Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[Pabmusic]

What's happened to 'blown away'? A few years ago it seemed to be the favoured expression for someone wanting to say that they were a bit surprised, or that they found something not bad. It seems to have disappeared (for which I'm very thankful)

Thanks for reminding me.

[johncorrigan]

And ‘delivering outcomes’, which seems to mean ‘doing something’ in English. I wonder whether it was originally a technical term of midwifery?

From a Council document today, among the rest of the rubbish, was this nonsense: 'But outcomes are the result of a constellation of influences....'

[Sir Velo]

What's happened to 'blown away'? A few years ago it seemed to be the favoured expression for someone wanting to say that they were a bit surprised, or that they found something not bad. It seems to have disappeared (for which I'm very thankful)

It got blown away.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Has anyone mentioned Re.? As in "I'm writing re. your comments on..." It really doesn't need that dot because it's a perfectly good word, not an abbreviation.

[Pabmusic]

Has anyone mentioned Re.? As in "I'm writing re. your comments on..." It really doesn't need that dot because it's a perfectly good word, not an abbreviation.

I certainly knew one person who loved re in conversation. I did once point out that it doesn't mean "about" but "the thing", but he wasn't grateful.

[Serial_Apologist]

I certainly knew one person who loved re in conversation. I did once point out that it doesn't mean "about" but "the thing", but he wasn't grateful.

I though "re" was abbreviation for "regarding".

[Pabmusic]

I though "re" was abbreviation for "regarding".

You may have hit upon an example of language evolution by 'urban myth'. Re is Latin for "about the thing" (itself a shortening of "about the thing we are talking about"), from res. That's the context in which it was first used; in those days most people who could read were schooled in Latin.

Nowadays, when few learn Latin, the reference is missed and so other explanations are sought that seem right within our own sphere of knowledge. "Regarding" or "in reference to" sound OK (and in a sense are, since they already contain re- from res), but if you think it's an abbreviation you'll be tempted to put a dot after it. It's a separate word in its own right.

[jean]

I'd call that folk etymology rather than urban myth. It lacks the necessary narrative structure.

But are you sure that the prefix re indicating repetition is also from res?

[Pabmusic]

I'd call that folk etymology rather than urban myth. It lacks the necessary narrative structure.

But are you sure that the prefix re indicating repetition is also from res?

Hello Jean. I'd agree with you on your first point (I'd only just woken up and couldn't find the right expression).

As to 'regarding' and 'reference', again I wasn't thinking hard. The re (from res) in question seems to be 18th-Century usage, and the two words I connected it with have much older French roots. It seems likely they are not closely connected. Res is connected to words in other Indo-European languages, though, suggesting common ancestry.

[kernelbogey]

"It's extremely difficult to interpret"

= a new elaborate way of saying "I haven't the foggiest" in live TV broadcasts.

"Interpret" as a posh version of "have a clue"

Actually it's funny rather than tooth-edge endangering.

Since news organisations moved from reporting what has happened to also predicting what is about to happen, another phrase has become common at the end of reports (e.g. those from 'our vampires correspondent'): 'What happens next is not clear'. This wonderful admission of an inability to predict the immediate future rather undermines this new(ish) style of reporting (common on tv and radio).

[Nick Armstrong]

Since news organisations moved from reporting what has happened to also predicting what is about to happen, another phrase has become common at the end of reports (e.g. those from 'our vampires correspondent'): 'What happens next is not clear'. This wonderful admission of an inability to predict the immediate future rather undermines this new(ish) style of reporting (common on tv and radio).

Spot on kernel !! Absurd isn't it...

Alternatively, "a/b is/are expected to xyz today" is the other formula (which means it's some press release from 'head office' somewhere masquerading as 'news')

[amateur51]

From a Council document today, among the rest of the rubbish, was this nonsense: 'But outcomes are the result of a constellation of influences....'

I rather like it - refreshingly different

[JFLL]

Alternatively, "a/b is/are expected to xyz today" is the other formula (which means it's some press release from 'head office' somewhere masquerading as 'news')

Or ‘X is set to do Y today’ (as though he/she were a bomb or an alarm clock set to go off at a certain time, or maybe a clockwork mouse).

[mangerton]

Or ‘X is set to do Y today’ (as though he/she were a bomb or an alarm clock set to go off at a certain time, or maybe a clockwork mouse).

We also hear with increasing frequency, "preparing to....", especially with regard to actions that take little or no preparation.

[french frank]

You may have hit upon an example of language evolution by 'urban myth'. Re is Latin for "about the thing" (itself a shortening of "about the thing we are talking about"), from res. That's the context in which it was first used; in those days most people who could read were schooled in Latin.

Isn't it more formally - and fully - 'in re'? That isn't limited to legal use because I use it

I seem vaguely to remember that the prefix re- in French had some sort of reflexive meaning, but not sure of the origin.