Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Worth starting a new thread, or do these qualify as setting your teeth on edge?

I think that most, if not all of those have already featured here, Pulcie. (The one I'm not sure about is the "specially composed" one, and I don't fancy going through the 4245 posts this far- astonishing that we've any teeth left! - to find out! And, I'm not sure what's so enamel-threatening about that one?)

[cloughie]

"Grow the business"

Now here's a man who's doing just that: the chief executive of Kraft Heinz, quoted in the FT on Saturday:

"We believe we are now in a position to drive sustainable top-line growth from a strong pipeline of new product, marketing and whitespace initiatives that are backed by investments in capabilities for brand and category advantage".

Eh?

More beans and the rebranding of Salad Cream and messing about with Cadbury products!

[LMcD]

Not quite on topic, but Matthew Parris in The Times recently requested contributions for dreaded phrases, giving as his nomination:
Rail replacement bus service in operation.
There has been some follow-up in The Times Letters.
Yesterday we had:
The following piece has been specially composed for the occasion.
Today we have:
Your call is important to us
and
We are experiencing an exceptionally high volume of calls just now
(two different letters).

Worth starting a new thread, or do these qualify as setting your teeth on edge?

See #4233

[Stanfordian]

'It is what it is!'

and

'Our call is important to us!' when it's clearly not.

[Pulcinella]

See #4233

Oops!


They are in today's Times though, from two different people (one in Bath, one in Oxford)!
You should have got in first, as you did here.
I only dip into this thread occasionally, so hadn't spotted your contribution.

[Serial_Apologist]

I think that one issue around Woke is that there don't seem to be any degrees of it, leading to a danger of its use in rather divisive ways.

Er - Woking?

[Serial_Apologist]

"Well we are where we are" - usually signalling a recall to so-called "reality" by persons who rarely if ever come up with long-term solutions to anything, while complaining when others do.

[french frank]

woke

Not exactly teeth-on-edge - but definitely some discomfort because of its 'wrong' grammar. Maybe I just need to shrug and tell myself that if I ever want to refer to the concept, I can use more words instead

My guess is that its survival is in the balance. The article was rewritten in 2017 so the OED obviously thinks it's here to stay. Its origin is African American 'dialect' + grammatical error, and it seems to have been adopted in circumscribed contexts. Just depends whether it trends more widely.

[kernelbogey]

My guess is that its survival is in the balance. The article was rewritten in 2017 so the OED obviously thinks it's here to stay. Its origin is African American 'dialect' + grammatical error, and it seems to have been adopted in circumscribed contexts. Just depends whether it trends more widely.

"Cultural appropriation"...?

[kernelbogey]

'Up close and personal.'

When usually 'close' will do.

[edashtav]

'Up close and personal.'

When usually 'close' will do.

Doesn’t personal add a certain spice to the proximity, reinforcing the message, immeasurably, kernelbogey?

[kernelbogey]

Doesn’t personal add a certain spice to the proximity, reinforcing the message, immeasurably, kernelbogey?

If in relation to a person - agreed: but not in the case of an inanimate object. (In the example which I had just read, reliefs from the Acropolis.)

[edashtav]

If in relation to a person - agreed: but not in the case of an inanimate object. (In the example which I had just read, reliefs from the Acropolis.)

Yes, you’ve made an important distinction, kernelbogey.

[kernelbogey]

Yes, you’ve made an important distinction, kernelbogey.

Also because it is the title of a film which has become a (journaistic) cliche.

[HighlandDougie]

"Snowflake": well I know what a snowflake is, as in it falls from the sky in winter, usually when it's cold. But otherwise? It has crept into another thread and, grr, what the hell is it supposed to mean? Something which melts quickly? Just awful. I don't follow this thread as I have no doubt that the horrors it exposes would just enrage me so if it has appeared before, my apologies.