Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[french frank]

I like pointing out and researching interesting things about language usage. But I'm probably more of an easy-going faller-in (eventually) with new usages, but not before they beome current.

... of course I'm a pedant, and proud of it. And few things delight me more than pointing out the weak foundations of others who claim to be pedants but who are superficial in their pedantry.

I wd make one distinction. I never (well, almost never... ) 'correct' or criticize users of the language who commit howlers : I save my criticisms for those who (wrongly, in my view) criticize the usage of others on grounds which I think are unsound. I am a second-degree pedant, a meta-pedant if you like...

[ahinton]

... of course I'm a pedant, and proud of it. And few things delight me more than pointing out the weak foundations of others who claim to be pedants but who are superficial in their pedantry.

I wd make one distinction. I never (well, almost never... ) 'correct' or criticize users of the language who commit howlers : I save my criticisms for those who (wrongly, in my view) criticize the usage of others on grounds which I think are unsound. I am a second-degree pedant, a meta-pedant if you like...

A sort of Richard Strauss of pedantry, then?...

I met a pedant once; his name wasn't Richard Strauss, though...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

"Yorkshire and the Humber".

Lots of people live in Yorkshire.
Only fish live in the Humber.

Of course it's an attempt to avoid having to put North Lincolnshire (and North-East Lincolnshire) back with Lincolnshire, following the ludicrous creation and ultimate death of Humberside (1974-96). Even though it's been almost 21 years since the demise of that county, national habits (and regional policies) have yet to catch up with the reality.

I was in County Hall in Beverley a few years ago, and when I remarked that they still had a Humberside carpet, one of the senior staff said: "Don't forget to spit on it every time you walk across it."

[teamsaint]

not so much "teeth on edge" as a spectacular piece of jargon that I happened upon today:

Description of the activities of Stripe, a company that enables online payments and suchlike:

"We believe that payments is a problem rooted in code, not finance. We obsessively seek out elegant, composable abstractions that enable robust, scalable, flexible integrations"


Although they couldn't actually provide the simple service that I needed.

[P. G. Tipps]

'Triggering' ...

[ahinton]

not so much "teeth on edge" as a spectacular piece of jargon that I happened upon today:

Description of the activities of Stripe, a company that enables online payments and suchlike:

"We believe that payments is a problem rooted in code, not finance. We obsessively seek out elegant, composable abstractions that enable robust, scalable, flexible integrations"

Although they couldn't actually provide the simple service that I needed.

With a strapline like that, are you really surprised?!

[ahinton]

'Triggering' ...

As in "pull the other one", perhaps?

It might not be unreasonable to assume, especially from the date of your post, that you have one particular example in mind; one might suppose that if certain examples of "triggering" result in those doing it shooting themselves in the foot, then so be it, methinks. That said, triggering must be far worse in US on account of their much more lax firearms laws.

[MrGongGong]

"Yorkshire and the Humber".

Lots of people live in Yorkshire.
Only fish live in the Humber.

Of course it's an attempt to avoid having to put North Lincolnshire (and North-East Lincolnshire) back with Lincolnshire, following the ludicrous creation and ultimate death of Humberside (1974-96). Even though it's been almost 21 years since the demise of that county, national habits (and regional policies) have yet to catch up with the reality.

I was in County Hall in Beverley a few years ago, and when I remarked that they still had a Humberside carpet, one of the senior staff said: "Don't forget to spit on it every time you walk across it."

Humberside is much missed by many folks
I enjoyed being the "South Humberside Composer in Residence" for a while
lots of trips to Scunthorpe and Grimsby

[doversoul1]

You guys.

[Dave2002]

"weather"

As in "there's a some weather coming in from the south" or similar!

There's always weather - since when has "weather" been synonymous with bad weather or storms?

[Serial_Apologist]

"I'm not happy with the immigration problem we're having here" - British brexit supporter resident in Spain speaking this lunchtime news in an interview!

[P. G. Tipps]

"I'm not happy with the immigration problem we're having here" - British brexit supporter resident in Spain speaking this lunchtime news in an interview!

A Florist business woman on the east coast of England interviewed on TV today: ... 'Though I do a lot of trade with Europe, and buy most of my flowers from Holland, I voted Leave as I don't understand why we can't grow the same flowers here in England ...' ...

[Serial_Apologist]

A Florist business woman on the east coast of England interviewed on TV today: ... 'Though I do a lot of trade with Europe, and buy most of my flowers from Holland, I voted Leave as I don't understand why we can't grow the same flowers here in England ...' ...

That's Double Dutch!

(Er, does anyone use that phrase these days?)

[Padraig]

That's Double Dutch!

(Er, does anyone use that phrase these days?)

I don't know, S_A, but how about this:

A friend from a European country came to live here. He always had great difficulty with English. After many years he returned home for a holiday, and when he came back he reported that his native language had become so rusty that many had difficulty understanding him. Another of his friends kindly remarked, " That makes you incomprehensible in two languages!"

[P. G. Tipps]

'They Need Us More Than We Need Them.'
'We Hold All The Cards'