someone who was murdered or who died in a vehicular accident (car or plane crash) or other catastrophic event. After a long illness or simply extreme old age "Ma grand-mère est partie à 102 ans".
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Post by bixaorellana on May 7, 2017 23:58:56 GMT
Yes, your example rather gives the person the dignity of her long life.
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Post by lagatta on May 8, 2017 1:10:06 GMT
Renzo est parti à 20 ans et 4 mois, a very long life for a cat, especially one who had been a street kitten... And the ancestor is real, though she wasn't actually my biological maternal grandmother; the filiation was a bit more distant. She simply died in her sleep. Her only handicap was a bit of hearing loss, though she wasn't profoundly deaf.
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Post by Kimby on May 8, 2017 2:20:17 GMT
I say "my parents are both gone" because I can't bring myself to say they are dead. Even typing it is hard. I can say they died, but not that other "d" word....
And after living apart from them for over 30 years, they were gone then, too. Just a less permanent gone..
What I hate is when obituaries say "Betty went to live with her lord and savior..." Obits used to be news stories and were edited to fit journalistic standards. But once they realized obits could be a revenue source if they could charge grieving people for longer more creatively-written blurbs, all standards went out the window!
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Post by bixaorellana on May 8, 2017 2:54:12 GMT
My little home town newspaper had an obituary writer for a while who would often lead off the obit with "Praise the Lord!". Cracked me up every time.
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Post by bjd on May 8, 2017 4:41:54 GMT
I have almost always said "died" but for some reason I used the expression "my mother has left" with a few more fragile people who asked me a bit late how she was getting along. I personally have a problem with that. A few years ago a friend called me one morning and said, "My husband has left (est parti)." My answer was, "Where has he gone?". I didn't understand that he had died. Years ago I had a job as a receptionist at the University of Toronto. I started in August and in September students starting calling to speak to a professor who had died during the summer and who I had never met. I tried to use the various, "he is no longer here", etc but one particularly stubborn student kept insisting and finally gave up when I said, "He's dead."
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 5, 2017 13:21:08 GMT
"Ginormous"
Right up there with "veggies" as a stupid sound that shouldn't even come out of a child's mouth, much less that of an adult.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 5, 2017 16:01:00 GMT
That's a shame . I've grown some ginormous veggies this year.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 5, 2017 16:13:15 GMT
*plans to hunt Mick down & give him nuggies until he promises never to do it again*
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Post by Kimby on Aug 6, 2017 0:30:13 GMT
Bixa, if we can't use "ginormous" (which I hate too), how about "humungous", which I always rather liked.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2017 1:18:31 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2017 11:48:39 GMT
Humungous is at least a real word, albeit not quite harmonious.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 6, 2017 13:35:12 GMT
Really? I thought we invented it in the '70's. Is it possible that it has been ADDED to dictionaries since then?
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2017 16:21:32 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2017 16:25:22 GMT
Actually, Merriam-Webster dates it at 1967.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 6, 2017 20:21:28 GMT
And I first encountered it around 1970.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 18, 2018 4:14:40 GMT
... one that puts my teeth on edge: "mom" instead of "mother", as in "She is a busy mom and entrepreneur." No. Her "kiddos" might call her Mom, but she is generically to the outside world a mother. I wrote that almost a year ago and now it appears the word mother has been completely replaced by mom. I just finished reading a news story about a murder victim. She was referred to as "the mom of three".
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Post by Kimby on Apr 18, 2018 14:52:03 GMT
But “soccer mom” sounds so much better than “soccer mother”, doesn’t it?
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