Phrases that should be banned

[Poor Old Bruce]

 

OO-gauge instead of 00-gauge

 

 

In a similr vein, what on earth is '00 Scale'? Is it 3.5mm or 4mm to the foot?

 

 

Here, hear

 

There / their / they're

Where / ware / wear - reminds me about the dyslexic pimp who bought a warehouse which also reminds me that bought and brought are also often confused / abused.

 

your / you're

[Guest dilbert]

In a similr vein, what on earth is '00 Scale'? Is it 3.5mm or 4mm to the foot?

 

OO scale is a term that appears to have taken root - it is used on other railway modelling internet fora, and if you go to the Bachmann UK homepage, you'll find an entry for the 'Scenecraft OO Scale Farm Collection'.

 

One cringeworthy phrase that appears to be always in vogue is "it's getting worser and worser"... dilbert

[trisonic]

I used to hate: "At this moment in time" = Now.

 

Usage seems to have declined since its' peak in the early eighties.....

 

Best, Pete.

[10800]

How about the announcements that getting increasingly "sorry" as the delay mounts

 

Firstly: We are sorry for the delay to the xxxx service.

Then: We are extremely sorry for the delay to the xxxx service. (greater delay)

etc.

 

 

Psychologically that's completely wrong because everyone (hopefully) knows it's a computerised message, with the use of 'we' suggesting some corporate remorse which is completely artificial and counter-productive. 'I' would be better, even if automated - better still a real announcement from a real person.

[Padishar Creel]

heard both these today:

 

sounds like a plan (- I've never heard the noise that a plan makes, can anyone describe it?)

 

there you go (- where was I supposed to go? Believe me I wasn't going anywhere)

[Colin]

Apart from the use of "like" as a form of punctuation, my other pet annoyance has to be the all-too-frequent description of someone who's upset/ very sad as "devastated". Devastated surely means physical destruction on a massive scale, not extreme emotion.

 

"Your call is important to us" - if it's so darn important why the hell don't you ANSWER???

[buffalo]

...

sounds like a plan (- I've never heard the noise that a plan makes, can anyone describe it?)...

Yes, large sheets of paper or, better still, draughting film, do have characteristic sounds when they get loose and fall off a table or are blown about in the wind. Perhaps that is the sound they had in mind?

 

Nick

[96701]

I'm okay with 'sounds like a plan', but only if somebody has explained the plan verbally.

[pointstaken]

Today's gem (from the editorial in a national newspaper), "as we speak" - has any one heard a newspaper speak ? I was always under the impression that speaking was a verbal activity, not a written one.

 

Dennis

[Kris]

The phrase that I really dislike is

 

"invisible ink"

 

It can come across as being very rude and at times very intolerant to people who may have misread some thing or missed something else, especially if there have been a lot of posts in a thread. Yes in an ideal world everyone would read everything, and understand what was being said. I do know how irritating can be when this hasn't happened and something is repeated but then I think to myself that someone has felt the information is important enough to be shared and that this should be valued even if the information is wrong or irrelevant.

[Padishar Creel]

 

OO scale is a term that appears to have taken root - it is used on other railway modelling internet fora, and if you go to the Bachmann UK homepage, you'll find an entry for the 'Scenecraft OO Scale Farm Collection'.

 

 

You're right, thanks for pointing that out - but as I write they have OO Scale Farm Collection and just above they advertise an 00 Scale Western Rambler...

 

hmmmm

[Natalie]

"Consists" instead of formation when referring to British train make up

 

Use of 'in the UK' instead of Britain. This use of UK seems to have escalated in the past ten years or so. Never heard it until then- everything was always 'in Britain' or 'British'. Trying to sound American I think...

 

'Train station' really grates me!

 

Double negatives such as "I ain't not got nothing" when they mean "I have got nothing."

 

Tagging on "you know what I mean?" or "innit" at the end of a sentence..

Edited September 5, 2011 by Natalie

[Guest dilbert]

Use of 'in the UK' instead of Britain. This use of UK seems to have escalated in the past ten years or so. Never heard it until then- everything was always 'in Britain' or 'British'. Trying to sound American I think...

 

That will depend on the context - the UK includes Northern Ireland, Great Britain does not. However, when someone wins a significant event such as Dai Greene at the recent world champshionship athletics event, it is a British win, when Andy Murray loses (yet) another tennis tournament he's always referred to as a Scot - there's crap English journalism for you... dilbert

[coachmann]

"Your call is important to us" - if it's so darn important why the hell don't you ANSWER???

Your call is important to them because they make money out you while your waiting. The spivs are into everything again.

[Horsetan]

Tagging on "you know what I mean?" or "innit" at the end of a sentence..

 

Or the pseudo-ghetto "Ya get me?"

[melmerby]

Ah

Lessons will be learnt

 

Keith

[bluebottle]

"Consists" instead of formation when referring to British train make up

Use of 'in the UK' instead of Britain. This use of UK seems to have escalated in the past ten years or so. Never heard it until then- everything was always 'in Britain' or 'British'. Trying to sound American I think...

'Train station' really grates me!

Double negatives such as "I ain't not got nothing" when they mean "I have got nothing."

I discussed the use of double negatives with an educated lady from the United States; she told me that Americans sometimes use these to give extra emphasis to a statement, not because of ignorance of grammar. I do think its use in Britain is solely due to ignorance, however.

[Xerces Fobe2]

"RMweb is running slow"

[t-b-g]

I am not too sure about the OO versus 00 debate! Unless we want to drop "Oh" gauge and go back to "Nought" gauge for 7mm modellers. As the larger gauges are all numbers, 7mm should really be "nought" gauge. HO is of course Half Nought, so should be H0 not HO. There comes a time when common usage results in a change in the language. There are a lot of recently introduced phrases and words that I am against but in this case, I reckon that 4mm scale on 16.5mm track is now known almost universally as Double "Oh" gauge, not Double "Nought", or even "Nought Nought". I say almost because I have heard people say "Nought Nought" once or twice in the last 30 years. OO or 00 scale should never appear though! Such a thing doesn't exist.

 

I also dislike the sound of "train station" but begrudgingly admit that it is quite logical! What do you catch at a bus station? Probably a bus! You go to a station to catch a train. So why not call it a train station? At least it is consistent.

[bluebottle]

I am not too sure about the OO versus 00 debate! Unless we want to drop "Oh" gauge and go back to "Nought" gauge for 7mm modellers. As the larger gauges are all numbers, 7mm should really be "nought" gauge. HO is of course Half Nought, so should be H0 not HO. There comes a time when common usage results in a change in the language. There are a lot of recently introduced phrases and words that I am against but in this case, I reckon that 4mm scale on 16.5mm track is now known almost universally as Double "Oh" gauge, not Double "Nought", or even "Nought Nought". I say almost because I have heard people say "Nought Nought" once or twice in the last 30 years.

Should I refer to, for instance, a Jubilee or Sandringham class loco as a "Four-six-nought" rather than a "four-six-oh"? Or should I give the Sheffield dialling code as "Nought-one-one-four rather than the "oh-double-one-four nearly everyone uses? (I say nearly everyone - I usually say "zero" to make sure it's not misheard as "four". Perhaps I could really confuse the staff at "rails" by ordering a few lengths of "zero-zero" track...) I, for one, intend to carry on writing "00" and saying "dublo" in honour of Binns Road's famous products!

(Edited for punctuation)

Edited September 6, 2011 by bluebottle

[Poor Old Bruce]

Today's gem (from the editorial in a national newspaper), "as we speak" - has any one heard a newspaper speak ? I was always under the impression that speaking was a verbal activity, not a written one.

How about "I stand corrected" when most of us are sitting.

 

Giving a time as, for example, "9a.m. in the morning". Of course it's in the morning otherwise it wouldn't be a.m. "9 o'clock in the morning" would sound better.

 

Measuring distances in minutes (or greated distances in hours) such as so-and-so is two hours down the coast from such-and-such without saying whether it is by bicycle, rowing bost or rocket sled!

[trisonic]

One thing I have noticed on return visits to London (in particular) is the addition of "Yeah?" to the end of sentences such as when someone is passing on directions, i.e. "Turn left at the Pub, Yeah?"

 

Best, Pete.

[Penlan]

...Double negatives such as "I ain't not got nothing" when they mean "I have got nothing."......

.... and 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'. when it could be the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time, too.... Doesn't in the wrong place at the wrong time intimate they are in the right place.

 

 

The misuse of bought and brought, I admit I rhyme 'brought with bring' and 'bought with buy',

but then my English teacher in the 50's had some good ways of getting things into our brain!!!

Edited September 6, 2011 by Penlan

[10800]

I discussed the use of double negatives with an educated lady from the United States; she told me that Americans sometimes use these to give extra emphasis to a statement, not because of ignorance of grammar. I do think its use in Britain is solely due to ignorance, however.

 

Possibly also some influence from Spanish there, where 'I have nothing' ('Yo no tengo nada') does legitimately contain two negatives, so a Hispanic could translate that literally into English and it spreads from there.

[melmerby]

People when asked "How are you today?" reply "I am good"

 

Surely it should be "I am well" or "I am feeling good"?

 

I usually say "zero" to make sure it's not misheard as "four".

 

Same here

 

Keith