Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[ardcarp]

I often wonder how much employees of advertising agencies are paid to sit around thinking up such pithy phrases, e.g. Go to work on an egg, Say it with flowers, etc, etc Do they get copyright?

[MrGongGong]

Go to work on an egg,

Not as good as The Life and Loves of a She-Devil

(same authour... allegedly )

[french frank]

Not as good as The Life and Loves of a She-Devil

(same authour... allegedly )

You got in first.* I was just about to comment that a friend who worked for J Walter Thompson at one time said that Fay Weldon coined: "Go to work on an egg".

*Though I had to check who wrote The Life and Loves of a She-Devil first

I even got the name wrong first time: I wrote She-Wolf but saw it didn't match with the original

[Maclintick]

You got in first.* I was just about to comment that a friend who worked for J Walter Thompson at one time said that Fay Weldon coined: "Go to work on an egg".

*Though I had to check who wrote The Life and Loves of a She-Devil first

I even got the name wrong first time: I wrote She-Wolf but saw it didn't match with the original

Another celebrated example of the genre is that of the author of Midnight's Children coining the slogan "Naughty But Nice" in praise of cream cakes, but in answer to Ardcarp's original question, it appears that ad blurbs don't qualify for copyright if this web entry is correct.

Copyright protection does not extend to titles, names, slogans or short phrases, the Copyright Office has made that much very clear. You can not copyright your name, the title of your post or any short phrase that you use to identify a work.

Further on the subject of non-copyrightable names or phrases, I think I heard that the defecting Tory/Lab Independent Group of MPs (dubbed "Tiggers"in the press -- helpfully or unhelpfully isn't entirely clear) have run into some resistance from the web-campaigning group Change.Org on account of TIG's wish to name their new political party "Change"..

[teamsaint]

God knows why they are called Change..

I don’t suppoose that the “ keep things from ever changing .com “ domain name has gone yet.

[Serial_Apologist]

God knows why they are called Change..

Because "Le plus ça change, le plus c'est la même chose", naturellement.

[LMcD]

God knows why they are called Change..

I don’t suppoose that the “ keep things from ever changing .com “ domain name has gone yet.

Presumably because people like me can vote for them for a change.

[vinteuil]

Because " ... plus ça change,. plus c'est la même chose", naturellement.

... so said Alphonse Karr.

And in The Leopard, di Lampedusa has : "“Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi” (Everything needs to change, so everything can stay the same)



.

[Maclintick]

... so said Alphonse Karr.

And in The Leopard, di Lampedusa has : "“Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi” (Everything needs to change, so everything can stay the same)

An eternal verity, I fear, & one all-too-relevant to the current political convulsions, in that after the departure of She-Who-Will-Be-Excoriated-&-Damned-In-Retrospect-For-The-Whole-Debacle, a saviour of UK PLC will be anointed of whom it will be averred in our tabloid media that he (or conceivably, she, though unlikely) represents "A Fresh Start", "A New Beginning" --

[Wychwood]

Another phrase prompted by you-know-what:

Least worst option.

It grates with me. Not sure why: Is it that worst (like "unique") doesn't strictly allow any qualification?

Least bad option, perhaps?

[Pabmusic]

Another phrase prompted by you-know-what:

Least worst option.

It grates with me. Not sure why: Is it that worst (like "unique") doesn't strictly allow any qualification?

Least bad option, perhaps?

I agree that 'least worst' is wrong, since 'worst' is a superlative. I suppose 'least worse' might be all right, since 'worse' is a comparative, and might be compared with other 'worse' things.

Perhaps the original creator said (or wrote) 'least worst' when 'least worse' was what was intended. It's perhaps like the way some people say (and write) 'unbeknownst' rather than 'unbeknown' - as if a hard unvoiced sound is more comfortable.

Anyway, ugly as it is, I suspect it has become an idiom.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When choosing which sausages to have for breakfast, I always go for the German varieties.


It's the Bratwurst option.

[teamsaint]

When choosing which sausages to have for breakfast, I always go for the German varieties.


It's the Bratwurst option.

Could you give us a link please?

[Anastasius]

An eternal verity, I fear, & one all-too-relevant to the current political convulsions, in that after the departure of She-Who-Will-Be-Excoriated-&-Damned-In-Retrospect-For-The-Whole-Debacle, a saviour of UK PLC will be anointed of whom it will be averred in our tabloid media that he (or conceivably, she, though unlikely) represents "A Fresh Start", "A New Beginning" --

And a decent bit of personal grooming, such as a beard trim, wouldn't go amiss. Fortunately Agent Cob has fallen so far out of favour to become PM that my threat to walk into our local pub just wearing a black armband and nothing else 'For he will have already had the shirt off my back, he might as well have the rest' will not need to be honoured.

[LMcD]

When choosing which sausages to have for breakfast, I always go for the German varieties.


It's the Bratwurst option.

I ordered some German sausages some time ago for delivery to our local store, but when I last enquired when they would arrive, I was told that, because of Brexit, the rest of my order had arrived but the wurst was yet to come.