Is a 'show stopper' bad... and other things

[EinsteinaGogo]

A thread about a thread (eeek!).

On a current thread, the OP is selling her house, and mentions there are one or two show stoppers about the property that are very clearly described in the details.

Therefore - any viewers who book an appointment, look around the house, then feedback that the show stopper is the reason they don't like it, are unreasonable.

The OPs home showstopper isn't stated, but it's clear that 'show stopper' is a negative .
Something like no parking, leasehold of 1 year, built on a train platform, about to be bulldozed by Christmas, etc.

To the OP - and me, and a handful of other posters - a show stopper is something negative - an obstacle hard to overcome. To the majority, it's a positive - something brilliant to make everyone gasp in awe.

What is a show stopper to you?

AND

Do you have any similar tales of using a phrase (any phrase) in a different way to its general meaning?

In my mind, it's 100%, a wow-thing, a brilliant, wonderful thing. I just asked the family. My DS thinks of it as the same as me but weirdly DH immediately said it's negative. It stop the show. It's bad. So for 20 years we've been potentially using the phrase and not realising we are referring to the opposite when using it.

Why would you make your and others lives harder by misusing a common expression?

@JackPaul but who is misusing it? It seems there's a genuine divide here and TBH I doubt any of us have ever thought to ask 'what does this phrase mean to you?' when we've used it as we have all understood it in our own way.

Out of interest, do any of the posters saying it's a negative thing not have a corporate/I.T. background? I'm a language teacher and I had never ever heard it used negatively until I read this thread.

It comes from the Theatre world and it’s a positive thing.

Never ever heard of it as negative.

If the “odds are low” it means that thing is more likely to happen but most people get it wrong and round the other way.

I stand corrected, I now realise it can be meant in a negative way. I only ever knew it as something stunning, breath taking in a positive sense.

It's a theatre term meaning an amazing thing.

Presumably at some point someone or a group of someones (in US tech field) has misunderstood and started using it as the opposite. It's caught on as these things do and now both definitions are seen as valid.

I suppose it's like it someone thought that "break a leg" was a threat 🤣

@lazylinguist I work in the aviation industry. DH is an engineer. We both automatically thought of the negative meaning and that's how it's used in our workplaces, though we're both aware of the positive meaning too.
So not IT or corporate, but still techy I suppose.

It's neutral. It's anything that tops a show. Depending on context (i.e., what the show is), this could be a good or bad thing. I thought it was obvious what was meant in the original thread.

Tops=stops. D'oh!

It's both but the positive springs to mind more readily because of bake off.

Yes I would say deal breaker for a bad thing.

[quote GaspingGekko]@lazylinguist I work in the aviation industry. DH is an engineer. We both automatically thought of the negative meaning and that's how it's used in our workplaces, though we're both aware of the positive meaning too.
So not IT or corporate, but still techy I suppose.[/quote]
What part of the aviation industry isn’t corporate?

@DollyDoneMore

As we all know, language evolves.

'Go Live' is very much used as a noun in my business (tech / change / project management) and everyone understands its meaning and the variants depending on context.

"It could impact the go-live" for example. Been used for years.

"Google it". Verb. Not this way a decade ago.

NB: glad it checked this post because I mistyped and had "language revolves"!

I'd say zoom is rapidly becoming a verb too - as in "I'll zoom you"/"let's zoom later" - covid effect!

@StatisticallyChallenged

I'd say zoom is rapidly becoming a verb too - as in "I'll zoom you"/"let's zoom later" - covid effect!

Exactly!!! And it bet it's not a verb in the dictionary right now (in this use).

IT here too, definitely a bad thing, an issue that cannot be overcome and will stop the thing you’re working on (the Show) moving forward. It’s not the same as a deal breaker as that doesn’t really mean quite the same thing.
I’ve heard it as a positive thing, but day to day for me it’s a bad thing.

@DollyDoneMore We work in the designing, testing, building, fixing aircraft part of aviation. Mostly an engineering environment, so reasonably far away from corporate.

To me, in the context of a house, it would be something like a really ugly chandelier, or a stained glass window, or a massive mirror on the ceiling. Something that makes you go ‘wow’ but not necessarily in a good way

Any link to the other post? I can't find it

^It’s not the same as a deal breaker as that doesn’t really mean quite the same thing.&

I agree - for me, a deal breaker means something gets in the way that stops you starting. A showstopper stops something already in progress.

Zoom already existed as a verb, "zoom in", "zoom down the road," but I agree it's probably take over from videoconferencing as a verb for that context.

A show stopper to me would be something amazing that would make you want to buy the house mainly because of that

[quote GaspingGekko]@DollyDoneMore We work in the designing, testing, building, fixing aircraft part of aviation. Mostly an engineering environment, so reasonably far away from corporate.[/quote]
I’m not sure I understand the distinction. You work for a company that builds aeroplanes? Unless it’s you and your other half working out of your garage, that sounds like a corporate environment.

In fact, I’d say you work in tech too. Not IT, but definitely technology.

A showstopper in its original form is a massively positive thing as far as I know