Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[cloughie]

The head honcho of M&S, responding to a campaign to stop the planned closure of our local M&S, says that it's the right decision, based on the company's determination to deliver 'a better located, more productive and sustainable store estate'.

Better located for whom?

[LMcD]

At least 2 elderly ladies of my acquaintance have recently had a telephone call advising them that they are at risk of losing their internet service. Neither of them is too bothered, as neither of them has a single device in the house that will allow them to access it. Luckily, neither divulged any personal details before hanging up. I myself used to get calls concerning my recent car accident, which was fine by me since I don't have a car and don't drive. For UK-based callers, I find that the Telephone Preference Service is very effective. Any unsolicited calls - very few in number - that I still receive are rapidly terminated by the caller when I enquire - politely of course - what colour their underwear is.

[Cockney Sparrow]

We seem to be on fraudsters list that circulate/ get re-sold and passed on, on a continent far away (because we answer our landline during the day, that makes us more likely to be elderly/vulnerable - only as a probability). As soon as I realise that, like 90% of calls, they are scammers, I tell them to take us off their list, nobody in the house will give them any information, not even what the weather is like outside, and I terminate the call.

However, I have a concern that a genuine caller might be on a poor line, and be taken for a scam caller, and I will launch into my quick termination in error. On that basis, its never crossed my mind to deter them by asking the caller about personal information such as their undergarments........

(Presumably, LMcD, you allow a caller a little more time to establish they aren't known to you, than I afford my callers)

[LMcD]

We seem to be on fraudsters list that circulate/ get re-sold and passed on, on a continent far away (because we answer our landline during the day, that makes us more likely to be elderly/vulnerable - only as a probability). As soon as I realise that, like 90% of calls, they are scammers, I tell them to take us off their list, nobody in the house will give them any information, not even what the weather is like outside, and I terminate the call.

However, I have a concern that a genuine caller might be on a poor line, and be taken for a scam caller, and I will launch into my quick termination in error. On that basis, its never crossed my mind to deter them by asking the caller about personal information such as their undergarments........

(Presumably, LMcD, you allow a caller a little more time to establish they aren't known to you, than I afford my callers)

It doesn't take long to discover whether they know me or not.
The GDPR has also led to a marked reduction in the number of postal missives from charities with whom I have never dealt. One of the strangest was ZANE (Zimbabwe A National Emergency) - how they got hold of my name and address I'll never know. I also once received a letter from the King George Fund For Sailors advising me that I had been appointed their representative for my road - a great honour, I'm sure, but my innate modesty wouldn't let me accept.

[Serial_Apologist]

At least 2 elderly ladies of my acquaintance have recently had a telephone call advising them that they are at risk of losing their internet service. Neither of them is too bothered, as neither of them has a single device in the house that will allow them to access it. Luckily, neither divulged any personal details before hanging up. I myself used to get calls concerning my recent car accident, which was fine by me since I don't have a car and don't drive. For UK-based callers, I find that the Telephone Preference Service is very effective. Any unsolicited calls - very few in number - that I still receive are rapidly terminated by the caller when I enquire - politely of course - what colour their underwear is.

In my case the TPS didn't work with one persistent scammer, who informed me that my computer had been invaded by a virus that would empty my online banking accounts unless I now took the following steps. It made no difference whether I was rude, or just left the receiver dangling while I went "in the other room to investigate the matter", until I told them that the person they were trying to get had died, and I was just here to look after their effects. Then the calls stopped - or at least I have heard nothing for 3 months.

[MrGongGong]

In my case the TPS didn't work with one persistent scammer, who informed me that my computer had been invaded by a virus that would empty my online banking accounts unless I now took the following steps. It made no difference whether I was rude, or just left the receiver dangling while I went "in the other room to investigate the matter", until I told them that the person they were trying to get had died, and I was just here to look after their effects. Then the calls stopped - or at least I have heard nothing for 3 months.

I like to play the game of trying to keep them talking for as long as possible
on the basis that while they are having to endure my attempts at Surrealist poetry they aren't scamming someone else
I also like to ask questions about whether they think that honesty is an important thing in life?
I have had some folks turn very abusive indeed (in spite of TPS) but having a bit of harsh noise music ready to go seems to work quite well.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Turning nouns into verbs is just one of the ways in which languages develop. As I randomly look around me in my living room I see various nouns which are also verbs: table, chair, carpet, book, bottle, cup. picture, cushion. pen, paper, plant, pot, label, frame, clock, bin, floor, telephone ...

Yes, but didn't Peter Hain go a bit far when he used 'Parliament Act' as a verb?

[Bella Kemp]

How about 'Hi, it's Clemmy!' Marking essays late last night I listened to her 'show' in which she giggled away with two women who affected to be simple-minded to such an extent that one wondered if this were a deliberate attempt to set back the cause of feminism a hundred years. But I suppose the damn thing was tucked away late at night, and I'm currently listening to Vaughan-Williams folk songs as part of an excellent Radio 3 evening. (Oh,Vaughan-Williams - he was the brother of John, who wrote in the same style, according to Clemmy's show last night.)

[french frank]

Yes, but didn't Peter Hain go a bit far when he used 'Parliament Act' as a verb?

I/We Parliament Act
You Parliament Act
He, She or It Parliament Acts
They Parliament Act

Yes, I think you're right there …

[french frank]

(Oh,Vaughan-Williams - he was the brother of John, who wrote in the same style, according to Clemmy's show last night.)

??? Am I reading that correctly?

[LMcD]

??? Am I reading that correctly?

No, no, no, no! Ralph was Grace's great-aunt and Kenneth's half-brother and I believe there might be a couple of tennis players in there somewhere. I do WISH people would check their facts....oh yes, and don't forget the guitar-playing John and the religious one, Rowan.

[kernelbogey]

??? Am I reading that correctly?

It was a running joke by the Scummie Mummies who were Clemmy's guests on her podcast (Mission: to make everyone realise that Classical Music is for them).

[cloughie]

No, no, no, no! Ralph was Grace's great-aunt and Kenneth's half-brother and I believe there might be a couple of tennis players in there somewhere. I do WISH people would check their facts....oh yes, and don't forget the guitar-playing John and the religious one, Rowan.

You’ll be telling me next he was Kenneth’s uncle - stop messing about!

[oddoneout]

It was a running joke by the Scummie Mummies who were Clemmy's guests on her podcast (Mission: to make everyone realise that Classical Music is for them).

By broadcasting the programme on the 'classical' music station to ensure it reaches its target audience.......

[Maclintick]

One of my unfavourite newspaper tropes (oops, another annoying one)
& that unfailingly gets my



....is "playing politics" -- as in, for example, "the Leader of the
Opposition was accused of "playing politics" with Brexit, The NHS,
Our Schools, the Police, or new regulations for the manufacture of
manhole covers...
For Pete's sake, he's a politician. That's What They Do.