To cringe when people say...

[Dalmore30]

Food being described as ‘beautiful’, ‘gorgeous’ or ‘stunning’ makes me wants to vomit.

I have to bite my tongue when people say ‘fry off’ rather than just fry.

And the word ‘secondment’ makes my skin crawl!

Is anyone with me on these?

Cant stand the phrase "lapping it up"
It manages to be both patronising and to conjure up nasty images of people behaving like slobbering dogs. Ugh.
Also dislike "lush" as it usually makes no sense in the context itself being used in.

@thepeopleversuswork

Is anyone else as irritated by the irritation being expressed as they are by the actual words/phrases?

Don't want to be a killjoy but language is a live thing: you do realise that?

The world would be such a joyless place if we banned all non-orthodox forms of communication.

I know this is meant to be "light-hearted" (my personal bugbear) but it leaves me feeling depressed when people pick apart the way others speak like this...

I tend to agree (although I have joined in on these threads in the past... the ones that annoy me are rarely the ones that annoy the majority, though).

When it bugs me most is when it is clearly about establishing (regional or class) superiority or implying limited intelligence in others who speak a certain (regionally influenced) way. We've already had 'lush' (which is a SW England-ism AFAIK) and 'stood'/'sat' etc (non-orthodox but very much an alternative form in many regions). Just waiting for the 'haitch' haters to turn up...

@ElGuardiandenoche

I’ve noticed on a lot of cooking shows recently that the word hero is being used to describe a part of the food they’ve cooked. IE “we want you to hero the asparagus in this dish.” “I’ve hero’d the chocolate in the mouse.”

Drives me up the wall...FOOD. CANNOT. BE. A. HERO!!!😡🤬 sorry for the rant ☺️

You are right, but you are wrong to call it a "show" when it's a PROGRAMME.

Re extreme reactions, I do feel quite a strong reaction. For me it's not feeling sick but an awful cringey feeling. I haven't actually said some of the food words I find the worst because it would be quite outing, but they really feel unbearable to hear!

Having said that I know it's tiny in the scheme of things, and I don't require people not to say them! But I think it's interesting that words can really get to people.

AndThenTheDayBecomesTheNight

"When it bugs me most is when it is clearly about establishing (regional or class) superiority or implying limited intelligence in others who speak a certain (regionally influenced) way."

I agree. No doubt I will be told I'm a humourless old cow but I find these threads judgemental and unpleasant.

the one I hate is when journalists insist on using the word 'tot' to describe a young child. can't stand it.

Pan fry means to fry with little or no oil it isn't describing the cookware.

This is the first attempt at an explanation for this I have ever seen, so thank you for that. I find it unconvincing though. Surely that's 'lightly fried'?

There's a distinction between shallow fried and deep fried, which usually but not always relates to different cookware. Something shallow fried in a pan could also be lightly fried, if only a little fat is used. We already have those terms. So what clarity does 'pan fried' claim to add? It doesn't. It offers greater obscurity, not clarity, as it implies 'shallow fried in a pan' only, not 'lightly fried'.

@thepeopleversuswork my thoughts exactly. Let people express themselves however they want. The language is theirs as much as it is yours, so why the need to judge all the time?

"holibobs'. Are you 5?

Also 'school night' for adults, now - it used to be said as a joke, but now it's said seriously.

'Call out' - Implies the speaker gets to decide what is and isn't acceptable. Has nasty connotations of the Cultural Revolution etc.

I can’t find it again to quote and name the person who posted but “you would never catch Nigella with her hand in the adjective jar when she needs a verb” made me smile! I love the way she talks in what sounds like written language. It’s very affected and not to everyone’s taste but I enjoy it.

Bloody hell at "hero the asparagus"! Awful! How can they keep a straight face?

@strawberrymilkshakemonkey

the one I hate is when journalists insist on using the word 'tot' to describe a young child. can't stand it.

It’s to save space. Column inches and word count are very important in newspapers. Though arguably they could save more space if they dropped the habit of stating everyone’s age after their name or specifying the value of their house

[quote mellicauli]@thepeopleversuswork my thoughts exactly. Let people express themselves however they want. The language is theirs as much as it is yours, so why the need to judge all the time?[/quote]
Yep. Also the melodrama. I "cringe" or "I feel sick" etc because someone uses an Americanism or a regional world. Really? It's so controlling and weird.

I use all sorts of non-orthodox language and some of you would be a cringe a second at the way I speak. Sorry but I'm not modifying the way I speak because some MN reader is neurotic about it. You can suck up the fact that I sometimes say "huddle" or that I speak the Queen's English and use the word "gaff" from time to time. Tough shit

@thepeopleversuswork

AndThenTheDayBecomesTheNight

"When it bugs me most is when it is clearly about establishing (regional or class) superiority or implying limited intelligence in others who speak a certain (regionally influenced) way."

I agree. No doubt I will be told I'm a humourless old cow but I find these threads judgemental and unpleasant.

So don’t read threads like these then. There is no malice intended. A lot of the criticism of regional terms is when they are adopted by those not from that region eg someone like Claudia Winkleman saying “lush”.

I use all sorts of non-orthodox language and some of you would be a cringe a second at the way I speak. Sorry but I'm not modifying the way I speak because some MN reader is neurotic about it. You can suck up the fact that I sometimes say "huddle" or that I speak the Queen's English and use the word "gaff" from time to time. Tough shit

I’m guessing you don’t really find observational comedy funny either...

I hate "you dont get to..".

It sounds childish.

"You dont get to decide when the conversation ends". "You dont get to tell people how they feel". Dunno why it annoys me, it sounds so outraged. Just say you cant or you shouldn't. Or it's not right, or its not your place.

'Plate of food'

It's said on Masterchef at least half a dozen times an episode and really sets my teeth on edge. "A marvellous plate of food, Marcus" "Oh yes, Monica. A wonderful plate of food"

I don't even know why! Maybe I find it infantile.

@CheetasOnFajitas

I use all sorts of non-orthodox language and some of you would be a cringe a second at the way I speak. Sorry but I'm not modifying the way I speak because some MN reader is neurotic about it. You can suck up the fact that I sometimes say "huddle" or that I speak the Queen's English and use the word "gaff" from time to time. Tough shit

I’m guessing you don’t really find observational comedy funny either...

I do as long as its not nasty or judgemental.

So much of this seems to be about people wanting to police and control the way other people speak because it offends some irrational sense of what is proper (eg not having people speak outside their "class").

Shoot me, but I think a lot of it is plain nasty.

One final word- someone who says a particular word or phrase induces an extreme reaction is more often than not gently laughing at themselves for having that reaction when they know fine that it is illogical.

On an evening, on a night etc is regional. Completely normal in the north east. I'd expect an RP-speaker to say 'of an evening' (general, whimsical use), or 'in the evening' (more specific, active use). But, with the right accent, 'on an evening' sounds lovely.

The terms raised here that I object to, are esoteric professional terms (all the cheffy ones), brought into popular usage by Masterchef, without being explained (or needed, in most cases): pan fry, plate up, fry off.

No-one has explained fry off yet. They've said they use it but not what it means. What is the thing that was on or part of the ingredient, that you are frying off?

You could say 'brown the onions', 'caramelise the onions' or 'fry until opaque'. Those are three different end products, dependent on different frying times. Does 'fry off' equate to one of those? Is it a fourth operation? What is it?

It’s not melodrama, it’s hyperbole. Lighthearted thread.

Heh, the use of literally bugs me at times, but I did love the time when someone told me 'The world is literally your oyster!'

Not only is the the world actually an oyster, it is MY oyster!!

So much of this seems to be about people wanting to police and control the way other people speak because it offends some irrational sense of what is proper (eg not having people speak outside their "class").

How are they trying to “police and control” by mentioning it in an anonymous online forum? They are not going around telling people not to say these things, or sticking their fingers down their throats when they hear them said.

@OldGreyBoots

I have an irrational dislike of "lush" in some situations. I don't mind it in reference to food, or to describe, say, woodland, but in other situations ("that programme was lush") it just annoys me! Feels wrong

It makes me physically angry. Hate the word lush.

Somebody mentioned 'decline' in another context. I've noticed its increasing misuse to also mean 'refuse'. 'My MIL told me to clean her house from top to bottom. I declined.' AIUI, it's 'decline' for something you are invited to do and 'refuse' for something you are asked/told to do.

I always assume that when people are using 'decline' like that it's a nod to the fact that the asker should be making a polite request rather than an outrageous demand.