Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[Serial_Apologist]

BBC Radio 6 Music jocks and jockesses are prone to saying 'this one dropped, while you were sleeping', when introducing a new tune...irritating! They also say, 'You're locked in to 6 Music...I find myself saying, 'no I'm not!', and to prove it I switch stations or switch off. That'll learn 'em!

Dropping one used to mean something embarrassing; e.g.: "Oops, I think I just dropped one. Sorry about that!"

[Bryn]

Dropping one used to mean something embarrassing; e.g.: "Oops, I think I just dropped one. Sorry about that!"

And "locked in" syndrome is not something I would look forward to.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Digital headphones.

These are analogue headphones that may be used with digital (or analogue) equipment.

[Nick Armstrong]

dropped
...as in [the film] making waves ever since the trailer dropped at the end of last year: Guardian today

This reminds me of the horrible turn of phrase which seems to have arisen in recent years: “she fell pregnant”…

Another example of a negatively-charged verb being used is when weather forecasters say “… as the evening wears on…”

Well yours might be wearing on wearisomely, chief, but mine’s passing quite agreeably and more quickly than I would like, thanks very much!

They also say, 'You're locked in to 6 Music...I find myself saying, 'no I'm not!', and to prove it I switch stations or switch off. That'll learn 'em!

Exactly!

[oddoneout]

[QUOTE=Nick Armstrong;905857][COLOR="#0000FF"]This reminds me of the horrible turn of phrase which seems to have arisen in recent years: “she fell pregnant”…

The phrase isn't new, and perhaps is similar to "fall ill" in origin - French and German use of "fall" to mean "become" might be the origin - eg tomber enceinte.

[gurnemanz]

[QUOTE=oddoneout;905873]

[COLOR="#0000FF"]This reminds me of the horrible turn of phrase which seems to have arisen in recent years: “she fell pregnant”…

The phrase isn't new, and perhaps is similar to "fall ill" in origin - French and German use of "fall" to mean "become" might be the origin - eg tomber enceinte.

"Fall" in the sense "become" is, as you say, not new and is also found in: fall victim, fall prey, fall asleep, fall silent

[Nick Armstrong]

Good points. It just seems particularly infelicitous in the context of pregnancy. What’s wrong with something neutral like ‘became’…?

[cloughie]

Good points. It just seems particularly infelicitous in the context of pregnancy. What’s wrong with something neutral like ‘became’…?

I agree Nick it would remove the ‘fallen woman’ conception!

[oddoneout]

Good points. It just seems particularly infelicitous in the context of pregnancy. What’s wrong with something neutral like ‘became’…?

Not that much better in some respects it could be argued, there are still overtones of something just happening. I have read that was the case in earlier times because the man's part in the process wasn't (fully) understood, so the result would have seemed random. The biblical version - "she conceived" - seems more neutral, but it's unlikely to enter common use, especially now with the move to dumb down the way medical matters are spoken about.
I doubt there is much chance of "fall pregnant" falling out of use since it is fairly common in the 50% of the population to whom it directly applies... Its higher profile could be the result of spread through social media?

[kernelbogey]

The phrase isn't new, and perhaps is similar to "fall ill" in origin...

One might blame the over-medicalisation of childbirth for this...?

(I've been aware of 'fall pregnant' for many years, even decades, and for a long time thought it to be Hampshire dialect .)

[french frank]

This reminds me of the horrible turn of phrase which seems to have arisen in recent years: “she fell pregnant”…

It sounds old-fashioned/rustic to me. As in "Er's fell pregnant".

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Another example of a negatively-charged verb being used is when weather forecasters say “… as the evening wears on…”

Well yours might be wearing on wearisomely, chief, but mine’s passing quite agreeably and more quickly than I would like, thanks very much!




Exactly!

I can't imagine I've not mentioned weatherforecasterese on this thread. Their frequent use of formulations such as "marching its way across the country" grates. I don't say I'm going to walk/march/amble/ride/drive/fly my way into town. Why the heck do they do it? Maybe they speak like that at home...

[kernelbogey]

I can't imagine I've not mentioned weatherforecasterese on this thread. Their frequent use of formulations such as "marching its way across the country" grates. I don't say I'm going to walk/march/amble/ride/drive/fly my way into town. Why the heck do they do it? Maybe they speak like that at home...

Like journalists - see my #6359 for example - I imagine they have an urge to coin alternative ways of expressing the mundane or oft-repeated notion. There are few more boring topics than the weather, after all.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Like journalists - see my #6359 for example - I imagine they have an urge to coin alternative ways of expressing the mundane or oft-repeated notion. There are few more boring topics than the weather, after all.

Having written hundreds of resumes of corporate results, I can speak from experience that you are right, but when the job in hand is not to entertain the reader/viewer or oneself but to inform, then you just have to knuckle down. (Now that topic is more boring than the weather!)

There are journalists who take pride in their craft and others too lazy - or too 'down wiv da yoof' - to avoid horrors like dropped in the usage you quote. My weatherforecasterese example seems to have become something of a verbal tic among forecasters. To be fair, since they're probably more meteorologists than journalists, there may be no actual editorial supervision to prevent repetitions of this annoyance.

[kernelbogey]

Having written hundreds of resumes of corporate results, I can speak from experience that you are right, but when the job in hand is not to entertain the reader/viewer or oneself but to inform, then you just have to knuckle down. (Now that topic is more boring than the weather!)

There are journalists who take pride in their craft and others too lazy - or too 'down wiv da yoof' - to avoid horrors like dropped in the usage you quote. My weatherforecasterese example seems to have become something of a verbal tic among forecasters. To be fair, since they're probably more meteorologists than journalists, there may be no actual editorial supervision to prevent repetitions of this annoyance.

All interesting points, and valid EoS. I rarely see any other forecast than that of Liam Dutton on Channel 4. But there is a new format to BBC News which seems to see News as entertainment, so perhaps their forecasts have suffered the same indignity.