Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

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  • french frank
    Administrator/Moderator
    • Feb 2007
    • 30245

    Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
    In fact, I think it's tautologous, though; because the -end- infix is the equivalent of -ing. OED gives crescendoed and crescendoes (vb), but not crescendoing. Depends whether one considers 'to crescendo' to be sufficiently English to be treated with our usual English insouciance regarding foreign words.
    It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

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    • ferneyhoughgeliebte
      Gone fishin'
      • Sep 2011
      • 30163

      I think I'll fade to a (literal) diminuendo in this discussion.
      [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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      • greenilex
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 1626

        And a dimmingness of the eyes...time to turn in.

        Comment

        • ahinton
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 16122

          Originally posted by french frank View Post
          Or "crescendoing" (vid OED for crescendo as a verb: 'intr. To increase gradually in loudness or intensity.'
          I feel inclined to express a personal preference to "nothing doing" over "crescendoing", if that would be OK...

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          • jean
            Late member
            • Nov 2010
            • 7100

            Crescing. Why not?

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            • greenilex
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 1626

              Defined as the noise of a badly-run kindergarten class?

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              • oddoneout
                Full Member
                • Nov 2015
                • 9144

                Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
                And I'm left wondering what would constitute a full weather forecast!
                Getting to use all the symbols and weather terms at once? Or perhaps more accurately, in one forecast.

                Comment

                • Mal
                  Full Member
                  • Dec 2016
                  • 892

                  The use of "invest in" outside of a financial context. Andrew Clements stands accused:

                  " ... those who invest in the complete set won’t have many disappointments ... "



                  This was spotted by a cifer, who commented:

                  "We do not INVEST in buying CDs - we BUY them.

                  I have spent £100,000+ on gramophone reads and CDs over my life. Unfortunately they will not sell for profit and cannot be part of my pension fund."



                  P.S. What's a gramophone read?

                  Comment

                  • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                    Gone fishin'
                    • Sep 2011
                    • 30163

                    Originally posted by jean View Post
                    Crescing. Why not?
                    Originally posted by greenilex View Post
                    Defined as the noise of a badly-run kindergarten class?
                    - or what posh people say when their vehicles collide?
                    [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                    Comment

                    • LMcD
                      Full Member
                      • Sep 2017
                      • 8406

                      Originally posted by Mal View Post
                      The use of "invest in" outside of a financial context. Andrew Clements stands accused:

                      " ... those who invest in the complete set won’t have many disappointments ... "



                      This was spotted by a cifer, who commented:

                      "We do not INVEST in buying CDs - we BUY them.

                      I have spent £100,000+ on gramophone reads and CDs over my life. Unfortunately they will not sell for profit and cannot be part of my pension fund."



                      P.S. What's a gramophone read?
                      If you mean 'what does a gramophone read?', I guess it would be Discover (or even Disc-cover) Magazine.

                      Comment

                      • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                        Gone fishin'
                        • Sep 2011
                        • 30163

                        Originally posted by LMcD View Post
                        If you mean 'what does a gramophone read?', I guess it would be Discover (or even Disc-cover) Magazine.


                        I believe Mal was referring to the final statement in the "cifer's" comment - "I have spent £100,999+ on gramophone reads". I presume that this is a typo for "gramophone records"?

                        But I've no idea what a "cifer" is. Google was no help.
                        [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                        Comment

                        • LMcD
                          Full Member
                          • Sep 2017
                          • 8406

                          I get irritated by sports reporters (there was one on the 6 p.m. news on Radio 4 yesterday) who refer to '4 straight wins (or defeats) in a row/on the bounce/in succession'. (I'm assuming that 'straight' is not referring to the sexual preferences of the teams involved).

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                          • cloughie
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2011
                            • 22115

                            Originally posted by LMcD View Post
                            I get irritated by sports reporters (there was one on the 6 p.m. news on Radio 4 yesterday) who refer to '4 straight wins (or defeats) in a row/on the bounce/in succession'. (I'm assuming that 'straight' is not referring to the sexual preferences of the teams involved).
                            I don’t find that a particular irritant, what I do dislike is when sport reporters sign off by saying that’s all the sport! No, it’s not all the sport, it is the miniscule amount of current sports news they have been given to tell us about, and very often when there’s not much to report on it’s based on rumours that some over rich football team is possibly going to spend some obscene amount of money on a player!

                            Comment

                            • Richard Barrett
                              Guest
                              • Jan 2016
                              • 6259

                              Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                              But I've no idea what a "cifer" is. Google was no help.
                              A CIFer is someone who comments on a Guardian article ("Comment Is Free").

                              Comment

                              • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                                Gone fishin'
                                • Sep 2011
                                • 30163

                                Originally posted by Richard Barrett View Post
                                A CIFer is someone who comments on a Guardian article ("Comment Is Free").
                                [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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