Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[kernelbogey]

'Just give me two seconds.'

Usually from someone in a service role you expect to be attending to you.

'Moments' would grate less, since it invariably results in a delay of at least a minute.....

[Pabmusic]

'Just give me two seconds.'

Usually from someone in a service role you expect to be attending to you.

'Moments' would grate less, since it invariably results in a delay of at least a minute.....

I'm with you ("two secs" is as common) but it's now an idiom, surely, so there's no hope?

[kernelbogey]

I'm with you ("two secs" is as common) but it's now an idiom, surely, so there's no hope?

'I have no gun, but I can spit.' (Auden)

[greenilex]

With you in a couple of parsecs...

[cloughie]

I'm with you ("two secs" is as common) but it's now an idiom, surely, so there's no hope?

Sounds rather hermaphrodite!

[LezLee]

A few weeks ago The Guardian had an article about the success of a 4-day working week and reduced hours, noting that they’re not always feasible in retail where ‘presenteeism’ is required. Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
However, my friend told me it was often used when she was a social worker 20 years ago. Still sounds so wrong.

[oddoneout]

A few weeks ago The Guardian had an article about the success of a 4-day working week and reduced hours, noting that they’re not always feasible in retail where ‘presenteeism’ is required. Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
However, my friend told me it was often used when she was a social worker 20 years ago. Still sounds so wrong.

And yet absenteeism doesn't - perhaps because it's more widely used?

[Pulcinella]

And yet absenteeism doesn't - perhaps because it's more widely used?

Or is it (presenteeism) merely a form of back conversion/formation (or whatever the technical term is) from absenteeism?
You can be an absentee but are you ever a presentee?
I've certainly never seen/heard/used the word.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

As the word exists but "grates", I've moved the "presentee" posts to this Thread, as more appropriate than "Pedants' Paradise".

[oddoneout]

As the word exists but "grates", I've moved the "presentee" posts to this Thread, as more appropriate than "Pedants' Paradise".

I thought I was imagining that I'd replied until I saw this!

You can be an absentee but are you ever a presentee?

No, it is attendee, so should be attendeeism I suppose, but it doesn't convey quite the same thing as presenteeism?

[LMcD]

Isn't a 'presentee' somebody to whom a present is presented by a presenter?

[Pabmusic]

Today from the BBC:

"In the 1880s, the US passed legislation barring Chinese workers from immigrating to the US".

[Pabmusic]

I watch quite a lot of online programmes, and can't cope with (I'm getting the shakes) a prevalent expression. It's ... (dare I?) something that crops up all the time in American videos. Is it common in the UK? It goes like this - the narrator makes a statement, or more often emphasises a point: -

He says, "Hey! - we should do this..." Or, "Hey! - we should do that...". "I said to him 'Hey! - I didn't want you to react like that". "I saw her and said 'Hey! - why don't we...?'" Ad inf. ...

Hey! - what's happening?

Hey!

[LeMartinPecheur]

I watch quite a lot of online programmes, and can't cope with (I'm getting the shakes) a prevalent expression. It's ... (dare I?) something that crops up all the time in American videos. Is it common in the UK? It goes like this - the narrator makes a statement, or more often emphasises a point: -

He says, "Hey! - we should do this..." Or, "Hey! - we should do that...". "I said to him 'Hey! - I didn't want you to react like that". "I saw her and said 'Hey! - why don't we...?'" Ad inf. ...

Hey! - what's happening?

Hey!

Pabs: it's probably this weather we're having - they're making Hey! while the sun shines

I'll get me (very lightweight) coat...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I watch quite a lot of online programmes, and can't cope with (I'm getting the shakes) a prevalent expression. It's ... (dare I?) something that crops up all the time in American videos. Is it common in the UK? It goes like this - the narrator makes a statement, or more often emphasises a point: -
He says, "Hey! - we should do this..." Or, "Hey! - we should do that...". "I said to him 'Hey! - I didn't want you to react like that". "I saw her and said 'Hey! - why don't we...?'" Ad inf. ...
Hey! - what's happening?
Hey!

That looks like a high pollen count.