Stop Saying That

[dougo]

A quick plug for petdance's new community: stopsayingthat.

stopsayingthat is the community for posting things that people need to stop saying and writing.

If you're tired of people saying things like "Be afraid. Be very afraid." as if it's clever, this is the place for you.

Comments

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

oops. i just posted that one.

or do they have to post/say this stuff constantly?

is it the sheer repetition that offends, or something else?

[dougo.livejournal.com]

If you repeat it enough times, maybe it would become ironically self-referential.

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

everything i say is ironic; it's my trademark. ;)

[dkw.livejournal.com]

Of course the first thing that springs to my mind is a line I'm fond of overquoting myself, from The Princess Bride: "Stop saying that!"

[dougo.livejournal.com]

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

That's never bothered me, or even seemed over-used.

Of course, really over-used words like "extreme" still bug the hell out of me. Especially when they're oftne use inappropriately (my favorite example was an ad for an "extreme" phone plan.)

[prog.livejournal.com]

There's generally only two classes of these things that really rankle me. In both cases I connect them most strongly with things that TV newsreaders might say, or might be found in ad copy.

1. Outdated idioms meant to be punny in context, but which in modern English usage are seldom heard outside of these same punny contexts.
   • Out of this world in reference to something that has to do with outer space.
   • Gone to the dogs in reference to something that has to do with dogs, literally.


2. Pull-quotes from popular culture, especially movies, used only for their face-value meaning in contexts that have nothing to do with the quote's orginal context.
   • They're baaa-aaack to mean "they're back."
   • Be afraid, be very afraid to mean "this is scary."

[dkw.livejournal.com]

Sticklers unite! Extreme pedantry!