On Demand
Don't Say That, Literally
Friday, May 29, 2009
John Flansburgh of the band They Might Be Giants discusses the running list the band keeps of "things we can no longer say." (a few examples: "my bad" "don't go there" "one hundred and ten percent" and "voted off the island")
What would be on your list of banned words or phrases? Comment below!- About the Brian Lehrer Show »
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My sole suggestion:
"Dow 36,000!"
"Dow 36,000" was a book by James Glassman and Kevin Hassett back in the late 1990's; it predicted the Dow would hit 36,000 in the space of a few short years.
I should have every hope that the title haunts them, but I instead have every certainty that nothing haunts people who can write a book called "Dow 36,000".
Maybe if they took a zero off the end, we could make it.
In a perfect world, Glassman and Hassett will end up homeless in Central Park, condemned to shouting "Dow 36,000!" to disinterested passersby.
"Oh my god!" by any girl between the ages of 9 and 17.
Using the "f" as an adjective or a filler word. I hear this constantly walking along the streets of NYC. "She f-in went to the f-in store and got some f-in, you know, burger buns." or "I f-in needs some f-in coffee. F!"
You know what the f I mean.
At the end of the day....
Frankly
"Its a no-brainer" should be banned from the lexicon.
It's usually used by people with no-brains to begin with looking for an easy way out.
“What happened?”
In Sunset Park, when someone doesn’t understand you, they might say “What happened?” instead of, “Could you say that again?” Drives me nuts.
It would be fun if you asked John and John what music they are listening to and what music has inspired them over the years.
"With all due respect."
Any statement starting this way means the exact opposite.
"It's not my job!" such an excuse!
By the way, I'm an architect who used to work with Earl Flansburgh (Jonh's father) back in Boston. Earl would never say that!
I have only three words to add to the list:
1. AWESOME
2. PLANET
3. DUDE
Back in the day
"Meanwhile" any time it is used by news people:
"A Taliban bomb killed 50 people in Lahore. Meanwhile, the Dow dropped 120 points."
"Doubleyoo-tee-eff" and "Oh-em-gee"
Blogosphere.
"Pledge Drive"
"Oh, my God". A phrase that seems to be used by everyone, believers or not.
Oh My G, er... where do I begin, irregardless of whether or not I could care less about these expressions...
How about anything that contradicts itself:
"If the team wins tonight then they can control their own destiny"
Excuse me, if they "control" it, then it's not "destiny"
And how about the "walk the talk" all over the place - ?
You Walk The Walk, or else the "talk" is meaningless...
Hey, did Mr. Lopate weigh in on this? I think Ms. Patricia McCann can assist us... ya think?
Hey not my prob!
"Hone in on." Drives me crazy.
Also, "Intergalactic" for any movie or TV story taking place in space. It's ALWAYS wrong. (The galaxies are way too far apart.) They mean "interplanetary" or "interstellar." The Times gets this wrong constantly!
"how the sausage is made"
"thrown under a bus"
These two started being applied to everything in the news one week! Everything was a sausage factory! From democracy to the media!
I actually kind of like it, but it exploded with overuse.
Dude is number one. Rock as in "rock that dress", baby bump, drop as in "my new CD drops", and two that Brian uses- shout out, and unpack. Oh and tweet.
"No offense, but..." sort of like "With all due respect", as mentioned above. It excuses the speaker from seeming rude while criticizing but also exposes them as a complete coward!
If I hear "same ol' same ol'" again I'll scream!
24-7 drives me nuts.
" Its all good '
Anything ending with "the internets" or "the interwebs"
IRREGARDLESS
&
CONVERSATE
Come on people, they are even words!
"mafia" (when used as a metaphor, rather than a reference to the actual mafia).
"Bling" (the actual cool people moved on from this about 7 years ago)
and I wish white people would stop forcing themselves to say "Fiddy" when mentioning "50 Cent." It really is okay to pronounce it "Fifty"! (on the off chance you have to reference him at all)
Irregardless. Not a word, regardless of what other people have told you.
Sorry, but the word literally has got to go--or at least be put on serious probation. Specifically in the following formulation:
Mr. X wrote the book on topic Y, literally.
And while we're at it, the following deserves banishment as well:
A quick Google search reveals . . .
Still waiting to hear the results of all those slow Google searches.
...at the end of the day. Used to mean, when the issue being discussed has run its course.
in a sentence:
We're excited about the proactive synergy of our company's massively leveraged, pro-consumer life-hack, but at the end of the day, does it get us women?
I heart....anything
Omit "whatever" from speech when used to respond dismissively to something that has just been said.
"Contributions to public radio are necessary if we are to have intelligent broadcasting."
"Whatever."
STOP SAYING "THE KICKER IS". PLEASE. I BEG YOU.
Unfortunately, 'like' has to have a period of being banned in all it's definitions due to it's abuse. Also banning 'You know' at the same time would get us back to normal sentences!
Not to be said:
The word "area"
when it follows a noun.
I know what's banned in the TMBG's "van": Are we there yet?
"agree to agree"
I would love to lose what seems to me a relatively new locution:
"That's what I'm talking about!"
used solely to agree with something someone else has said, and the user has not in fact talked about whatever "that" is him- or herself.
moratorium on superlatives, especially "incedibly":
"incredibly healthy"
"worked incredibly hard"
etc.
if it's not credible, than perhaps it should not be alleged...?
Twenty-Four-Seven!
Five syllables to replace two perfectly servicable terms of three syllables each;
"All the Time" and "Constantly"
Not to be said:
The word "area"
following a noun
"In these dangerous times" as well as any other expression of hysteria and paranoia.
Impactful...ugh, over reaching at its worst.
it's all good (when it's really not!)
how are you? ( when you really don't care about the answer)
very (absolute unique thing)
very full
very universal
very completed
very unique
very singular
very perfect
there is
highly astoundignly amazingly quite completely remrkably etc etc.
Ban the use of the word "race" as it is not biologically meaningful yet perpetuates the idea that there are absolute group-specific character traits. Along with the word "race," ban the use of "they" and "them" when speaking of any group, for these words are nonsensical -- unless one means what is true for all human beings, without exception -- e.g. "They all breathe and they all die."
Alberta Handelman
Bloomfield, NJ
WNPR Member since 1997
"Pushing the Envelope"
"Thinking Outside the Box"
"Edgey"
If I believed in censorship I would have the term "baby mama" banned!
"ily"
Short for 'I Love You.' If you really love someone, can't you take enough time to say "I love you." Really, it's only one extra syllable.
Amazing! Applied to almost anything. "It's not that big (good, bad, etc.) of a deal. Get rid of the "of'.
People (especially on television, not so much on radio) punctuate their sentences with the phrase “you know.” Sometimes it can be used multiple times in one sentence. When that happens I find myself counting the “you knows” and losing track of what is being said.
Ban, "i'm just sayin" and "boots on the ground"
"Impact" is used too frequently in business. I think people use it because they don't know the difference between "effect" and "affect." Meteors have impact not changes in corporate philosophy.
Incentivise - it's not a word
Like
Hopefully - almost always used incorrectly
Actually
"Sustainable."
A pseudo-scientific all purpose nothing. Used everywhere from lazy radio reporters to advocates believing that by using the term they inhabit the high moral ground. I can't go a day listening to the radio without hearing it several times. Mostly I don't think it's used with any idea of whether it's accurate in the context or not.
Anything that shortens a beautiful sound to a blunt one: Guantanamo becomes Gitmo; Alex Rodriguez becomes A-rod…are we really too lazy to say an extra syllable or two?
"AMAZING!"
..this has to be the most casually over-used word I can think of.
"This pasta is AMAZING!" Really? You are actually amazed by the pasta?
"Those shoes are AMAZING!" No kidding?
Maybe people are just more easily amazed these days. Seriously, next party count how many times you hear the word.
Runner-up: "B-T-Dubs" (for BTW)
Let's ban "back in the day" ......... from anyone, but especially from someone who hasn't lived long enough to have a "back in the day."
Ban "My bad" especially by an adult!
Most Important!
"So, ..."
"I mean, ..."
"If you will"
"At first blush"
"At the end of the day"
Anything to do with "the table," on or off.
Run these up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes!
I never had a problem with it before the 2008 election, but I just can't hear the word "maverick" anymore. It's like nails on a chalk board.
Grok. Don't ever using the word grok
[something] "may or may not be"
pretty much covers everything and says nothing
Dick Cheney.
"In these tough economic times."
And I second banning "amazing." Especially when pronounced as "a-MAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY-zing."
"Actuality" Is that even a word?!!!
"You working hard or hardly working"
"no worries"
this is SO annoying!
Pushback.
That's just wrong.
On some level....
Ban: "No problem" in response to "thank you." You are welcome would be appreciated.
Ban: The straw that broke the camel's back. Corny!!!
I am tired of "It is what it is"
I have three candidates:
- Multitasking
- Back in the day (what day? does anyone know?)
- 24/7
All three of these suck (which should also be banned)
1) "shovel ready"
2) "metrics' as a way of measuring workplace progress -- when did everyone start using that stupic word?
3) "main street/wall street"
Also "last and final." So redundant...used to be like third and final...
Not a problem.
and
Have a good one.
Ban "cool"!
impact where affect is perfectly good (impact only for extremes)
incentivize
"and...scene!"
and "let's take it to the next level."
please, make it stop!
"sugar rush"
"whatnot"
"this, that, and the other thing"
"That said"
Robust. Enough already.
I hate "on the same page"
and - "it is what it is"
sorry brian - I'm tired of "drill down" - it sounds like boosterism for big oil
Absolutely....Absolutely....Absolutely
If it's not already been mentioned, and I can't imagine it hasn't, how about: "it is what it is." A guy in my office used to say it all the time, and every time, I wanted to knock him out. How defeatist!
White American Guys Calling each Other:
"Bro"
SNORE..!!
"touch base"
People who say "so, the Reader's Digest version is" AFTER they give you their extended Encyclopedia Britannica version!
and at work - ppl always say - "re-look at" - horifying!
"Long story, short"
and
"Long story, longer"
please get rid of both. i can't even figure out how to correctly use punctuation for that...
"Pro-active"
Can't we just be active anymore?
"on the same page"
IRW... in the real world
"Right On!" ARGH!
For a certain time - unfortunately - the simple word 'like' has to be banned in all it's definitions due to it's abuse.
At the same time 'you know' should be temporarily banned.
A sentence like 'He, you know, like, never, like even, you know, liked her." could be 'He was never fond of her'
i hate "as well too"- how is this even a part of speaking English?
I loathe 24/7.
I hate the expression "Not so much" to express disapproval of something.
The world will not miss "the devil's in the details."
My skin crawls when I hear "Not your father's (fill in the blank)______"
"No worries"-wise, in Australia, they sometimes say "no dramas," which I thought was quite funny.
I love him/her to death
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