Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[jayne lee wilson]

Has no one played backgammon? It's the second or subsequent double. See rules.

There's also a precise use of double/redouble in Bridge as well.... not surprising really that such terms associate so often with games...

[cloughie]

There's also a precise use of double/redouble in Bridge as well.... not surprising really that such terms associate so often with games...

#5784

[Nick Armstrong]

I speak as someone quite unsuited temperamentally to most kinds of competitive activity

Same here, hence ignorance until various answers above (for which, thanks).

Point taken about “redouble” too ... and “be aware” (although I suppose that is a sort of emphasis-adding expression, a bit like “NB”)

[jayne lee wilson]

#5784

Sorry I missed that..... evidently for lovers of complexity.....!

[jayne lee wilson]

Same here, hence ignorance until various answers above (for which, thanks).

Point taken about “redouble” too ... and “be aware”

Is "be aware" all that bad, really? I often see "Please be aware..." in various business or financial communications, or something else like "please be aware that the flu vaccine can take up to 14 days to be fully active" etc...

Isn't it just communicative - a term of courtesy? To soften or humanise the bluntness of a declaration?

Language is Human, almost organic (or literally organic, in the human brain). It will always shift and change its exact, metaphorical, ambiguous usages and definitions...... in the age of text, social media and oceans of transient print, this process is much faster in its evolutionary continuity; one tribe is quick to condemn another tribe's latest figure of speech.

Humans are very imitative animals, and catch a phrase or a usage, then drop it, very quickly. "Going Forward" was everywhere on the political/business media a few years ago but seems less habitual now.

The Urban Dictionary....Dictionaries should be like very clever, ultra-observant robots: alway instantly adding a new turn on a familiar word or phrase & researching the sources.....

[Nick Armstrong]

Is "be aware" all that bad, really? I often see "Please be aware..." in various business or financial communications, or something else like "please be aware that the flu vaccine can take up to 14 days to be fully active" etc...

Isn't it just a term of courtesy? To soften the bluntness of a declaration?

Quite... see my amended post !

[french frank]

Is "be aware" all that bad, really? I often see "Please be aware..." in various business or financial communications, or something else like "please be aware that the flu vaccine can take up to 14 days to be fully active" etc...

Isn't it just communicative - a term of courtesy? To soften or humanise the bluntness of a declaration?

A phatic utterance? But it sounds unnatural - or it did until people started using it. Please note that the surgery will not be open tomorrow, sounds all right. But 'Be aware that we're currently closed' sounds odd.

[jayne lee wilson]

A phatic utterance? But it sounds unnatural - or it did until people started using it. Please note that the surgery will not be open tomorrow, sounds all right. But 'Be aware that we're currently closed' sounds odd.

Yes...... you make my point for me......(but it never sounded unnatural to me anyway, so.......).....

Be aware might fade away going forward, as going forward fades away through being aware....

[french frank]

Yes...... you make my point for me......

I am not aware of having made your point; but clearly I have not made my point with you either! The thread is about words and phrases that set one's teeth on edge - it still does, or at least it makes me frown.

(but it never sounded unnatural to me anyway, so.......).....

To quote Crosby to Sinatra, "You must be one of the newer guys."

"Be aware might fade away going forward, as going forward fades away through being aware....

As a linguist I am well aware of the evolution of language and how, as new uses come in, they get to be accepted. I think the point is that 'to be aware of something' was already part of ordinary speech, I'm perfectly aware of that; as is the related Beware! … which has a note of risk or danger: Beware of pickpockets, Beware of the bull &c. But I wonder what the origin is of the imperative use, which seems unnecessary given that "Please note that …" does the courtesy job you mentioned earlier.

[kernelbogey]

Point taken about “redouble” too ... and “be aware” (although I suppose that is a sort of emphasis-adding expression, a bit like “NB”)

'Now, here's the thing....'

[Richard Barrett]

I don't mind "be aware". I've found myself using "I hope you're aware that..." which means I don't for one moment think you were, it would be impolite of me to spell this out, you're free to admit it or not but in any case you are aware of it now. Here's the thing though: many if not most of my social/professional interactions are with people who aren't from the UK and don't have English as their first language, so that to many of them (a) circumlocution of this kind is foreign and (b) the subtlety is lost anyway. But I can't stop myself!

[french frank]

I don't mind "be aware". I've found myself using "I hope you're aware that..." which means I don't for one moment think you were, it would be impolite of me to spell this out, you're free to admit it or not but in any case you are aware of it now. Here's the thing though: many if not most of my social/professional interactions are with people who aren't from the UK and don't have English as their first language, so that to many of them (a) circumlocution of this kind is foreign and (b) the subtlety is lost anyway. But I can't stop myself!

"I hope you're aware that" has long been standard - the indicative rather than the imperative - my usage too. I have also found myself musing (lockdown does these things to one, I suppose) on the uses of 'thing' and 'things'. "The thing is", "first thing in the morning", now joined by the contemporary use, often with a capital letter: "Porridge shops have become a Thing."

[Serial_Apologist]

"I hope you're aware that" has long been standard - the indicative rather than the imperative - my usage too. I have also found myself musing (lockdown does these things to one, I suppose) on the uses of 'thing' and 'things'. "The thing is", "first thing in the morning", now joined by the contemporary use, often with a capital letter: "Porridge shops have become a Thing."

Having a thing about something has long served to indicate an obsession, though!

[jayne lee wilson]

I am not aware of having made your point; but clearly I have not made my point with you either! The thread is about words and phrases that set one's teeth on edge - it still does, or at least it makes me frown.



To quote Crosby to Sinatra, "You must be one of the newer guys."




As a linguist I am well aware of the evolution of language and how, as new uses come in, they get to be accepted. I think the point is that 'to be aware of something' was already part of ordinary speech, I'm perfectly aware of that; as is the related Beware! … which has a note of risk or danger: Beware of pickpockets, Beware of the bull &c. But I wonder what the origin is of the imperative use, which seems unnecessary given that "Please note that …" does the courtesy job you mentioned earlier.

1) I think others here will have grasped my point - usage, evolution etc - so no more self-repetition.

2) Your use of unnecessary seems to indicate that you haven't - or at least, you are still being tribally prescriptive (implying a local law that you disapprove of others breaking) and as I keep saying, language use is more about imitation, evolution, adaptation etc etc... a very animal thing.
But of course if this thread is just about grumbling...well OK...... I was just trying to broaden the discussion.

3) I hope I'll still be "one of the newer guys" in my 80s..... unsure about whether I really want to live that long though...

[Richard Barrett]

Having a thing about something has long served to indicate an obsession, though!

Being a thing is more like many people having a thing about the same thing at the same time...