Pet Peeves

[jdb1]

I hate the term "going forward."

Good one, Chris. Especially when preceded by "on a" and followed by "basis": e.g., "This is what we are going to do on a going forward basis." Ack! You mean "from now on", "in the future" or -- heaven forbid -- "This is what we are going to do." (as opposed to "This is what we are going to do in the past.")?

I wonder if this is a regional thing. Five years ago, everyone in NYC business was saying "going forward," but I don't hear it quite as much now.

How about all the reality show noodles who say things like "My mother gave that to my husband and I" -- rather than "to my husband and me." I think they probably think "my husband and I" sounds grander, therefore it must be correct. Once again, American education shows its stuff.

On another subject, a real peeve for me is bringing their children home on the subway with them in the evening. The kids were probably in daycare. They are tired, cranky, hungry and screaming. And Mom and Dad simply tune them out, as they probably do at home. What about the rest of us, trapped in a subway car with all of that? I spend a great deal of my travel time shushing kids. The kids can be a little rambunctious in the mornings as well, but most are so groggy that they ride relatively quietly, and a lot of them are actually eating their breakfast on the train (and that's too bad, isn't it? Poor kids). But on the return trip -- yipes! I don't blame the kids anywhere near as much as I blame the parents. We are all tired in the evening -- don't make it worse.

And, similarly, those parents who get on the subway at rush hour with huge baby strollers and multiple baby bags. Do they not remember that the trains are extra-crowded at rush hour? Can they not contrive to leave a little earlier or a little later? And how about all those, usually men, who bring their bicycles on the train at rush hour? You've got a bicycle, man -- use it!

[charliechaplinfan]

Oh Judith, I agree with all you say. I'd hate to do that commute. Poor kids, it can't be the best thing for them not that they or the parents have much choice, they probably just have to work just to pay the bills. No excuse for not trying to quiet them though.

A lot of our gripes are about the use of language. There's not the same emphasis placed on grammar and spelling these days. My parents had a better education in the subject than I did and I had a much better education in the subject than kids get these days. Why is it not thought to be important anymore?

[mrsl]

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I'm still enthralled by The Food Network, but I wish they would rearrange the programming and switch some of the southern spots between northern ones. When you have 4 or 5 hosts all braying with Y'All, I want to throw something at the TV.

I guess 75% of Americans were sleeping in the class when the teacher gave those simple grammar hints, like:

1. i before e except after c.

2. when choosing between I and me, drop the first word. She gave it to ____ (I), or she gave it to ____ (me)?

One of my most hated:
a. Going to the store.
b. There are too many eggs.
c. Jane and Sue are two people.

Question: Since I don't text message, or tweet, could these un-mannerisms be connected in some way to those new capabilities? I am quite sure that they do have to do with our youngsters not knowing how to spell words with more than 4 letters in them in many cases. My grand daughter got this note from her dentists' receptionist: Dont 4get 2 brsh. That is, without a doubt, deplorable.

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[charliechaplinfan]

Anne, I've resisted a mobile phone for years finally succumbing to having one when I was having Joe so I could text hubby who is a teacher if any pains started. Then it just lay around, I never gave the number out and only occasionally texted my hubby. Since moving last year I had to give the number out, we were without a phone line for 4 weeks and it's always ringing. All my friends text, many of them work and haven't time for a phone call (what kind of world do we live in?) and don't check emails, so I've given in. I don't abbreviate on my texts, I don't want to pick up bad habits, I started using 4 for for and then found that was what I wanted to type when I wanted to send an email or leave a post. So I text in full and take more time. Language evolves and I've no trouble with text jargon, I'm just worried that some youngsters will be able to text but not be able to construct a sentence using the Queen's English.

[knitwit45]

We have an extremely annoying newscaster who acts as if everything is a castastrophe, she shouts and exaggerates all the news headlines. You get a lot of teasers about the "coming up next" story, but the story itself is a minor blip on the radar. The worst offense, though, in my opinion, is the current use of the word "bust". "They busted in the door". "The police made a drug bust". "The car busted through the road block". arrrrgh.

[mrsl]

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I absolutely hate, abhor, detest, can't stand and want nothing to do with cell phones. I have one that I planned to leave in my car for emergencies, but didn't realize it has to be charged. The one time I went to use it, it was dead, so I brought it in to charge, and never brought it out again.

1. I can't read the contact list without my glasses.
2. The phone is so small, I can't hold it trapped between my shoulder and ear, to free my hands.
3. The number buttons are so small and close, I keep hitting the wrong numbers with my fingernails.
4. It makes me crazier to know someone has called and I don't know who, so I pull over to see, and get stuck sitting at the side of the road yakking.
5. I don't know if I have the capability to text message, and I don't care to find out, because I don't want anyone sending me any texts. If you want to talk to me, you can call me and speak to me. I'm not a dog who responds to finger snapping.
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[movieman1957]

Nancy:

I don't think you can have newscasters (at least local ones) who didn't play everything like it was a catastrophe. Ours were especially so during our big snow storms. I rarely watch newscasts anymore. I get mine from a variety of newspapers online.

[klondike]

For me, the phrase riddled with barbs is "butt naked".
Aurrrrrrghhhh!
Don't know whether this one clambered out of the intellectual vaccuum of trailer trash parlance, or gangsta-rap lingo, but it just hits my ear like battery acid!
The folk-honored phrase it must have cloned from was "buck naked", describing an accidentally observed state of undress for a grown man which was so complete that it exposed his actual maleness . . the female counterpart was "doe bare", referencing any nudity of a mature woman so absolute that her entire fanny was exposed.
Now, however, this b*st*rd offspring is just about u n i v e r s a l !
As for TV news, I feel the only mature, intelligent, neutral presentation thereof to be found on my television comes from the BBC World broadcasts . . even for the domestic stories!

[knitwit45]

K, I just picked up a greeting card, (I'm a sucker for them!) that shows two old ladies sitting on a park bench, and one is saying, "Is it Buck Naked or Butt Naked?" The inside says: You're the person I go to for answers to the important questions of Life.

[jdb1]

Yes, greeting cards are the barometer of good taste in America, aren't they? I'm hard pressed to find a birthday card that doesn't use the word "fart."

I think that "butt naked" can be categorized as an "eggcorn," that is a misheard word or phrase that the listener changes into something that makes sense (like "eggcorn" for "acorn"). Since everybody's talking 24/7, and no one's listening very carefully, we can expect a lot more of those. Eventually, the wrong will replace the right -- it's the nature of a fluid language like English.

[Birdy]

One of mine is the stations who show the next big scene before the commercial. I occassionally get sucked into a Lifetime movie and they are particularly bad at this. Don't show the kiss, the murder, the trial scene before you get to it and ruin my anticipation. You already have me hooked.
B

[rohanaka]

OH the texting. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I had that feature removed from my cell phone account so no one can text me. (I know, ain't I a stinker?)

Also, I hate seeing families at restaurants just sitting at a table, ignoring one another. On many occassions in the past, we have gone out to eat and observed two or more people (whom we presume are related) either talking, texting, "surfing" their phone (or blackberry, or whatever it is supposed to be called). Others have been noted reading a book while another person was sitting directly across from them eating in total silence. Also seen are kids sitting at the table with either some sort of DVD player, handheld game, or whatever it is they call those little mini walkmen type music playing things (ha, yes... I am not "with it". I have NO idea what those are about. Are they mp3 players??) Whatever you call them, there sit the kids, just listening and bobbing their heads to what I suppose they THINK passes for music, meanwhile they are ignoring their parents and their parents are busy ignoring them.

Sad.

Also a pet peeve: Rude or arrogant, and meanspirited behavior.

OH, and I also hate to see ill mannered children allowed to run rampant in public places, especially while the parents stand around and gab as they completely ignore them. Don't misunderstand... I LOVE kids and I thoroughly enjoy watching them play and have fun. In fact I am often the "biggest kid" of the bunch. But at certain times, and in certain settings, children should be properly suprevised and expected to behave themselves. I truly do not understand parents who do not understand THAT concept.

I could go on, but then I would likely be referred to the whiny thread. (I have a lot of issues, ha)

[Birdy]

Ro - I don't have texting capabilities by choice, like you. No one needs to get a message to me that badly. I understand the convenience for people who are in meetings to get messages. Also, my friends with teenagers say they can stay in touch with their whereabouts easier through texting. It's not for me right now.

Don't even get me started on kids in public. I'm a librarian so you can picture it. I love kids but hate to see a section of the library dismantled by a wild-child. Or sippy cups. In the library? Really?
B

[knitwit45]

It must be a trend! I had texting removed from my phone, also. People who need to contact me can call me. I was in a Dr.'s office yesterday, and a small wild child was tearing up the place. Mommy sat and texted on her phone (is texted a real word?). The nurse came out, got me and took me back to a cubicle to wait for the Dr. I was so grateful! even sitting alone in a small room beats listening to this hoodlum in the making scream.

and I know JDB just used the term, and I guess it's a part of our language now, but I really don't like "24/7" It seems like another text shortcut to me. (Still love me, JDB????)

[knitwit45]

Ooh, ooh, just thought of one more: People who just hit "forward" and send me email (which I dearly love to receive) without cleaning up all the headers and previous names. To me, it's just a common courtesy to clear off the junk, tidy it up a bit and then send something on. And I am the worst offender of sending too many emails, I just get hit with a lot of funny things and want to share them