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Annoying words/phrases/uptalk

Hope

 

As a pedant, I study what people say and how, and get irritated by what appears to be the 'dumbing down' of the English language. I get this wrong myself from time to time, imbibing bad habits in my speech, and I am trying to eliminate these bad habits.

Thankfully, however, I never say 'awesome' or the  perennial ''aah bless'', usually uttered by people with nothing better to say. I am sick of the number of times that some people litter their conversation with ''aah bless': you show them a 'cute' picture - ''aah bless'; you tell them about an 'endearing' incident or person - ''aah bless'', and so it goes on.

Other overused words and phrases include:

'like', as in 'and she was like...' (the wrong use of the word 'like'!)

'Literally'

'Basically'

'Whatever'

'Yeah right'

'At the end of the day'

'To be honest'

'24/7'

'Seriously'

'It was a nightmare'

'Really?'

'Etc, etc, etc'

 

'Uptalk' is when every sentence is posed as a question, when it should an authoritative statement. The high-rising-terminal, as it is also known, is mainly used by the young, and it suggests a lack of certainty and insecurity.

Parents

  •  Mum of 3: Maybe pedantry is a trait of AS that can be shared by the wider family of those affected - the Broader Autism Phenotype, which has been studied. Autism is, after all, mainly genetic.

    Deleuze: I think I do have stock words/phrases that I use in conversation, but I can't recall them  right now. I often produce an annoying laugh - a nervous laugh- when I am feeling socially nervous, but I am trying not to do this.

    I don't use the latest fashionable words/phrases or slang. I listen to too much Radio 4 and spend too much time with older adults, having hardly any aquaintances within my age group.

    The reason ''aah bless' annoys me is because it exudes sentimental emotion for the pure sake of it, and is devoid of meaning. Religious people say 'God bless'  to show their faith, but this does not annoy me if it is done occasionally and sparingly. I am not a Christian but I accept that people who are religious might speak in a religious way. However, atheists and people of no particular faith are now saying 'bless' all the time, and this is hypocrisy, and it  is vacuous to the extreme. One particular person I know is addicted to the word, and is not a Christian. I have actually started counting how often she says it when I am with her. Last time she said it 4 times in 10 minutes - ''aah bless', ''bless it'', ''bless her''!!!. It is like a verbal tic and is extremely monotonous.

     

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  •  Mum of 3: Maybe pedantry is a trait of AS that can be shared by the wider family of those affected - the Broader Autism Phenotype, which has been studied. Autism is, after all, mainly genetic.

    Deleuze: I think I do have stock words/phrases that I use in conversation, but I can't recall them  right now. I often produce an annoying laugh - a nervous laugh- when I am feeling socially nervous, but I am trying not to do this.

    I don't use the latest fashionable words/phrases or slang. I listen to too much Radio 4 and spend too much time with older adults, having hardly any aquaintances within my age group.

    The reason ''aah bless' annoys me is because it exudes sentimental emotion for the pure sake of it, and is devoid of meaning. Religious people say 'God bless'  to show their faith, but this does not annoy me if it is done occasionally and sparingly. I am not a Christian but I accept that people who are religious might speak in a religious way. However, atheists and people of no particular faith are now saying 'bless' all the time, and this is hypocrisy, and it  is vacuous to the extreme. One particular person I know is addicted to the word, and is not a Christian. I have actually started counting how often she says it when I am with her. Last time she said it 4 times in 10 minutes - ''aah bless', ''bless it'', ''bless her''!!!. It is like a verbal tic and is extremely monotonous.

     

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