Annoying Words & Phrases

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
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The California Public Utilities

That reminds me.

Down here we have Florida Power & Light.

But everyone refers to it as FPL. So "Florida Power Light". That doesn't make sense and annoys me. How hard is it to say "and"? It's FP&L not FPL.
 
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JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
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F-PAL like 2 words. That's good. No one calls it that. This is the first i'm hearing it and I like it. I'm gonna be the weirdo who calls it that now and no one will know what I'm talking about hahahah.

It's like PennDOT when I was in Philly. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
 

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
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We have CMP, Central Maine Power. No ifs, ands, or buts.

That makes sense and isn't annoying.

Speaking of power companies how is it not a monopoly that many places (such as all of South Florida with FP&L) only have 1 option for power? I remember it was a huge deal when a second power company became available in the Philly area. It was like front page news it was in the late '90s. PECO was the only option until Commerce Energy was allowed to compete.
 

Channel98

Don't yell or hit.
Feb 2, 2019
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It's nice to see that Bullwinkle found work after Rocky & His Friends went off the air. :D

"A friend of mine" is an expression that annoys me: "I was talking with a friend of mine....." Really? You weren't talking with somebody else's friend? In most cases, the "of mine" is superfluous. Just say "a friend."
 
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scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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Every time I pre-think I've pre-heard every idiotic (and unnecessary) "pre" word anybody could pre-create, I pre-find another one:

There are a lot of "pre"s in that article. The guy even tried to pre-off himself when the verdict was read.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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This next group of annoying phrases is all related to time.

"It's been a minute" refers to something that happened a long time ago, or is no longer fashionable. "It's been a minute since I've seen one of those". Annoying.

"We're having a moment" has been around for a long time. It used to refer to needing a pause, as in "We're having a moment while she catches her breath". Or "We're having a moment to let it all sink in." But now it refers to a first impression, as in "We're having a moment with the look of this new entryway". Yuck.

And then we have "And just like that...". They even named a show after it. The sequel to Sex and the City is called And Just Like That. And just like that, it's been cancelled. The horrible last season was the nail in the coffin.

But way before it was lifted for a TV show, people have been using the phrase to signify a supposedly fast transition. "And just like that, summer was over". Yeah, if you treat the past 4 months of summer-like weather like you were in a coma, then it seems like it was quick. Until it warms up again. People use the phrase to refer to things that really drag out for a long time. "And just like that, I was retired". Stupid.
 
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sadchild

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Mar 28, 2016
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Agree that "it's been a minute" is annoying.

The new "we're having a moment" is lame.

I don't mind "and just like that" when it's about something happened quickly and unexpectedly, like "after six months of good times, my girlfriend shocked me by breaking up with me - and just like that it was over." But yeah stupid to say, "my son was born eighteen years ago and just like that he's a college student."
 
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scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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But yeah stupid to say, "my son was born eighteen years ago and just like that he's a college student."
That's a good example. People will say, "It seems like yesterday I was changing his diapers. And just like that, he's off to college". Now I understand that every parent experiences the bittersweet emotion of "where did all the time go?", but it was a long time coming.
 
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IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
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Time perception is not a constant. I can see where these expressions come from. Another is "time flies when you are having fun". And it does. Another is "seems like yesterday". They all refer to the perception that time moves quicker when you are enjoying it. And the perception is true. If it wasn't, there would not be sayings that convey it.

And memory of time is even more distorted. So condensing an 18 year lifetime in memory is very human and probably a side effect of how our brain actually stores information.
 

Channel98

Don't yell or hit.
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The 12th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary will be published November 18 and will include more than 5,000 new words and more than 1,000 new phrases and idioms. Here are four of the dumbest. "Rizz" is a shortened form of "charisma."

dad bod: a physique regarded as typical of an average father, especially one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.
dumbphone: a cell phone that does not include advanced software features (such as email or an internet browser) typically found on smartphones.
rizz: noun, romantic appeal or charm; verb, to charm or seduce.
teraflop: a unit of measure for the calculating speed of a computer equal to one trillion floating-point operations per second.

To make room for the new words, the geographical and biographical sections have been eliminated. Merriam-Webster president Greg Barlow says people now primarily use the internet, not dictionaries, to look up that information. Hey, Greg, I like those sections! And what about people who don't have a dictionary and are using a dumbphone? Huh? Huh?
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
27,885
22,332
168
Vacationland
Time perception is not a constant. I can see where these expressions come from. Another is "time flies when you are having fun". And it does. Another is "seems like yesterday". They all refer to the perception that time moves quicker when you are enjoying it. And the perception is true. If it wasn't, there would not be sayings that convey it.

And memory of time is even more distorted. So condensing an 18 year lifetime in memory is very human and probably a side effect of how our brain actually stores information.
I agree with all of this. But I still think "And just like that" is stupid, when it's applied to things that actually occurred over a long time.
 
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