“And I was like?”

[MotCO]

Language does evolve and most of these phrases usually give me a smile, but for some reason two still make my blood boil to explosion:

Reach out...
Thank you for your patience..

And - "your call is important to us"

 

[Harpo]

The political filler equivalent of ‘like’ is ‘look’, the absolutely compulsory first word of any politician’s answer. Sadly it’s creeping into some TV & radio journalists’ lexicons too.

I’ve also shuddered at the rhetorical ‘know what I mean?’ and had assumed it to be recent until I rewatched 1980’s ‘The Long Good Friday’.

 

[gg1]

The political filler equivalent of ‘like’ is ‘look’, the absolutely compulsory first word of any politician’s answer. Sadly it’s creeping into some TV & radio journalists’ lexicons too.

I think Tony Blair may have popularised that one, he was the first politician who said it often enough for me to notice anyway.

 

[Mr. SW]

Oh, My Days! This, like, I mean, totally drives me crazy, man!

 

[dangie]

And - "your call is important to us"

And - “we take safety very seriously”

 

[Loppylugs]

Love watching the cycling on the box, Tour de France, Giro d'Italia etc, but Sean Kelly does my head in. Every time he's asked to comment on something he begins "Yes, well". Known in this house as yeswell Kelly.

 

[Halwynd]

And - "your call is important to us"

Yes, there's quite a few isn't there...

The only call centre holding response I find useful is where they say 'you are number so and so in the queue'.

 

[gg1]

Yes, there's quite a few isn't there...

The only call centre holding response I find useful is where they say 'you are number so and so in the queue'.

The ones which irritate me the most are where the hold music stops to play the automated message rather than being overlaid, the brief moment of silence between music and message giving you false hope someone may be about to answer your call.

 

[Gloster]

The ones which irritate me the most are where the hold music stops to play the automated message rather than being overlaid, the brief moment of silence between music and message giving you false hope someone may be about to answer your call.

Agreed. I find that absolutely infuriating.

 

[AlterEgo]

A true cultural icon:

 

[daveo]

Yes, there's quite a few isn't there...

Tut, tut, tut! "there's" (there is) and "isn't" are singular while "quite a few" suggests plural - "There are" and "aren't there"

 

[Halwynd]

The ones which irritate me the most are where the hold music stops to play the automated message rather than being overlaid, the brief moment of silence between music and message giving you false hope someone may be about to answer your call.

Yes, adding to the pain!

Tut, tut, tut! "there's" (there is) and "isn't" are singular while "quite a few" suggests plural - "There are" and "aren't there"

Yes, there's quite a few isn't there

Guilty as charged.

There are too many...

 

[johnnychips]

Nothing new. I can remember being told off for using ‘like’ in the above manner in the 70s.

 

[En]

Whilst I, you know, appreciate that, you know, language evolves, I’m absolutely sick and tired of, you know, people who can’t, you know, hold a conversation without, you know, saying “you know” every few seconds, you know what I mean??

there are all kinds of idiom, dialect ( combined with accent and not ) and shibboleths coming into play here

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Oct 2024 ==

In other words it’s just lazy speech from people who can’t be bothered to slow down, think about what they’re trying to say, and speak properly.

The irony of course , is that many of the people complaining about these idiomatic tics engage in their own idomatic tics ... Add in some reactionary stuff around teachers etc not 'correcting' the use of dialect words in general speech even if they teach 'proper' english for formal written work

 

[Merle Haggard]

Growing up in the 1950s, it was drummed into me that the only polite form was "Please may I have a ... ?". Using "Please can I have a ... ?" risked the reply "yes, you can, but you may not" meaning no ice cream, chocolate bar, or whatever was being sought. Different times!

Similarly someone saying 'I can only apologise' - often used by politicians. My boss addressed the 'team' like that once, and I found it very hard not so say 'Good, go ahead!'

 

[Royston Vasey]

So I was trying to think of something as annoying as this idiom...


And there it is... the use of So at the start of a sentence, especially when attempting to explain a complex situation.

Most frequently used by new members in the Disputes and Prosecutions forum!

 

[JKF]

Also, "basically" and "literally".

Could be argued that "well" is a filler too, just in the same vein as "uhm" and "uhh".

My six-year old son uses ‘basically’ way too much, not sure where it’s come from. Also quite often starts referring to me (or anyone else) as ‘Bro’ when telling you something, which he’s picked up from American berks he’s been watching on YouTube. Tbh I find it more amusing than annoying, just because of how ridiculous it is.

 

[Ediswan]

And there it is... the use of So at the start of a sentence, especially when attempting to explain a complex situation.

Most frequently used by new members in the Disputes and Prosecutions forum!

Agreed. 'So' makes sense verbally, to attract attention before speaking. That is not needed when writing.

 

[Purple Train]

Agreed. 'So' makes sense verbally, to attract attention before speaking. That is not needed when writing.

To be fair, the way in which texting is used (as a medium to articulate spoken language through writing) has blurred the difference enough that I think lots of typed methods of communication have started to mirror spoken language, as opposed to written language, rather than simply informal pseudo-spoken conversation. It doesn't stop it from irritating me, though, however much I may do it subconsciously.

 

[Starmill]

I'm not persuaded it makes sense to reject any words that are "too american". If you dislike them don't use them yourself - but about a third of modern English words are said to be French in origin, so we'd have little left if we refused to use anything but Anglo-Saxon origin terms.

 

[Cross City]

The best thing about English is that it evolves quickly and takes on loan words from other cultures so easily while still being able to retain meaning through context most of the time even if the listener has never heard the word before.

It's miles better than having a committee of stuffy sour faced old blokes guarding the language of the people like they do in France for example.

 

[AlterEgo]

The best thing about English is that it evolves quickly and takes on loan words from other cultures so easily while still being able to retain meaning through context most of the time even if the listener has never heard the word before.

It's miles better than having a committee of stuffy sour faced old blokes guarding the language of the people like they do in France for example.

Couldn’t agree more. English is the lingua franca for this reason - a lack of stuffiness and a cultural norm that it is rude to correct people on their English if they can still be understood.

 

[westv]

It has been suggested (I can’t remember where I read it) that this is people trying to be a bit more polite than peremptorily saying, “Get me a…” The possibility of using a longer but politer version (“Could you please let me have...”) is seen as a bit old fashioned and probably just too much work to bother about (I want it and I want it now!). Make of that what you will.

What's wrong with "May I have?" or "Can I have?"? As mentioned "get" implies the speaker wants to go and get it. Just another nonsense Americanism.

 

[Merle Haggard]

What's wrong with "May I have?" or "Can I have?"? As mentioned "get" implies the speaker wants to go and get it. Just another nonsense Americanism.

'Get' seems to have been replaced by 'grab', particularly in adverts... Probably a U.S. import, and I regard it as very rude. - perhaps not unconnected

 

[Harpo]

'Get' seems to have been replaced by 'grab', particularly in adverts... Probably a U.S. import, and I regard it as very rude. - perhaps not unconnected

I bristle at ‘can I get’.

 

[Sun Chariot]

My father used to reprimand my brother and I, if one of us said "what" in response to being called. My father would always add: "The word is  pardon".
My brother and I would then reply: " Pardon do you want? Pardon's the matter?"
My father never actually caught on....

 

[Howardh]

It's interesting when almost all of us on here would "catch" or "take" a/the train!!

I suppose in Britain we're lucky that our language isn't too direct - if you are in Germany (for example) "Do you have a menu?" will prompt the reply "yes" which is correct but doesn't help you! If you ask "please can I see/have the menu" then you might actually get it!

 

[westv]

I'm not persuaded it makes sense to reject any words that are "too american". If you dislike them don't use them yourself - but about a third of modern English words are said to be French in origin, so we'd have little left if we refused to use anything but Anglo-Saxon origin terms.

Well at least French is European.

 

[johnnychips]

My father used to reprimand my brother and I, if one of us said "what" in response to being called. My father would always add: "The word is  pardon".
My brother and I would then reply: " Pardon do you want? Pardon's the matter?"
My father never actually caught on....

I don’t know if this is a northern thing, but if you don’t hear or understand something, you say, ‘You what?’ instead of ‘Pardon?’ My teacher would say ‘Yes, I’m hot. Are you hot too?’

 

[Grecian 1998]

Some American English words are actually older than British English e.g. 'fall' is much older than autumn. British folk who migrated to the 13 Colonies kept some old words and syntax in use long after they had fallen out of use in the UK.

An interesting future clash may be between American English and 'th-fronting'. This is where the 'th' sound in think and thanks becomes 'f' in all words, and the 'th' sound in with or brother becomes v, but only in words where the 'th' sound isn't the starting sound. It's originally a London pronunciation which spread to Estuary English and is now widely heard across most dialects of English English (but much more rarely in Welsh English or Scottish English). It is still something of a social class delineation, although much less than it used to be.

I dislike it intensely although I acknowledge it isn't merely lazy - the distinction between the two sounds is preserved, and those who say 'wiv' or 'bruvver' invariably still say 'that' or 'this'. I have asked a few people who do it if they can hear the difference and generally they either can't hear it at all, or can only tell the difference if they're concentrating (usually by watching the tell-tale tongue roll needed for a 'th' sound). A bit odd when they can effortlessly switch between 'this' and 'bruvver' without even thinking about it.

Anyway, the point is that this hasn't developed in American English to any noticeable extent. Whilst I won't be here by then, it wouldn't surprise me if in a century's time there's a complaint in British English about the odd American pronunciation of good English words like 'fink' and 'fanks'.

Language has always developed and changed - if it didn't then the works of Geoffrey Chaucer would be easy to read today.