Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

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  • gradus
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 5604

    Disrespect as a verb. Ideation. Both disliked here.

    Comment

    • french frank
      Administrator/Moderator
      • Feb 2007
      • 30250

      Originally posted by jean View Post
      But what other phrase does what's wanted quite so neatly?
      'Shortly'?
      It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

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      • jean
        Late member
        • Nov 2010
        • 7100

        Doesn't really work with a negative, does it?

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        • jean
          Late member
          • Nov 2010
          • 7100

          Originally posted by gradus View Post
          Disrespect as a verb...
          1614 G. Wither Sat. to King, Juvenilia (1633) 346 Here can I smile to see..how the mean mans suit is dis-respected.

          1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts ii. 11 If he love the one, hee must disrespect the other.

          1683 W. Cave Ecclesiastici 231 (Basil) To honor him, and dis-respect his Friend, was to stroke a man's head with one hand, and strike him with the other.

          1706 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 26 Apr. He was disrespected in Oxford by several men who now speak well of him.

          1852 L. Hunt Poems Pref. 27 As if..sorrow disrespected things homely.

          1885 G. Meredith Diana of Crossways I. 257 You will judge whether he disrespects me.


          I think it may have dropped out of use for a while, but I don't see why it shouldn't come back!

          Comment

          • P. G. Tipps
            Full Member
            • Jun 2014
            • 2978

            Originally posted by Padraig View Post
            They will become 'vulnerable' but not, I hope, 'any time soon.'
            Unless they are now 'abandoned by the very people they looked to for protection' ... ?

            Comment

            • P. G. Tipps
              Full Member
              • Jun 2014
              • 2978

              Originally posted by jean View Post
              But what other phrase does what's wanted quite so neatly?
              But there's simply no need for such a silly phrase 'in the first place' ... ?

              Comment

              • P. G. Tipps
                Full Member
                • Jun 2014
                • 2978

                Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
                ... 'one of Corbyn's spokeswomen' .
                Surprised at you, S_A ... surely it should be Jeremy's spokesPERSON? ...

                Right ... maybe best I disappear until the morning.

                Comment

                • french frank
                  Administrator/Moderator
                  • Feb 2007
                  • 30250

                  Originally posted by jean View Post
                  Doesn't really work with a negative, does it?
                  ??

                  'No reason to think we'll all shortly turn American, or perhaps 'all be shortly/soon turning American'.

                  No 'neater' but the exact equivalents which have always served would be 'in the forseeable or immediate future'.

                  The primary reason for new coinages or borrowings is in order to speak about an idea or thing for which there is currently no adequate expression. This example seems to me to be in the same category as speaking of a 'cook book' rather than a 'cookery book': people have heard it commonly used so they fall into the habit of using it. This is particularly true of younger people whose linguistic habits have not become so entrenched.
                  It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                  Comment

                  • jean
                    Late member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 7100

                    Originally posted by french frank View Post
                    ??

                    'No reason to think we'll all shortly turn American, or perhaps 'all be shortly/soon turning American'.
                    I was thinking more of a negative in the same phrase, eg 'We won't be doing that any time soon.' I rather like it. It's funny, which is as good a reason as any for it to exist. 'in the forseeable or immediate future' is not funny at all.

                    The primary reason for new coinages or borrowings is in order to speak about an idea or thing for which there is currently no adequate expression.
                    It's a reason, and a good one - but it is not the only reason, and I'm not sure I'd even say it was the primary one.

                    Comment

                    • Pabmusic
                      Full Member
                      • May 2011
                      • 5537

                      Originally posted by jean View Post
                      I was thinking more of a negative in the same phrase, eg 'We won't be doing that any time soon.' I rather like it. It's funny, which is as good a reason as any for it to exist. 'in the forseeable or immediate future' is not funny at all.


                      It's a reason, and a good one - but it is not the only reason, and I'm not sure I'd even say it was the primary one.
                      I agree with you, Jean. In the case of "any time soon", there's a subtlety of meaning that "shortly" doesn't have, namely that it's more emphatic - "definitely at no time in the near future" (implied: however much you plead/hope/whine). "Definitely not shortly" doesn't carry that emphasis (at least to me) - it seems discursive, almost as if there's a missing "what do you think?"

                      Comment

                      • P. G. Tipps
                        Full Member
                        • Jun 2014
                        • 2978

                        Originally posted by Pabmusic View Post
                        I agree with you, Jean. In the case of "any time soon", there's a subtlety of meaning that "shortly" doesn't have, namely that it's more emphatic - "definitely at no time in the near future" (implied: however much you plead/hope/whine). "Definitely not shortly" doesn't carry that emphasis (at least to me) - it seems discursive, almost as if there's a missing "what do you think?"
                        Good Morning ...

                        I don't see the usefulness of the phrase at all, I'm afraid.

                        It's surely sufficient simply to predict that "something" is most unlikely to happen. To add 'any time soon' suggests a degree of uncertainty in the prediction of the non-appearance of the "something", a sort of political-style 'escape-clause' if the "something" does happen, thanks to one's own definition of 'soon'.

                        Surely it's more meaningful to use a phrase such as 'in our lifetimes' though admittedly we could all 'pop our clogs' tomorrow.

                        Then we all might be 'well past caring'.

                        Comment

                        • Pabmusic
                          Full Member
                          • May 2011
                          • 5537

                          Originally posted by P. G. Tipps View Post
                          Good Morning ...

                          I don't see the usefulness of the phrase at all, I'm afraid...
                          Hello, P.G.

                          Well, I'm not going to 'die in a ditch' about it.

                          Comment

                          • teamsaint
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 25195

                            Originally posted by Pabmusic View Post
                            Hello, P.G.

                            Well, I'm not going to 'die in a ditch' about it.
                            you're obviously not a pilot in your spare time, Pabs.

                            I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

                            I am not a number, I am a free man.

                            Comment

                            • Pabmusic
                              Full Member
                              • May 2011
                              • 5537

                              Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
                              you're obviously not a pilot in your spare time, Pabs.

                              http://www.bannedphrases.co.uk/aircr...ie-in-a-ditch/
                              The related phrase ("Get a ...") brings back memories.

                              Comment

                              • teamsaint
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 25195

                                Originally posted by Pabmusic View Post
                                The related phrase ("Get a ...") brings back memories.
                                memories can be recent......
                                I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

                                I am not a number, I am a free man.

                                Comment

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